Chennai : Aircel TN, the cellular licencee for the Tamil Nadu circle will bid for the Chennai circle once the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) invites bids from private players for the fourth license. The Sterling Group mobile telecom company has also tied up funds from an IDBI-led consortium a couple of days back. Aircel is also rolling out a Rs 200 crore expansion drive to spruce up its network in Tamil Nadu by setting up more base stations and adding more towns in its network map, Mr KVP Baskaran, director, Aircel Ltd told The Financial Express.Mr Baskaran said the company is keen to become the fourth licensee in the Chennai circle as it brings in synergy in its operations. Aircel is now providing mobile telephony services in the rest of Tamil Nadu, excluding the Chennai metro circle. "It makes perfect business sense for us to enter the Chennai circle as we already have a well laid out network in the rest of Tamil Nadu. We are keen to enter the Chennai circle and will bid for the fourth licence," he said.
Currently, RPG Cellular and the Skycell, in which Bharati Telecom has a majority stake, are the two players operating in the Chennai circle. BSNL has already announced its plan to launch its cellular services in Chennai recently.
The Rs 600 crore company is structured on a debt-equity ratio of 1:1.25. While the Sterling Group holds 51 per cent stake in the venture, Asia Tech of Mauritius holds 39 per cent and the Centuary Telephone holds the remaining 10 per cent equity.
Mr Baskaran said the company has already pumped in nearly Rs 400 crore in the venture and is now rolling out a second expansion drive by investing another Rs 200 crore. Aircel is the first mobile telecom company to use the Ericsons Sweste Technology base stations in India, he said.
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
