Kolkata: Malaysia based leading telecom services major Maxis Communications plans to invest $4-5 billion by 2010 to strengthen its network in India, a top company official here said.

"We will invest $4-5 billion in the Indian market by 2010. The investment will be made to beef up our pan-India presence here," Maxis Communications CEO Sandip Das told reporters while launching Aircel's GSM mobile service Monday.

He said the total amount would be invested through debt and equity.

Maxis Communications holds 74 percent share in Aircel Cellular, which operates in 10 telecom circles in India, and Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd controls the remaining part of the mobile operator.

"We will build 15,000 more towers in 2008-09 to expand Aircel mobile network across the country. All these towers would be developed with an investment of $1.6 billion. Presently we have around 7,000 towers in India," Das said.

"Aircel has over 10.8 million customer base and about 18.2 percent of market share in the country. The company has also posted a revenue of $500 million in 2007," Aircel chief operating officer (COO) Gurdeep Singh said.

"We are expecting to double this turnover by 2009," he said, adding that Aircel also has plans to launch BlackBerry services in a couple of months.