Bangalore: Private telecom player Tata Teleservices today (July 20, 2004) said it would invest Rs 417 crore in Karnataka this fiscal in expanding capacity and target an additional 4.5 lakh connections in the State.

Tata Teleservices, Karnataka Circle Chief Operating Officer, Prabhat Pani told reporters in Bangalore that the firm would invest Rs 417 crore this fiscal, in addition to the over Rs 800 crore it has spent on license fees and on infrastructure.

"We have about 1.9 lakh subscribers now and plan to grow three fold to touch 6 lakh by the end of this fiscal," Pani said, adding, the growth would be even in both fixed wireless and mobile services.

He said Tatas will be setting up 250 new cell sites to strengthen its network across the State and take the total number of sites to over 300 by December, with a capacity to handle over 8 lakh subscribers.

Pani said the firm would introduce prepaid services this quarter, besides commercially rolling its push-to-talk services. Besides Karnataka, Tata Teleservices, he said, was expanding coverage in all the 6 states where it is currently operating.

Declining to specify the revenues earned during 2003-04, Pani said, the company aims to grow its revenue three fold this fiscal.