New Delhi, June 7 : Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL), the joint ventures of Russia's Sistema and Shyam group of India, Tuesday reported a net loss of Rs. 666.4 crore during the quarter ended March 31, owing to increase in operational costs following its expansion across all circles.

The revenue, however, grew 201 percent at Rs. 236 crore against Rs. 78.6 crore during the like period of the previous financial year.

"The capital expenditure investments made by SSTL in India to date stands at Rs. 5,800 crore. This includes the investment of Rs. 297 crore made during the first quarter of 2011," the company said in a statement.

"Consolidated debt from banks and financial institutions now stands at Rs. 5,584 crore," it added.

The average revenue per user of the company, which operates its telecom services under the brand name MTS, remained steady at Rs. 80 against a declining trend in the market. It reported 10.5 million subscribers as on March 31, an increase of 19 percent over the previous quarter.

"The growth in subscriber base of the company was largely driven by further strengthening of the distribution network, an increase in its retail universe across India and contribution by newly launched circles," the statement added.

"For the first time, our revenue growth during the quarter was faster than our growth in wireless subscribers. This is a strong reflection of our continued efforts to target quality customers."

The telecom service provider also expanded its mobile data services to 130 cities in India, including all five metros during the end of the quarter under review. The number of data subscribers increased by 36 percent over previous quarter's 580,000.(IANS)