Idea Cellular to invest Rs 1,000 crore in state over three years

Mumbai-based Idea Cellular Limited, an Aditya Birla Group company, has lined up an investment of about Rs 1,000 crore in three years on its telecom operations in Orissa. The cellular operator aimed to cover about 15,000 towns and villages in all the 30 districts of the state by the end of 2009-10.

Addressing media persons at the launch of Idea’s mobile services in the Orissa circle, Ambrish P Jain, director (operations), said “Idea has started investing for offering its mobile services in Orissa from 2008 and the company has earmarked an investment of about Rs 1,000 crore for the state in three years. Idea Cellular aims to cover all the 30 districts of the state in three phases by March 2010.”

Idea Cellular would cover eight districts in about 150 towns of the state. In the second phase, the GSM player expected to cover 3,388 towns and villages in 19 districts of the state by May this year.

The company was banking on the Orissa market for faster growth as the state has a tele-density of 20.3 per cent compared to the national average of 35 per cent, present a huge potential for growth. “Orissa added 32 lakh mobile subscribers in 2008-09 and the state has been recording a year-on-year growth of 54 per cent”, said Vijay Grover, chief operating officer (east), Idea Cellular. The company aimed to set up 18,000 retail outlets and 100 Idea points by the end of 2009-10.

With a subscriber base of over 41 million, Idea now has a presence in 16 out of the 22 telecom circles in the country including the Orissa circle. The cellular operator aimed to launch its mobile services in six more circles of the country by the end of 2009-10. They include Tamil Nadu, Kolkata, West Bengal, Assam, North-East and Jammu & Kashmir. In the eastern region, Idea had earlier launched its mobile services in the Bihar and Jharkhand where it has a subscriber base of about 8.5 lakh.

Idea has a market share of 12 per cent in the 15 telecom circles in the country where it operates. It is the market leader in the Madhya Pradesh telecom circle which also includes Chhattisgarh.

Asked if the economic downturn had impacted the operations of Idea Cellular, Pradeep Shrivastava, chief marketing officer, Idea Cellular said, “The growth in our mobile services has not been impacted in a big way. However, we have adopted a cautious approach in brand spending after the economic recession.”

Idea Cellular has announced an exclusive tariff offer for its subscribers in Orissa which would be valid for six months. Idea’s mobile subscribers in the state can make calls within the Idea network at 25 paisa per minute. Local calls to other network mobiles can be made at 50 paisa per minute while the tariff for STD calls has been fixed at one rupee per minute.