Tata Teleservices is getting ready to launch its wireless in local loop (WLL) services in Maharashtra. The company is charting out an aggressive pricing strategy to capture a sizable portion of the highly lucrative but competitive market. It plans to spend Rs 350 crore on rolling out WLL services in five cities in the state. Tata Tele COO (Maharashtra circle) Ajay Pande confirmed that the company would launch its WLL services in five cities in the next eight to ten weeks.

"We will invest Rs 350 crore on our WLL rollout in Mumbai, Pune, Nasik, Aurangabad and Nagpur," Mr Pande said. Last year, Tata Tele took over the operations of Hughes Tele.com, which has a licence to provide basic telecom services in Maharashtra and Goa. With Hughes Tele subsequently being renamed Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd, Tata Tele will roll out its WLL services in the state under the Tata Indicom brand.

The company is looking at garnering 1.5 to 2 lakh subscribers in the first year of operations. Tata Tele will employ an aggressive pricing strategy, sources said. The company is planning to provide LG and Kyocera handsets in the Rs 5,000 range. Customers will also be offered financing options. The basic tariff commitment could be lower than the current Rs 2,600 charged under its Indicom plans. "We are definitely working on new tariff plans. Maharashtra is a very critical market for us, and we will ensure that our tariffs are the most attractive," Mr Pande said.

He did not elaborate on the tariff structure for the service. Tata Tele currently has two tariff packages—Indicom 2000 and Indicom 3000. Under the Indicom 2000 package, it charges a rental of Rs 450 and handset charges of Rs 150 per month. Customers get 570 minutes of free outgoing calls, after which they are charged Rs 1.10 for a three-minute call. They also get a 20 per cent discount on international long distance calls. Sources said the pricing for Maharashtra may be even more aggressive. Tata Tele has already launched its services in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Delhi.