Hughes Tele.com India Limited (HTIL), which has been acquired by Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), will be renamed as Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited and the “Hughes” brand name will be phased out to bring in TTSL’s “Indicom” brand name for fixed line services and “Mobitel” for the yet-to-be launched limited mobility (WLL) service.

At a Board meeting held on Friday, the Board of HTIL was reconstituted and named Dr JJ Irani and S Ramakrishnan as Chairman and Managing Director respectively. The other members on the board include Tata Finance’s Chairman Ishaat Hussain, Tata Sons’ Executive Director 
R Gopalakrishnan, Tata Industries’ Managing Director Kishor Chaukar and Tata Power’s Managing Director Firdose Vandrevala.

Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) formally completed the acquisition of a 50.83 per cent stake in Hughes Tele.com India Limited (HTIL) on Friday and has also completed the subsequent 20 per cent open offer, taking TTSL’s total holding in HTIL to 70.83 per cent.

The independent directors are Pradman Kaul and NS Ramachandran. In a press release, the company has said that the Board will be expanded shortly to include the third independent director.

TTSL has so far invested a total of Rs 7500 crore in all its basic services circles. “This includes the equity investment that TTSL has made in HTIL” said Mr Ramakrishnan. He confirmed that the WLL service was scheduled to be launched in Maharashtra during the first quarter of the next financial year for which the investment outlay is Rs 500 crore and the company is understood to be in negotiation with several handset manufacturers. TTSL’s product portfolio comprises a host of voice and data products and services, all of which will be eventually launched in Maharashtra.

The Maharashtra circle will be headed by Ajay Pandey who will be the COO of HTIL. According to Mr Ramakrishnan, TTSL is targeting a revenue of Rs 600 crore for FY03 and Rs 4000 crore over the next five years. HTIL’s open offer document indicates TTSL has registered a revenue of Rs 150 crore for FY02.