(3 May 2007 7 :55 pm)

MUMBAI: Wire & Wireless India Ltd (WWIL) has entered into initial agreements with 18 independent cable operators across the country for acquiring controlling stake but the cash transaction is yet to be complete.

The Zee Group's demerged cable company would have to cough out Rs 500 million towards this, a source in the company says. "The deals are stuck in various stages of commitment and the payment is yet to be made," he adds.

WWIL was on an overdrive to snap up customers and had plans to put in Rs 1.14 billion over a two-year period. But the activity has slowed down as penetration of digital set-top boxes (STBs) has been low. The company is also waiting for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to come out with a plan for widespread digital roll out.

WWIL is expected to have a turnover of Rs 2.2 billion and a loss of Rs 400 million for the fiscal ended 31 March 2007. The company's net sales for the third quarter of the fiscal stood at Rs 407.6 million while net loss was at Rs 171.4 million.

WWIL has aggressive plans to expand its digital cable business and had earlier projected a fund requirement of Rs 7.14 billion over two years.