Tata Teleservices' investment plans

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, JULY 27. Tata Teleservices (TTL), which received LoI (letter of intent) for 15 new circles (basic services), plans to take up 7-8 circles in the first phase, entailing an investment of Rs. 7,000-8,000 crores in the next three to five years, according to Mr. S. Ramakrishnan, Managing Director, TTL.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Mr. Ramakrishnan said the agreement would be signed in August. These circles are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, and Kerala.

He said TTL was discussing with other Tata group companies, which have funds, for their participation in the new circles. Later, they might speak to companies outside the Tata group also, he said. Work in these 7-8 circles would start simultaneously, and in 6 to 8 months it would be known which circles would start offering services first, he said.

Coming to Andhra Pradesh, where TTL is offering basic services, Mr. Ramakrishna and Mr. Ajay Pandey, who took over as the new Chief Operating Officer (AP Circle), said another Rs. 500 crore would be invested here in the next six months. It had already invested Rs. 1,100 crores in Andhra Pradesh, and total investments were expected to touch the Rs. 2,200 crore mark in the next three years. Overall the company plans to invest Rs. 5,000 crores during a 20 year licence period. It launched services in the State in March 1999.

Investments will go to expanding the network, bringing in new technology and providing innovative solutions. These include short messaging services, voice messaging, Internet and data services. It will, in the process, install more than 1,000 km of optical fibre cables linking Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Guntur, Vizag, Nellore and Tirupati, and double the number of cell sites (for wireless coverage in Hyderabad and Vijayawada).

As of now, it has 70,000 subscribers, 60 per cent of them wireless and this will be 50 per cent by the time they achieve the targeted subscriber base of 1.20 lakhs. It plans to expand to 11 more cities in the State.

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Section  : Business
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