Newcomer ByCell granted LOIs to operate in 5 circles
27 Feb 2008
New Delhi: ByCell Telecommunications India Private Limited has announced the receipt of Letter of Intents (LOIs) for entering into unified access service licence agreements to provide telecom services in five telecommunications circles of Assam, North East (comprising Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura), West Bengal (including Sikkim and Andaman & Nicobar Islands), Orissa and Bihar (including Jharkhand).
The 5 circles would cover a total of 13 states with a population of more than 260 million.
ByCell Telecommunications India (Pvt) Ltd has been incorporated as a joint venture between ByCell Holding AG, Switzerland and Bit Corp Pvt. Ltd. ByCell Holding AG holds 74 per cent stake in the joint venture company, while the balance 26 per cent vests with Bit Corp India. The company is headquartered in New Delhi, and has a regional head office in Calcutta.
ByCell India was the first to apply for a license in 2005, in five circles after the government announced its FDI norms. The company recently got the FIPB clearance, after its letter of intent was withheld on the pretext of security clearance.
Welcoming this decision, Andrey Polouektov, director of ByCell Telecommunications India (Pvt.) Ltd. said, ''We are please with the verdict as we were anticipating this decision for some time. This move has strengthened our commitment to the Indian customers and re-enforced our belief in the fast growing telecom market in the country and would like to capitalise on the momentum.''
Alexandre Louzine, vice president of operations at ByCell Telecommunications India (Pvt.) Ltd, said, ''We aim to provide low cost rural and semi-rural communication services to potentially unexplored markets. Our services will benefit users with quality customer experience and comprehensive coverage."
A newly formed GSM mobile operator, ByCell will offer services in five circles of West Bengal, Orissa, Assam, Bihar and North East. It has a targeted customer base of 10 crore over the next three years, and plans to focus on rural and semi-rural areas with advanced voice and data services, including the provision of value-added services, data transfer through GPRS and EDGE technology.
