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Mr Vikram Mehmi, CEO, denied that any of the three joint venture partners had decided to exit the company at any point of time.

Mr Vikram Mehmi (right), CEO, Idea Cellular, with Mr Oscar Salonaho, Head of Technology Marketing , Nokia, at a press conference in the Capital on Tuesday. - - Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , Feb. 10

IDEA Cellular Ltd is expected to take a decision on its initial public offer (IPO) to raise funds for its network expansion across the country within the next two weeks.

According to Mr Vikram Mehmi, CEO, Idea Cellular, although no decision has been taken on the IPO, the company is prepared to go to the market soon. Bankers and lead managers for the issue had not yet been appointed and the work was being done internally, he said.

Speaking to newspersons at the pilot launch of its (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) EDGE-based services, Mr Mehmi noted that: "Idea's capital expenditure for the next three years would be about Rs 1,700 crore, which would be funded out of internal resources and debt. Therefore, if we decide on an IPO, the proceeds would go towards acquisition and other market expansion activities."

He refused to comment on speculation that there would be an equity rejig within the company, with the Birla group buying out the stakes of AT&T Wireless and the Tata group. He also denied that any of the three joint venture partners had decided to exit the company at any point of time.

As regards the expansion plans, he said the company was being approached by bankers of regional operators.

Feelers are also coming from many regional companies who want to sell out to bigger operators. Idea is aggressively eyeing acquisition strategy for expanding its footprint across India to become the country's topmost cellular company, he said.

"We are talking to various regional cellular players, especially first and the second licensees and some negotiations are in advanced stages. Feelers were coming from various players in circles of Rajasthan and Maharashtra. We hope to acquire another operator this calendar year," he said.

Mr Mehmi noted that the company hoped to garner revenues of Rs 1,300 crore to Rs 1,400 crore during the year ended March 2004, with another Rs 350 crore coming from Escotel.

Earlier speaking at the press conference, he said Idea has become the first cellular operator to actually launch EDGE-based services.

With enhanced data download rates of over 160 kbps, subscribers will be able to enjoy movie previews, multimedia messages and video attachments.

Web-infotainment, high-speed video downloads, java game downloads and other Internet based multimedia experiences will also be possible at speeds much faster than existing CDMA 1x networks, he said.

Nokia will be deploying the EDGE technology in the Idea networks across the country.

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