Tata Tele to cover 200 talukas
Business Standard—December 5, 2005

Tata Tele Services Limited (TTSL) plans to cover 200 talukas of the state, Jagrut Vyas, chief operating officer for Gujarat state, Tata Tele Services Limited (TTSL), told Business Standard in Rajkot.

"We are aiming for steady growth by increasing our connectivity, customer base, STD PCO networks and retail outlets across the state in near future," claimed Vyas.

Connectivity for Tata Indicom users has always been one key element of concern.

Vyas said, "Presently we are covering 150 talukas of the state and are likely to touch 200 talukas by end of this financial year, except Amreli district, our subscribers are accessible".

Till date, no appropriate telecom connectivity infrastructure had been made available in Amreli district of Saurashtra and so there was low penetration there. "We are hopeful this will work out soon," said Vyas.

TTSL recently launched its non-stop scheme for users looking for mobile phones on a limited budget.

"Under the scheme, customer can avail a handset and keep on receiving incoming calls non-stop for two years, add-on with non-stop scheme would be that the talk-time on recharge amount would be 100 per cent and would have validity of two years, which no other competitor offers," said Vyas.

On the response received in recently launched territories, Vyas said, "The recent launch in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh have led to up a base of more than 150,000 subscribers with a presence in just 50 towns there".Subscribers seeking limited mobility was choosing TTSL as service provider.

TTSL had set up a chain of STD PCO booths erected across the state.

Vyas said, "In this segment we are far ahead of with a network of 50,000 STD PCO booths with a cabin type of set-up".

Though price of the STD PCO booths erected by TTSL was higher, it received tremendous response because of the tamper-proof billing system and aesthetics of the design of the STD PCO booth, he claimed.

The company had recently started setting up 'True Value Shops'.

Presently, it had 200 outlets operational in Gujarat.

TTSL was looking for increasing the network of True Value Shops offering subscribers choice of handsets and schemes as well as access to other value added services.