Russian-owned Shyam Telelink is set to become one of the first new Indian mobile licensees to launch commercial services when in turns on its network in Rajasthan this week, reports India’s Economic Times. The operator, which is owned by Russian telecoms giant Sistema, has built more than 800 towers in Rajasthan and is scheduled to switch on the network tomorrow, the report says. The launch would be followed by a number of other Shyam networks in India’s southern circles going live within the next three months, sources close to the development said. Shyam has received a pan-India licence and spectrum in all of India’s circles using both GSM and CDMA technology.

Shyam Telelink is one of the nine Indian operators awarded mobile licenses earlier this year. Sistema has previously announced that it plans to invest US$5 billion over the next ten years in building-out Shyam’s network, which it eventually hopes will cover the whole of the country, and is aiming to become a top five mobile player in India with 60 million subscribers by 2017. All the new Indian licensees are reportedly in the process of securing funding and investment in order to launch services and have attracted interest from a range of international operators. Last week, UAE-based operator Etisalat paid US$900 million for a 45 percent stake in another new Indian mobile licensee, Swan Telecom.