By IANS,
Chennai : Sistema Shyam Teleservices, the joint venture between India’s Shyam group and Russian telecom major Sistema SSA, Thursday launched its CDMA mobile services in 373 towns in the Tamil Nadu circle.
With an overall investment of $5.5 billion, the company will now move to Kerala by March 30, company president Vsevolod Rozanov told reporters here.
Referring to the Russian government’s recent offer to buy about 20 percent stake in his company, Rozanov said: “We are still in discussions. The structure of the deal is still to be worked out.”
Rozanov declined to comment on whether Sistema Shyam planned to dilute its majority holding or was contemplating issuing fresh equity.
The company also plans to offer the much debated EVDO (evolution data optimised) service that allows a user to connect to the Internet faster, but which is opposed by GSM cellular operators.
The joint venture will also roll out services in West Bengal and the North East circles in the next two months, Rozanov said.
Shyam Sistema had acquired licences and spectrum to provide CDMA mobile services in 22 circles in the country last year.