S.P. Shukla in Calcutta on Wednesday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta, June 6: Reliance Communications has launched a special lifetime validity offer of Rs 222 for its GSM subscribers.

The telecom company has also introduced its Classic handsets in the GSM segment under a special offer of Rs 1,235. The package includes a Classic 2010 GSM handset, a prepaid connection, lifetime incoming validity and a talktime of Rs 10.

“We have introduced many schemes in the CDMA segment and this is the first time we have come out with a special offer for the GSM customers. Subscribers can also buy the Classic handsets in the GSM category,” said S.P. Shukla, president, personal business, Reliance Communications.

The lifetime validity scheme of Rs 222 includes a talktime of Rs 10, a service tax of Rs 24.42 and an administration fee of Rs 187.58. However, subscribers will have to recharge with a minimum of Rs 75 every two months.

The lifetime prepaid validity scheme initially carried a price tag of Rs 999. It was later brought down to Rs 495 and subscribers had to shell out Rs 200 as recharge fee after every 180 days.

Shukla said the company also plans to launch the Classic brand in the high-end segment.

The telecom firm expects to increase the coverage of its GSM services in the east to 9,000 towns from 2,000 by the end of the year.

On a national level, the coverage is expected to go up to 22,000 from 10,000. More than 25,000 mobile towers are likely to be built this year.

Reliance will invest $2.5 billion on expansion.

About three lakh connections are being added every month to the GSM subscriber base of four million.

Meanwhile, the company is awaiting allocation of spectrum from the government to roll out its GSM service nationally, a company official said today. The company had already applied for additional spectrum allocation to the government, Shukla said.

Reliance GSM service is available in eastern India under the brand name Smart.

It is the first GSM mobile service operator in eastern India.

Shukla said at present, reliance gsm service was spread across 2000 towns in eastern india, which would go up to 9000.

Rcom operates both gsm and cdma mobile services, with a total subscriber base of 32 million. With a subscriber-base of eight lakh in west bengal (rpt) west bengal, the groth rate in gsm connections was 10 per cent to 12 per cent during the last fiscal.

Shukla said rcom would invest around usd 2.5 billion to expand its wireless network, both in cdma and gsm. The likely investment for the gsm expansion would be about rs 3000 crore.

The basic infrastructure would be common for both cdma and gsm services, shukla said.

On a national basis, rcom plans to be present in 22,000 towns across the country from the present levels of 10,000, in both cdma and gsm. Pti dc pc pks 06061728 del