Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTL) is all set to roll out its CDMA-networked Tata Indicom services in 12 additional circles of the country. Starting with Jharkhand, especially Jamshedpur, from the fourth week of September, it would have extended its reach from the existing eight to 20 telecom circles in the country by March 2005. Starting from Andhra Pradesh in 1977-78,the company today operates in the ‘A’ category circles of Chennai, Gujarat, Karnataka, New Delhi, Maharashtra, Mumbai and Tamil Nadu circles, which together account for around 65 per cent of the telecom revenue potential in the country. 

Speaking to FE on the sidelines of a press conference, the TTL president, Ajay Pandey, said that the company has plans to bring within its fold, 330 more cities by March 2005. The company has an investment plan of around Rs 3,000 crore. Of this, the company has earmarked around Rs 150 crore for Bihar and Jharkhand in the first phase of its arrival in the two states, Rs 45 crore for Jamshedpur alone where it is targeting one lakh subscribers, including a call centre. 

BSNL and Reliance Infocomm are already present in Jharkhand, in the mobile telephony business, while Airtel is also planning to enter the state shortly. Among its Tata Indicom services bouquet, the company would, to begin with, launch its fixed wireless phone (FWP) and its post-paid mobile service. “We may even launch the pre-paid mobile service on a national scale during the launching of our services here in Jamshedpur,” said Mr Pandey. TTL doesn’t have a prepaid mobile service at present. 

“We want to give a good quality service, which is associated with the Tata brandname,” he added. TTL also plans to bring in its network circles like West Bengal, Orissa and around 15-16 cities in Jharkhand and Bihar. Other Jharkhand and Bihar towns to be taken up by the company in the first phase include Ranchi, Patna, Hajipur, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Chaas, Arrah, Chhapra, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Gaya, Hazaribagh and Ramgarh. The 12 new circles for which TTL has recently acquired a ‘universal access service licence’ (UASL) are the erstwhile Bihar (including Jharkhand), Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, UP (East), UP (West), West Bengal, Kolkata, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala.