Spice Comm to invest $2.5 bn in 2-3 yrs

New Delhi, Sep 4: GSM carrier Spice Communications today announced its plans to invest 2.5 billion dollars for further expansion in India, over the next two-three years.

Of the 2.5 billion dollars, around two billion dollars will be invested by the company, partly owned by Telekom Malaysia, to further enhance its network to 21 circles, while the remaining 500 million dollars will be spent on expanding existing operations in Punjab and Karnataka.

The company had applied for a license for network expansion with the Department of Telecommunications last friday.

The expansion programme will be funded through an initial public offering by the company which will raise 250-300 million dollars by December this year. The process of listing of the shares is expected to be completed by October-end or early November.

The company will go for another IPO to raise up to 350 million dollars, depending on the market conditions as well as its ability to secure the licenses.

Spice Telecom Vice Chairman Dilip Modi said the company also has plans for rolling out cost effective network, value added offerings, own brand of handsets and organised telecom retailing.

Right now Spice owns 20 retail stores, called 'Hotspot', for selling mobile phones in Delhi.

UNI