The Hindu Business Line : Aircel to spend Rs 550 cr on improving network

Aircel Cellular Ltd will spend Rs 550 crore this financial year on improving network in Tamil Nadu and Chennai circles. Aircel has been acquired by Maxis Communications Berhad of Malaysia.

Last week, Aircel extended its coverage to 600 towns in Tamil Nadu and plans to bring under its network 250 more towns before the end of this financial year.

This push into smaller towns will also see the number of its towers going up from 1,500 to 2,400 by the end of the year, according to Mr K.V.P. Baskar, Chief Executive Officer, Aircel.

Mr Baskar told newspersons that Aircel had roped in actor Surya as brand ambassador for one year, which could be extended.

The company would use his image in all its advertisements and to build the brand. The idea in roping in Surya was to convey the image that Aircel was about simplicity and a no-strings attached tariff player.

This year, Mr Baskar said, Aircel would spend Rs 22 crore on marketing and advertising, against Rs 15 crore last year.

The increase was because of the higher number of subscribers that the company now had - 2.52 million subscribers at the end of April 2006.

Aircel had started its services in West Bengal, Assam, North East, Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir, and would roll out services in Bihar and Himachal Pradesh in the next couple of months.Maxis was keen to have a pan-India presence and the growth would come through both new licences and acquisitions, an idea that the company was open to.

The Malaysian company had also announced its intention to build a national business in India in the medium- to long-term. Maxis would also use India as a resource base for manpower, skills and suppliers and as a base for those operations where off-shoring made sense.

Mr Baskar estimated that the investment in getting a pan-India coverage could be of the order of $700-800 million, in terms of new licences and for infrastructure.

More Stories on : Telecommunications | Promotions & Offers | Tamil Nadu

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