Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL), which offers mobile services in India under the brand name MTS, today announced that the Government of the Russian Federation has approved an equity investment about USD 600 million to infuse funds in the company.
The funds would be used for the expansion of MTS's services in India. Presently it has 12 operational circles : Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu (and Chennai), Kerala, Kolkata, West Bengal and Sikkim, Bihar (and Jharkhand), Delhi, Karnataka, Mumbai, Haryana, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
According to the company officials it will launch CDMA Mobile and EVDO data services in UP (East), UP (West) and Gujarat by the end of this calender year and expects to start services across the remaining circles by 2011.
SSTL, a CDMA operator with pan-India spectrum is a joint venture between Russia's Sistema and India's Shyam Group. Sistema has a 73.71 per cent stake in the joint venture, while Shyam Group holds a 23.79 per cent stake in the company and the remaining 2.5 per cent is held by the public.
