Tata Teleservices has requested the ministry of telecom for a three month extension, till January 31, to take a decision on converting its basic letters of intent (LoI) into licences in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Kerala. This was announced here at a press conference by Ajay Pandey, chief operating officer, Tata Teleservices.

The company is still considering all the possibilities including the services to be rolled out in these four states and is yet to decide on its resource and service commitments.

“We do not want to go back on our commitments. Hence, we are studying the things carefully, for that we are asking for more time. In any case, we will not surrender the LoIs in these states ,” a Tata Tele official commented.

TTL has originally bagged LoIs for basic services in fifteen states, of which it had surrendered seven and converted four into licences in Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat and Tamilnadu. The company is planning to roll out services in these four states by end of next year.

If the company opts to launch basic telephone services in all the eight states, it will require an estimated Rs 8,000 crore investment.

The company has so far invested Rs 1,300 crore in Andhra Pradesh, where it currently provides fixed line and limited mobility services. It further intends to invest Rs 300 crore in the state in the current financial year.

Its current investment pattern in the state comprises equal proportion of debt and equity components. According to sources, the company might adopt the same approach in the investment in other states too, i.e. maintaining 1:1 ratio between equity and debt.

The company has also got an LoI for Maharashtra, where HughesTele.com, its proposed merger partner is the basic service operator. The company is still working on the merger details. If the merger materialises, the company will not seek a fresh licence for the state. The recent merger of Hughes Tele’s US parent Hughes Network System with EchoStar Communications will not have any impact on the merger process, Pandey said.