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Stel, a Batelco Group joint venture company in partnership with the Chennai-based Siva Group, launched its mobile services last week in Himachal Pradesh and very shortly in Bihar and Orissa, announced Batelco Group CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos,
"Initiatives are also underway to launch in three more circles by the end of the first quarter next year. These milestones are consistent with our plans which we had previously announced," added Mr Kaliaropoulos.
"STel is one of the first new operators to enter the market in a very timely manner due to infrastructure sharing with existing operators," said STel director Swaminathan,.
STel has licences for Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam circles.
STel has tied-up over Rs20 billion (BD162 million) with debt component of Rs9.53 billion (BD77 million) and the promoters (Siva Group) and Batelco have already brought in Rs12.53 billion (BD101 million) as equity capital.
Batelco has 49 per cent stake in STel and the Siva group holds 51 per cent stake.
"STel is also exploring its participation in the forthcoming auction for 3G mobile spectrum. Both the Siva and Batelco groups are assisting in the process but we have to decide which circles we will be bidding for," said Mr Kaliaropoulos.
STel CEO Shamik Das said: "The six growth circles with a population of 226 million people provide an opportunity to deliver a tailored, relevant value proposition."
