The Hindu : Business : Aircel applies for 8 new circles

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 03, 2006

Business

Business

Aircel applies for 8 new circles

Special Correspondent

Maxis Communications to complete acquisition of Aircel

CHENNAI: Aircel Ltd., a mobile phone service provider, has applied for licences in eight new circles. These are: Haryana, Kolkata, Kerala, Punjab, Mumbai, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

This was indicated in a release by Dato' Jamaludin Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer of Maxis Communications. The Malaysian company on Wednesday got the shareholders' approval for acquiring Aircel.

The CEO said in the company's web site that, "We are committed to making the significant investments necessary to become a pan Indian player.

Investments of $500 million are required to support the roll-out in the new circles where we have either launched services or are in preparation for launch,'' he said.

Maxis Communications Berhad (Maxis) announced that it was on track to complete the $1.08 billion acquisition.

Upon completion of the proposed acquisition, Maxis will hold a controlling 74 per cent equity interest in Aircel.

Aircel, the release said, had also received an additional 1.8MHz spectrum in Chennai to support its growth in the south, as well as frequency for Bihar where rollout was expected to commence soon.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail