You Telecom, a Citigroup-owned broadband service provider, plans to spend Rs 300 cr for launching services in 14 new cities across the country.
MUMBAI: You Telecom, a Citigroup-owned broadband service provider, plans to spend Rs 300 crore for launching services in 14 new cities across the country by the end of 2008.
The company said it is open to equity dilution for funding this expansion, which is expected to be completed by the end of the next calendar year.
The new cities You lanning to enter include Delhi, Kolkata, Chandigarh and Kochi. At present, it has provides services to around 15 lakh homes across 12 cities and has a market share of around 40% from its operating areas.
E V S Chakravarthy, chief executive officer (CEO), You Telecom, told DNA Money: "We are ready to dilute minority stake if required to fund our massive expansion plans but it should be a strategic investor."
"We are expecting to add another 5-7 lakh new subscribers by rolling out broadband services to newer cities and turnover would touch Rs 250 crore in next three years," he added. The company also plans to focus more on the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
"The potential of SMEs is very high as the segment heavily depends on the high speed broadband. Moreover, our 30% revenue comes from this segment," he said.
The company provides hybrid fibre and coaxial (HFC) network for its broadband connectivity across Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad, Vardadora, Rajkot, Vizag and Navi Mumbai.
According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) latest figures, the total broadband connections have reached 2.47 million by the end of July with an addition of 50,000 subscribers.
According to an analyst with a domestic brokerage firm, broadband rollout in India has been slow and service providers need to deliver connectivity, end-user device and content as an affordable package to the subscribers. India currently has only around 3 million broadband connections though it has a target of 9 million broadband subscribers by the year-end.
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