Idea to invest Rs.1,000 Cr in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI, INDIA: Telecom major Idea Cellular, part of the Aditya Birla Group, said it has allocated Rs.1,000 crore for the expansion of its network in Tamil Nadu.

The investment will be made over the next three years, said a top company official said on Thursday.

"The company will invest Rs.1,000 crore to expand its cell sites to 2,400 by 2010 and presence to 1,200 towns in the state," said Himanshu Kapania, director (operations) of Idea while launching the company's services here.

The investment is part of its plan to be a pan-India telecom operator by the end of this year.

Idea, which is operating in 18 circles in the country, said it has 1,700 cell sites in 600 towns in Tamil Nadu and has enrolled over 100,000 subscribers so far, said a report.

According to Kapania, 12 million of Idea's total 43 million subscribers are in Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.