Microqual

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Microqual was set up in 1999. The Company initially started manufacturing Radio Frequency components for Wireless in Local Loop applications and expanded its product and service offerings to include: • Copper/Aluminium cored Radio Frequency (RF) feeder cables & transmission kits; • In building products and repeaters; • Turnkey Active and Passive Network Installation (turnkey service of telecom towers); • Active & Passive network management (mainly related to management of tower infrastructure); and • Leasing in-building sites. Microqual has manufacturing facilities in India in Aurangabad, Bangalore (R&D mainly), and Rudrapur. The Company offers the above products and services to major telecom companies such as Bharti Airtel directly and through their equipment / service providers, like Ericson, and also directly and indirectly to telecom companies for overseas operations, including in Bangladesh, South Africa, and Nigeria. Microqual’s clients include Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Ericsson, Huawei, ZTE, Nokia-Siemens-Network (NSN) and other service providers to telecom companies. Under the RF feeder cable manufacturing business, Microqual has a manufacturing unit in Aurangabad, Maharashtra where copper-core and Aluminum-core cables are sheathed for indoor and outdoor application. A second RF equipment facility is operational in Rudrapur (2 units) where active and passive RF components like repeaters, connectors, jumpers, antenna, splitters, couplers, combiners etc are manufactured. The company has an R&D laboratory in Bangalore, where product development and research work is done. Apart from being a manufacturer and material supplier, Microqual is also a Turnkey Service Provider (TSP) to telecom operators and tower companies. Microqual erects telecom towers (Ground Based Towers and Roof Top Towers) on small parcels of land (less than 0.25acre) procured and selected by the customer (telecom service provider). Microqual also undertakes the operations and maintenance contract for telecom operators. Active Equipment maintenance is generally done by OEMs. Microqual was one of the first companies to win a contract for active maintenance from Huawei. Microqual is also engaged in the business of In-Building telecom Services (IBS) where it is involved in activities like RF planning and designing inside buildings (such as institutional areas, corporate campuses, shopping malls, hotels etc), leasing space from the builder/owner of the building, deploying RF infrastructure and then leasing out this RF network to telecom service providers to cater to the tenants /occupants of the building. The company is now proposing a new business line of installing mobile telecom infrastructure on existing grid electricity network towers (the ‘power tower’ business). This will involve utilising the existing infrastructure, i.e. power transmission towers of Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) and State Transmission Companies (State Transco), for installing mobile radiofrequency equipments for telecom operators. The company will also deploy a hybrid system of diesel generator and renewable energy (wind and solar) to provide backup power to existing and new telecom towers. The project is thus expected to reduce the need to construct new telecom towers and thus the land footprint and once the step-down approval is received (and also through hybrid system), it is also expected to reduce the consumption of diesel, the primary fuel for backup power to conventional telecom towers. IFC is considering a total of $25 million investment composed of part-quasi-equity investment and part senior loan to Microqual. To enhance its technical and safety capabilities, Microqual has entered into a joint venture agreement with Buckley Cable Construction Co, United States, which has two decades of experience in deploying and managing telecom infrastructure including power solutions. Thus far, the Company, through competitive bidding processes, has obtained 10-year exclusive rights to lease selected power transmission towers from PGCIL (for northern states of India) and, Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) for installing and operating mobile telecom towers on existing Power transmission towers.