Genpact, Intelenet in line for Unitech Wireless' BPO job

Unitech Wireless, where Telenor is the majority partner, is close to finalising business process outsourcing (BPO) contracts with two vendors — Genpact and Intelenet Global Services. Unitech Wireless is looking to launch mobile services across the country.

Sources familiar with the development said the company is expected to shortly sign contracts for the North with Genpact and with Intelenet for the South. Unitech is also in dialogue with the Essar group-promoted Aegis BPO for the East, according to two people with knowledge of the deal.

Unlike IT contracts, which are given out in bulk, BPO contracts start off on a smaller scale and increase as telecom operators bring in more subscribers. Unitech has already awarded the IT outsourcing contract to Wipro earlier this year in a deal that is reported to be around Rs 2,500 crore.

Unitech’s BPO contract is likely to start off with a commitment for about 400 seats for the North and an equal number for the South, while it is expected to be around 100 seats for the East, said one of the two people quoted earlier. “Unitech, like many other operators, will have BPO contracts with different vendors for different circles,” added the person.

Aegis and Intelenet declined to comment on the matter, while an e-mail sent to Genpact met with a similar response.

Importantly, both Aegis and Intelenet already cater to the BPO requirements of domestic telecom service providers. While Aegis has contracts with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar, Idea Cellular and Sistema Shyam Teleservices, Intelenet, through its domestic subsidiary Sparsh BPO Services, works for Vodafone-Essar, Idea and Aircel. To date, Genpact, however, has catered only to overseas customers.

Telecom has overtaken financial services as the top-revenue contributor to BPO firms in the domestic market. According to a recent study released by Ernst & Young, outsourcing revenues from the telecom sector in India are set to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31% to nearly $2 billion in 2012.

BPO for telecom is also a huge job creator, employing over 1.22 lakh people last year — a number that Ernst & Young has forecast will more than double to almost 3 lakh in 2012.