Idea Cellular completed its North India rollout with the launch of its services in Jammu and Kashmir.

J&K has achieved a tele-density of 34.46% for its 1.25 crore population.

The initial launch covers Jammu City, Bari Brahmana, Bishnah, Katra, Udhampur, Jammu-Katra Highway at the start of operations with other places including Srinagar, Lakhanpur, Badgam, Anantnag, Mattan, Kulgam, Pulwama, Shopian, Ganderbal, Patan and Sumbal to be covered before the end of the calendar year including

Idea will have over 300 cell sites in the state covering 62 population centres in 14 districts of the state. It will have a 4,500 retail network in J&K by March 2010

Announcing the launch of operations, Mr. Ambrish Jain, Director - Operations, IDEA Cellular said, "IDEA's innovative and customized products and services, and superior network have enabled us to become the fastest growing mobile operator in the country. Our network and offerings in J&K have been designed keeping in mind the mobile communication needs of the people of this state. IDEA subscribers in the state will experience superior connectivity, whisper clear audio quality and zero call congestion on our network. IDEA will aim to drive penetration in the market enabling larger number of people in the state to gain access to mobile telephony services".

The operator has lined up special voice portal with rich content in the areas of News, Sports, Entertainment, and other regional content in Dogri and Kashmiri languages for its subscribers in J&K.

Its launch scheme offers subscribers local calls for 40 paise per minute and STD for 60 paise per minute. Local SMS will be charged 40 paise while national SMS will be charged 60 paise. The offer is available for Rs 49 with a talk time of Rs 5 and 3 months validity.

Idea is now left to cover only Kolkata & West Bengal, and Assam & North East to complete its pan-India coverage which it aims to achieve by the end of the current fiscal.