New Delhi, Nov 07: In an aggressive bid to spread its telecom footprint across the country at a time when the government has decided to unify basic and cellular licences, Tata Teleservices has applied for licences in seven additional circles including Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The company has applied to Department of Telecom for licences in West Bengal (including Kolkata), Uttar Pradesh (east), Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Orissa, and Himachal Pradesh.
Tata Teleservices has also asked dot to issue letters of intent for licences in four circles of Haryana, Kerala, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh (west) for which the company had applied for a licence in September this year.
Upon acquiring basic licences in new circles, Tatas, which currently offer services in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, would have presence in 17 circles, matching that of Reliance, and next only to that of state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
"We welcome the decision of the government to introduce single authorisation or registration for all telecom services with immediate unification of access licence - basic and cellular services - as a first step," Tatas said in the letter.
Bureau Report