Idea to invest Rs 300 crore in AP circle

Idea Cellular is planning to invest Rs 1,800 crore on capacity expansion across all its five circles in the country over the next twelve months.

The company plans to spend about Rs 300 crore in Andhra Pradesh alone for expanding into new towns and extend its reach in the existing cities.

The cellular major, which languished behind its competitors in the state "� Airtel and BSNL - for about a year, regained its momentum in the past three months and added about a lakh of subscribers against its competitors who had added about 80,000 subscribers each.

"We were left behind in the race for some time in the AP circle because we focused more on the post-paid segment while it was in fact, the pre-paid segment that was growing fast. After we began focusing on the pre-paid business, we regained our leadership position," Vikram Mehmi, the CEO of Idea Cellular said.

The company plans to launch its General Packet Radio Switching service (GPRS) in AP by May-end. The new service would enable higher transfer rate for data for subscribers, he said.