Telecom Roundup: Idea To Spend Rs 1 Billion, AT&T Adds To India

— Idea Cellular will invest Rs 1000 crore ($250 million) to expand its network in Gujarat. The investment by the operator, which currently operates in 11 of 23 telecom zones, pales in comparison to the $2 billion year-on-year ear marked by Vodafone, one of the two companies along with Bharti it has partnered with to share tower infrastructure.

—AT&T (NYSE: T) will increase its presence in India by setting up three nodes, taking its total to 10 in the country and an Internet data centre. The US major has announced $1 billion for outside US investments in ’08 but did not provide a country-wise breakup. According to this ET article, revenues grew 85% year-on-year. From an earlier post, AT&T currently holds a maximum permissible 74 percent stake in a joint venture in India with the Mahindra group, and has received National and International Long Distance (NLD and ILD) licences. They had exited what is now Idea Cellular (earlier called BATATA – Birla, AT&T and Tata).

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