ByCell to invest $509 mln in telecoms in India

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Swiss firm ByCell has applied for licence to provide telecom services throughout India, and aims to initially invest 20 billion rupees ($509 million) on infrastructure, an official said on Wednesday.

"Our priority is for less developed telecom circles of Bihar, Orissa, Assam, North East, West Bengal," Andrey Polouektov, director of ByCell's India unit, told reporters.

"The penetration level in these regions varies from 1 to 5 percent, offering a good opportunity."

ByCell, whose application for licences in the five telecom services circles has been pending since January 2006, put in a fresh application on Oct. 1 for licences in the remaining 17 circles, he said.

About 30 firms have submitted around 300 applications to set up telecoms services in the world's hottest wireless market, where low call rates and rising incomes are spurring growth.

ByCell India is 74 percent owned by Switzerland's ByCell Holding AG. The remaining 26 percent is held by India's Bitcorp Pvt Ltd.

Polouektov said the firm aims to keep costs low by sharing infrastructure such as telecom towers and improving availability of cheap handsets at 1,000 rupees.

ByCell plans to provide wireless phone, broadband and Internet protocol television services in India, the first country where it will operate telecoms services.