If the deal fructifies, this would be AT&T’s second innings in India’s lucrative cellular mobile services. Sources said the deal could be finalised in the next few weeks. When contacted, AT&T spokesperson told PTI, “We do not comment on market speculations.”

Sources, however, said that AT&Ts senior management team will be in Delhi in mid-April to work out the details and the US company may be roped in by Datacom, which has announced an investment of Rs 6,000 crore to set up pan-India network, as a strategic partner. They said any deal would take shape only after the government allocates spectrum to the new players as mere licenceholding may not fetch them any good value.

On the other hand, new players, which have been issued licence but awaiting spectrum, have alleged that the existing big GSM players have been delaying the process of frequency allocation by indulging in court battles to weaken the business case of new entrants. Datacom has also been approached by another foreign player Telephonica of Spain, company sources said, but declined to elaborate.