Tata Tele finalises Rs150 cr capex plan

Mobile telephony gets new buzz in east

Tata Teleservices has earmarked Rs 150 crore for West Bengal and Kolkata circles over the next six months.

Rajesh Puri, chief operating officer, Tata Teleservices-East said, the investment in West Bengal and Kolkata circles was part of the Rs 600 crore investment for the eastern region.

The company would take a call on the next phase of investment around September.

Puri said, The Rs 600 crore investment was for the entire East hub, which includes the Kolkata circle, the West Bengal circle, the Orissa circle and the combined circles of Jharkhand and Bihar.

The investment would go towards installing 400 additional cell sites to the existing 500 cell sites in the east. Puri said, this would facilitate rolling out services in nearly 350 towns from the present 80.

Simultaneously, Tata Teleservices was laying over 2,000 km of optic fibre cable to ensure seamless coverage in the cities and along highways.

Tata Teleservices' target was to cover entire North Bengal by December 2006.The service provider plans to cover Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Berhampur in the first phase and Darjeeling, Alipurduar, Kurseong in the second phase.

Tata Teleservices today launched its telecom services branded as Tata Indicom in North Bengal.

As starters, services would be available in Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Berhampur and would be rolling out its services in Darjeeling, Alipurduar, Kurseong, shortly. In West Bengal, the service provider already provides coverage in the Greater Kolkata Telecom District, which comprises North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Kolkata.

The company has already rolled out its services in cities across South Bengal such as Durgapur, Asansol, and Haldia among others.