The Hindu Business Line : CDMA players to invest Rs 17,000 cr more

TELECOM operators using the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology will invest an additional Rs 17,000 crore to spread their network to more than 6,000 cities and 4 lakh villages over the next two years.

Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices and HFCL have together projected a subscriber base of over 75 million users by 2007. The three operators together have so far invested Rs 36,000 crore in covering 3,500 cities and one lakh villages.

Outlining the roadmap for CDMA operators, Dr Mukund Govind Rajan, Director, Tata Teleservices, called for a joint government-industry initiative to deliver telecom connectivity to every Indian within the next two years. Dr Rajan is the newly elected President of the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI), the industry body representing CDMA operators. Dr Rajan takes over from Mr Prakash Bajpai, President, Reliance Infocomm. Mr Bajpai will now be the Vice-President of AUSPI.

CDMA operators have so far got 20 million subscribers in the country. Addressing a press conference, Dr Rajan said that there was a need to create an enabling environment to generate the next wave of growth in telephony, particularly in the rural areas.

Mr S.C. Khanna, Secretary General, AUSPI, said, "The previous year has been the most challenging as well as the most rewarding period. CDMA has redefined the concept of mobile telephony within the country."

AUSPI said that CDMA operators have been responsible for bringing down the tariffs for mobile services and also the handset cost along with innovative value-added services.

The operators also called for early resolution of spectrum issues and mooted allowing technology innovation in offering consumer friendly services.

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