Aircel, a joint venture between Maxis Communications Berhad (Malaysia) and Apollo Hospital Enterprise, launched its GSM services in Delhi on Wednesday. Since February, Aircel has entered Kerala and Karnataka markets, besides Andhra Pradesh.
Aircel is India's fifth largest GSM mobile service operator and has a 6.31% market share with 17 million subscribers by the end of February. With the launch of its Delhi operations, Aircel marks its presence in 14 out of 23 circles in the country.
According to Sandip Das, director, Aircel and CEO, Maxis Communications, Aircel has pan-India licence and has been allocated the spectrum. With the launch in 4 more circles to be completed by April, Aircel will cover all the 23 circles in the next 24 months, Das told reporters. Malaysia's Maxis Communications Bhd owns 74 percent of Indian mobile operator Aircel.
Das further said the company has already spent/committed $5 billion for nation-wide cellular network rollouts through 2009 and a further $5 billion will be invested by 2011. "We have raised $1.8 billion through debt and the balance will be raised through a mix of debt and equity", he said. "We may also look at a public offer once the economy looks up," he added.
Despite the uncertainty over the reserve price, Das said that Aircel is a serious player and would bid for 3G spectrum at a base price of Rs.2, 020 crore. Das also reportedly ruled out the possibility of hiving off its infrastructure business into a separate company any time in the near future.
In Delhi, Aircel is now the seventh mobile operator. With one of the highest per-capita income in the country, Delhi boasts nearly 90% teledensity, the most important factor in determining the penetration of telephone lines in the region. Delhi's other six mobile operators include Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, MTNL, Tatas and Reliance Communication.
For starters, Aircel is offering a lifetime validity scheme for prepaid mobile customers at Rs.299 that allows users to make local calls at Rs.1 for the first minute, 60 paise for the second minute and 40 paise from the third minute onwards.
It has launched four different tariff plans targeting different potential customers from all the major segments - business and corporate, youth and students, migrant population from North-East, Bengal, Bihar and UP. Aircel's business users can call and message local Aircel numbers for free while the STD Aircel to Aircel tariff will be 50 paise.
Aircel has a sponsorship deal with the Chennai Super Kings, one of the Indian Premier League teams, with M S Dhoni as its brand ambassador.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.