Telecom service provider Aircel today said it plans to invest USD 1.4 billion (over

RELATED ARTICLES Telecom tariff hike seems unavoidable Telecom licences issued to company in 2001 or prior: RCom GSM operators add 7.5 million users in Dec Telecom stocks up on Trai’s new proposal

Rs 6,474 crore) this year on expanding its operations and become a pan -India GSM operator by June.

"We plan to invest USD 1.4 billion this year for expanding our networks and on existing operations. By June 2010, we plan to have operations in all 23 telecom circles in the country," Aircel Chief Operating Officer Gurdeep Singh told PTI.

Talking about the company's future investment plans, Singh said Aircel will invest another USD 2.6 billion in the next two years (2011 and 2012).

At present the telco operates in 18 telecom circles across the country. It plans to launch its service in the remaining circles of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Punjab by June, making it a pan-India operator.

Aircel is also aiming to triple its subscriber base to a record 100 million users by 2012, said Aircel Director Sandip Das, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Maxis Communications.

Malayasia's Maxis Communications controls Aircel. At the end of January, Aircel had a subscriber base of 33 million.

Aircel is at the fifth place among pure GSM operators, with a market share of 8.38 per cent after Bharti, Vodafone, Idea and BSNL.