NEW DELHI - Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd (MTNL) Tuesday launched its third-generation (3G) telephony services in the national capital and Gurgaon as part of its second phase of expansion in this area.

The state-run company also extended the 3G services to the pre-paid subscriber segment. Areas covered in the capital include the central district, south and the eastern parts.

The services under the brand name "Jadoo", first launched in February, were initially available only in Delhi's NDMC areas and that too as a post-paid, monthly-billing service.

The services will be extended to Dwarka, Karol Bagh, North-Delhi West and other areas in the next phase, an MTNL statement said.

The move to extend support to pre-paid customers comes after the initial rollout with an investment of Rs.300-400 crore (Rs.3-4 billion) failed to achieve the targeted subscription in the past four months.

"MTNL is launching 3G Jadoo pre-paid Services for the customers with the objective that the customer should be able to avail of latest 3G/3.5G services at an affordable price. Since pre-paid is the preferred mode by the customers, this will meet the customer requirement," MTNL chairman and managing director R.S.P. Sinha said in a statement.

The company, which currently has the capability to cater to about 150,000 subscribers, last month launched Jadoo in Mumbai, the only other market besides the national capital for the state-run utility.