Guwahati, April 13: AirTel today launched its mobile services in the Northeast and announced a Rs 120-crore investment in the region.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who received the inaugural call from Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and managing director of the Bharti Group, said, ?The launch of the (AirTel) service for the people of Assam has added another feather in your cap. Your growth has been very fast and it serves as an example for all the entrepreneurs in this country.? He also wished the people of Assam on the occasion of Bihu.

As Guwahati and Shillong are in two different telecom circles, calls made between these two places will attract STD charges. However, an AirTel to AirTel mobile call between the two places will cost only Re 1 if the connection is under the Rs 250 monthly rental scheme.

The company has established 50 base stations in Northeast ? the same number that it installed when the service was launched in Delhi in 1995. AirTel has secured a post-paid booking of about 5,000 connections and will launch the pre-paid connection before the month-end.

A senior AirTel executive said the company was aiming to secure about 1.35 lakh subscribers in Northeast by March 2006 since the market in the region is likely to grow to 5 lakh subscribers from the current subscriber base of 2.3 lakh by the end of 2005-06.

Mittal said, ?Our journey for leadership (in mobile business) started from a single mobile licence in a single city and today we celebrate it in our 23rd circle.?

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said the launch of AirTel services will help Assam have an alternative operator. ?It will play an important role in the state in view of constraints like roads and railway infrastructure,? said Gogoi.

The service will be immediately available at Dispur, Guwahati, Bymirhat, Shillong, Nongoph, and Umsning.