Tier-II towns will be in focus

BPL Mobile plans Rs 625 cr capex

BPL Mobile plans to invest Rs 625 crore over the next one year to expand its network in the circles it operates in. Of this investment, close to 60 per cent will go towards establishing new connectivities in secondary towns.

Rajeev Chandrashekar, chairman, BPL Mobile, speaking to Business Standard, said: "This is our tenth year of operations and we have invested around Rs 4,500 crore in establishing ourselves against some stiff competition. To further strengthen our coverage and expand our operations, we are investing Rs 625 crore over the next year and this entire cash is being generated internally."

He added that the company will continue to invest in upgrading its network and nearly 60 per cent of this investment will go towards extending the coverage to 225 new towns and add over 800 base stations during the current fiscal.

The company's operating profits went up by 42 per cent to touch Rs 406 crore for FY05 as against Rs 287 crore for FY04. Revenues were up 39 per cent to Rs 1,012 crore for FY05 as against Rs 728 crore for FY04. BPL Mobile has a total subscriber base of 26 lakh.

The company currently has a debt of around Rs 1500 crore "and on capex of around Rs 4,500 crore, it is a decent debt:equity ratio," he added.

Speaking on the status of going into new circles and roping in a strategic partner, he said: "Our focus during the current year will be to consolidate our presence in our existing circles which include Mumbai, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Goa. After this, we might look at other circles. Regarding a strategic partner, there are a whole lot of players, established in India and who are yet to enter India, talking with us and we should be able to finalise this soon."