Consumer electronics major Videocon today rolled out its GSM mobile network in Chennai and said it plans to invest Rs 14,000 crore over next three years to become a top pan-India operator.
The Venugopal Dhoot company, which has presence in sectors from oil and gas to DTH services, will roll out services in 100 cities in as many days and the tariff rates are likely to be below one paise.
The rapid expansion could well increase the competition in the telecom industry, which is already crowded with 12 players in many circles.
“We want to be the top 3 service provider in the country over the next three years and to fulfill this, our plan is to invest Rs 14,000 crore in this business over the next three years,” Group Chairman Venugopal Dhoot told reporters after unveiling the service.
The Group, which has licences for all the 23 circles, would be pan-India operator by September end, and the company is in the process of setting up 70,000 base stations in the country, of which 3,000 are already operational in Tamil Nadu, he said.
On revenues from mobile services, Dhoot said the company expects to raise USD 3.8-4 billion by 2013 with an ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) of 1.6bn.
Investments to be decided after getting license: Dhoot
Videocon GSM mobile services would decide on the quantum of investments to be made for entering the 3G services after getting the licence, group chairman Venugopal N Dhoot said today.
“We have applied for licenses and are hopeful that we will also get 3G services. But the investments to be made will be decided after we get the license”, he told reporters here.
He said the company has applied for 3G licenses in all circles, barring Mumbai and Delhi, but was not sure how many they would get.There are a total of 23 circles in the country.
Speaking here after launch of the company’s GSM services in Tamil Nadu, he said they have invested a total of Rs 14,000 crore for the purpose and had set themselves a target of being among the top three telecom companies by the year 2013.
Apart from investments made, the company has also set aside Rs 1,500 crore particularly for Tamil Nadu, he said, but declined to divulge further details.
In the next fortnight, they would also roll out services in key cities across Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai, he said.