Reliance Communications (RCOM) is planning to invest Rs.3,000 crore ($740 million) to add 17 million new lines to its existing GSM networks in eight telecom circles.

By May 2008, RCOM proposes to increase the total capacity of its eight GSM networks - Kolkata, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, North-East, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh - to 20 million lines.

The company's GSM expansion project by March 2008 is slated to extend across 9,000 towns and three lakh villages. For its proposed plan, RCOM will source GSM equipment from three vendors - Alcatel Lucent, Huawei and ZTE Corp.

RCOM had initially planned to launch GSM services on a pan-India level by March 2008 and had applied for GSM spectrum in 15 circles in 2006, but has so far not been allocated spectrum. But the government is yet to decide whether companies can offer both GSM and CDMA technologies with the same licence.

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India to have additional BTSs set up by Reliance Communications (19-Apr-07)