Call forward: Tata Tele aims at top slot by 2011
The Economic Times - September 13, 2006

Tata TeleServices (TTSL) may have been the last of the major cellular operators to roll out services, but the Tata-owned [company] aims to be among the top two players by 2011. Having charted an ambitious growth strategy, the unlisted telecom firm is eyeing nearly 100 million subscribers in the next five years. The Tata group is known to be among the industry leaders in sectors where it has presence, like steel, power and automotive. "The Tatas don't enter a market to be number five or six. We have to be number one or two. We have a scenario that'll get us there by 2011," TTSL CEO Darryl Green told ET.

TTSL is the fifth largest cellular operator with a subscriber base of over 12 million and revenues of over $1 billion. It added around 1.1 million subscribers in August. The company has been increasing users by 0.5-1 million every month since October last year after it changed the telecom industry dynamics by introducing free lifetime-incoming plans. TTSL has outlined a capex of Rs 4,000 crore for the current fiscal and plans to rope in 18 million users by March next. The company has already pumped in over Rs 1,000 crore in the first four months of FY07. "We plan to invest Rs 4,000 crore this year," Mr Green said.

The investment is being funded through borrowings from banks and from the money raised from a stake sale to Temasek Holdings. TTSL, which offers telecom services under the Tata Indicom brand, currently has 6,500 base stations across the 20 circles where it operates. "We plan to add over 3,000 stations during this year (fiscal)," said Mr Green. Of these, at least 1,500 sites will be on a sharing basis. TTSL shares its passive infrastructure (base stations) with Bharti Airtel, Hutchison Essar and Idea Cellular.