India?s fifth-largest mobile operator Idea Cellular is finally up and running in Mumbai. It is targeting 20% of the city?s new users per month over the next year and is expecting to break even in the zone in four years. The company?s shares immediately showed upward movement by 2.81%, closing at Rs 84.20 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Though at the moment Idea is a late entrant in the city, the company seems to be quite optimistic about subscriber additions. Sanjeev Aga, managing director, Idea Cellular said, ?Mumbai is a huge market and we are also targeting VAS and data card subscribers, which is largely an untapped market in the city.?
In Mumbai, Vodafone Essar, India?s No 3 mobile firm, had a market-leading 3.7 million users as of end-June, followed by Reliance Communications, the second-largest operator nationally, with just over 3 million.
The company will provide services in Mumbai via 1,000 cell sites and will have about 15,000 retail outlets and 60 dedicated service centres in the city. In a bid to attract new subscribers, Idea Cellular has also gone aggressive in terms of plans, including a life-long plan at Rs 299 in Mumbai. The company also promises zero call drop and high-speed data connectivity, besides its 24X7 customer service.
Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, said, ?We will spend Rs 800 crore for Mumbai expansion in the financial year ending April 2009. We are almost debt-free at the moment and this gives us scope to grow on a large scale? He also added that the company will remain focussed on India at the moment.
Aga also said, ?By the end of this fiscal, we will be practically in every part of the country except for Jammu & Kashmir and Andaman, where we are waiting for spectrum allocation.? Birla added, ?Idea will unveil its services in Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Orissa before the end of the current financial year.?