Vodafone Essar, India’s second largest GSM service provider, is in an expansion mode. The company has raised a debt of about Rs 10,000 crore for network expansion and its entry into new segments including WiMAX and 3G services.
In March, Vodafone Essar took a lead over Bharti Airtel for the first time in the new subscriber additions. It added 28.5 lakh subscribers, about 0.5 lakh more than that of Bharti Airtel.
“We are using the bank facilities for various business purposes,” said official spokesperson of Vodafone Essar.
The debt has been arranged from SBI and is over a period of five years.
CRISIL has assigned its ‘AA/Stable/P1+’ ratings to Vodafone Essar’s various bank facilities.
Bidding for spectrum for 3G and WiMAX services will be be auctioned in the current financial year itself.