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Our Bureau

Coimbatore, May 25 As part of its national roll-out plan, Aditya Birla Group’s IDEA Cellular has entered Tamil Nadu by launching its services in Coimbatore and marking its presence in other major towns and cities in the State. IDEA’s services in Chennai metro is expected to be launched soon.

(The other towns in Tamil Nadu include Madurai, Tiruchi, Salem, Tirupur, Erode and Vellore).

Sharing the company’s roll out and investment plan, its Director (Operations) Mr Himanshu Kapania said with the launch of its GSM mobile services in Tamil Nadu, it had established its presence in 130 towns here. IDEA is planning to connect the southern States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka by laying optic fibre cables.

The company is proposing to invest around Rs 1,000 crore over the next two years for completing its national roll out plan and towards establishment of its core network infrastructure.

IDEA entered the mobile telephony market in 1997 with just two circles Gujarat and Maharashtra. It established its presence in Andhra Pradesh in 2001 with the acquisition of Tata Cellular and in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh the following year with the acquisition of RPG Cellular.

Acquisition of Escotel in 2004 paved the way for the presence of IDEA in Kerala, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. The company established its presence in 11 circles in 2006, added five more circles to cover 16 in 2009. Its entry into Tamil Nadu marks its presence in 17 circles.

The company is geared to establish its presence in five more circles, but seem to be waiting for plans to be finalised by the Government.

Mr Kapania said IDEA continued to enjoy the second market position in eight established circles. It recorded a year-on-year growth of 48 per cent in revenue and 79 per cent in subscriber base, with revenues reaching Rs 10,000 crore (from Rs 6,700 crore) and subscriber base touching the 43 million mark from 24 million.

More Stories on : New Products & Services | Telecommunications | Idea Cellular Ltd | Tamil Nadu

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