Tata Tele makes Rs 445cr expansion plans for Andhra

Plans to add 300 new cell sites, expand to 166 new towns

Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) has announced a Rs 445-crore expansion programme in Andhra Pradesh for 2004-05. It also plans to add 300 new cell sites to the already existing 160 cell sites by the end of the fiscal.

Disclosing this on the occasion of the launch of TTSL services in Nizamabad, Prabhat Pani, chief operating officer (AP & Karnataka) of TTSL, said: "The expansion programme will be financed through internal accruals and also by financial institutions. Under this phase-wise expansion programme, the services of Tata Indicom would be available to customers in 166 new towns before the end of December 2004."

By the end of June 2004, services of Tata Indicom would be available at 12 new towns besides Nizamabad at Vikarabad, Tandur, Palasa, Tuni, Jaggayyapet, Nandigam, Nuzivid, Gannavaram, Tenali, Bapatla, Kavali and Chilakaluripet.

TTSL offers mobile, fixed wireless phones and wireline services with a strength of around 4.8 lakh customers in the state.

According to Pani, the company expects the customer base to double during the current financial year.

The company recently launched a new service for corporates called Push-to-Talk (PTT) in Bangalore and would be launching this facility across the country in the coming months.

It also plans to launch pre-paid fixed wireless phones, public booths besides expanding Wi-Fi services to public spots shortly.

The company apart from Andhra Pradesh offers services in seven circles. They are Chennai, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Mumbai, New Delhi and Tamil Nadu.

TTSL has recently acquired a universal access service licence (UASL) for 12 new circles. The new circles are Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East and West) and West Bengal.

The company plans to launch its services in these new circles by September 2004. At present, TTSL serves over 18 lakh customers in over 112 towns.

The company plans to increase this to over 1,000 towns in 20 circles by March 2005.