Idea to enter Mumbai

Posted on | November 24, 2006 |

The Department of Telecom has issued Letter of Intent (LoI) to GSM operator Idea Cellular for the Mumbai and Bihar circles. This clears the way for entry of Idea as the seventh operator in Mumbai.

But there is still a hurdle for Idea to cross before it can start operations. The entry is at least six to eight months away until the defence forces vacate spectrum by March ‘07. The operator is likely to be allocated the spectrum in Bihar ahead of Mumbai.

The total wireless subscriber base in Mumbai is 9 million plus, including the fixed wireless phone users. Mumbai has six players offering a host of fixed line, mobile and limited mobile telephony services viz. Hutch, BPL Mobile (not yet merged with Hutch), Airtel, MTNL, Reliance and Tata.

Idea recently entered three new circles - Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, taking the total number of Idea Cellular subscribers in 11 circles up to 12 million.

Source: ET

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