Idea lines up Rs 1,600 cr for new operations

GSM service provider Idea Cellular will invest an additional $400 million (Rs 1,600 crore) for rolling out telecom services in four new circles - Mumbai, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Orissa - for which it has received spectrum from the Department of Telecommunications.

The company will use internal accruals to fund the rollout plans.

"We will make an additional investment of $400 million for rolling out GSM services in the four circles, increasing the total investment for this year to $1.8 billion. Further investments would be made depending on the spectrum allocation in other circles," Idea Cellular Managing Director Sanjeev Aga said.

The service provider will start operations in Mumbai and Bihar circles in the July-September quarter, and in Tamil Nadu and Orissa by the October-December quarter.

The additional investment comes in the wake of the recent allocation of 4.4 MHz spectrum in Tamil Nadu and Orissa. It had already received spectrum for the Mumbai and Bihar circles.

Of the total 23 circles in the country, the company is awaiting spectrum allocation for the remaining eight circles -- it has operations in 11 circles and has received spectrum in four circles.

The company had received the Universal Service Access Licence (UASL) -- the approval to provide telecom services --  in all the nine circles it had applied for. "We are ready to begin services within six to eight months of the spectrum allocation," Aga added.

The company has a total subscriber base of more than 24 million.  In contrast to other players' move to scout for partnerships to roll out services, Idea Cellular  plans to go solo, Aga said.