Aircel launches 3G services in India

BENGALURU, INDIA: Aircel, which made its presence felt in the year 2010 with an impressive pan India network rollout, continues its growth momentum by announcing the much awaited launch of its 3G services. Aircel is the undisputed market leader in Chennai and Tamil Nadu, besides Assam and North-East.

Year 2010 was a watershed in the company's history as it crossed an all-India subscriber base of over 50 million subscribers and was among the fastest growing mobile companies in the country with its strong focus on youth, emerging markets and innovative date offerings.

During the year, Aircel made a strong commitment to the potentially fast growing data market in India, by grabbing a strong suite of 3G and BWA licenses. Aircel has already been the first Telco to get consumers to experience 3G, by creating a 3G experience zone in November, 2010.

Aircel is the fastest growing telecom service provider having rolled out 2G services in the shortest time frame in recent times. Aircel has recorded the fastest growth in revenue. In year 2010, revenue grew by 44 percent over 2009 and the incremental revenue market share grew by 19 percent in year 2010.

Aircel is a joint venture between Maxis Communications Berhad, a leading regional telecom group headquartered in Malaysia and the Apollo Hospitals Group. Maxis Berhad, its Malaysian subsidiary, the no. 1 operator in Malaysia, was recently voted among the five best run Telcos in the world and has the distinction of being among the top global Telcos with a fine mobile data record.

Sandip Das, Group CEO of Maxis, said: "This has been an important year for us in the Indian market, where we finally established our pan India presence, while keeping a date with India's future by successfully gaining a foothold on 3G and BWA licenses at the auctions. The Aircel team has shown strong execution skills staying much focused on our strategic intent in a crowded market, where we were given little chance to succeed.

"Our commitment to the market is underlined by the investment of over $8 billion we have made already and a further 3 bn USD we plan to spend in the next three years. Maxis has been outstanding data player and Aircel has the unique opportunity to take advantage of this by accessing content on a real time basis, besides building on its own inherent data pedigree. We see ourselves as a leading player in the next phase of India's telecom, internet and broadband play. We see mobile terminal devices giving Internet a new lease of life in a data starved environment as wide band data networks, starting with 3G, shrink distances."

Data has been at the core of Aircel‘s strategy, built on its astute PocketInternet positioning which captured the imagination of the youth, resonating almost instantly. Aircel represents the modern face of India's contemporary youth market, championing the future of telephony in India around the growing potential of the multi-functionality of the ubiquitous mobile terminal device and 'the world of possibilities' it will unleash across multiple segments, with the inclusion of underserved geographies.