Tata Teleservices plans to enter three territories it has not penetrated so far: Assam, North Eastern States, Jammu and Kashmir.

"This is part of our overall strategy for a larger market share though initial investments may be higher in these territories than in other regions. At the end of 2006-07, we had 14 million customers, mobile and landline services together," Vikas Shah, president (Access business unit), Tata Teleservices, told The Hindu here on Saturday.

The hilly terrain of these regions would require base stations located atop hills to improve coverage and the Kashmir operations would have to comply with stricter security regulations, Shah said.

"Growing the numbers may not be too difficult in the near future, because telecom equipment costs may keep going down as with PCs, due to sheer increase in volumes as all networks expand," Shah said. Increasing income levels had already led to more people going in for telephone services.