115 towns to get WiMax service

Mumbai: Tata Communications will take its WiMax service to 115 towns in this fiscal from the present 60, besides launching broadband-WiMax service in four to five cities, a top company official said.

'The government has announced that it will auction spectrum. Once the spectrum is alloted, we plan to take the broadband-WiMax service to four-five cities,' Tata Communications CEO and MD N Srinath said.

At present, the company uses underground cable network to provide WiMax service. But it faces 'quality problems' because of 'last mile connectivity problems'.

Using broadband would improve the quality of the WiMax service, he said.

WiMax is a telecommunication technology that provides wireless data.

The company would invest $2 billion in the next three years as part of its capital expenditure, Srinath said.

The investments would go in laying submarine cable systems and rolling out WiMax service, he added.