The Hindu Business Line : Idea launches GSM service in Bihar, Jharkhand

PATNA: The customers of Bihar and Jharkhand now have more option to choose from among a host of mobile service providers as Idea Cellular, an Aditya Birla group company, on Tuesday formally launched its GSM service in both the states.

"Our service will be available from Wednesday in Bihar and Jharkhand. We are making a very serious attempt to broaden our customer base through wide and rapid expansion of our network in both states," said Mr Ambarish P Jain, director for Idea's northeas t region operations.

Idea will be the fifth player in mobile telephony in Bihar and Jharkhand after Reliance (which has both CDMA and GSM mobile service), BSNL, AirTel, and Aircel. Idea will set up a network of customer touch points besides customer care units in both the st ates.

"With this and several other key features Idea will redefine standards of mobile telephony in the states", M D Prasad, said company's Bihar circle head.

In the first phase, Idea plans to cover 1.5 crore people in 2,500 towns and villages in the two states through its 880 towers. By the end of this fiscal, Idea hopes to increase its network to 6 crore people in 16,500 towns and villages through increased 3,000 mobile tower network, Mr Jain said.

The mobile telephony giant, which has a subscriber base of 3.3 crore across the country, hopes to add one million customers to its fold every month nationally, said Jain. By entering the two states, Idea has made its presence in 15 out of 22 circles, whi ch is almost 80 per cent of national mobile telephony market in terms of reach. - PTI

Prev: Stir to continue till Dow project is scrapped: Bandatatya
Next: Honda unveils new version of 'City'

Business Line | NUS Index |