Spice to invest $400 m for roll out of six new licenses

Spice Telecom, one of the mobile phone service providers in Punjab and Karnataka circles, has said that it is looking at a spend of $400 million for the six new licenses and the roll out in the near future.

The company has pitched for licenses in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh - East & West, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

Said Prakash Nanani, CEO, Spice Telecom: "We have a strong presence in Punjab with close to 12 lakh subscribers and we are focussing on the northern regions for expanding our footprint. We will look at expansion in the southern markets at a later stage."

He added that the company is equipped to fund and raise resources for this expansion. Nanani added that the company is also actively foraying into mobile phones, multiplexes, movies, telecom BPO and computer peripherals.

The B K Modi owned firm, which recently gained control over Karnataka operations by buying out the 43 per cent from Distacom is also looking at investing close to Rs 100 crore for network upgradation in this circle. Admitting that Spice

Telecom missed the cellular growth curve in Karnataka, Nanani said: "Distacom was running the Karnataka operations and they were not willing to invest further to grow the business. This is the reason for us having a small 3 lakh subscriber base in the state. Now that we have control, we will invest aggressively to catch up with players in."

Commenting further on the expansion plans, he said that this Rs 100 crore investment is to start with and they should be investing further post the end of the present fiscal.

The company presently has a topline of around Rs 650 crore with EBIDTA of Rs 230 crore. It has a debt of close to $120 million.

Added Navin Kaul, COO, Spice Telecom (Karnataka): "Our main endeavour is to provide unmatched network quality to our customers. The investment of Rs 100 crore will result in addition of 300 new towers in Karnataka to provide good quality service in terms of infrastructure and services. Through these network initiatives, which are being done in a phased manner, our subscribers will be able to enjoy good voice clarity and coverage across Karnataka."