The Hindu : Tata Indicom scores over BSNL

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 09, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

Tata Indicom scores over BSNL

By Anil Sastry

BANGALORE MAY 8. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., (BSNL), the largest public sector telephone company, appears to be losing out to Tata Tele Services Ltd., (TTSL), which has came out with an attractive tariff package for fixed-line subscribers.

Though BSNL has an edge over the private operators regarding Internet connectivity charges, it needs to review other charges, particularly those for calls to CDMA mobile and cellular phones.

While fixed-line subscribers of BSNL are shocked by the new tariff, especially the rates of calls to CDMA mobile and cellular phones, TTSL's Tata Indicom has been offering fixed-line services at affordable rates, especially for these two services.

Tata Indicom provides fixed-line services and CDMA mobile services in Bangalore, Mysore, Mandya, Hubli, and Mangalore and plans to extend the service to 52 more towns by the first week of July.

The private telecom player offers seven tariff packages for its fixed-line services, starting from Rs. 250 a month to Rs. 2,250 a month.

Indicom's advantage lies in the rate of calls to CDMA mobile and cellular phones. While BSNL's pulse rate from landline to a CDMA mobile is 90 seconds (Rs. 1.20 per one-and-a-half-minute) and to a cellular phone is 30 seconds (Rs. 2.40 a minute), Indicom's is 180 seconds (40 paise a minute) for CDMA mobile and 60 seconds (Rs. 1.20 a minute) for cellular phone.

In fact, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recommended to BSNL 120-second pulse rate for CDMA mobile and 60-second pulse rate for cellular phones (in non-metros). It had also recommended that BSNL bring down the fixed-to-fixed phone pulse rate from the existing three minutes to two minutes. But BSNL did not implement the recommendations.

Ambitious plans

Tata Indicom's Chief Operating Officer for Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Sandeep Mathur, told The Hindu that the company would offer fixed phone services in 15 cities and towns of Karnataka by the end of May.

Mr. Mathur said Indicom was equipped to provide fixed line services operating on the CDMA platform (wireless technology) in any part of Bangalore and four other cities. Connection to Internet was also possible over fixed phones as Indicom used third generation (3G) technology, he said. When asked about the Internet connectivity charges, he said Indicom did not offer a separate package for Internet connectivity as of now. (BSNL offers 10-minute pulse rate during off-peak hours).

Tata Indicom had around 25,000 fixed-line customers in five cities and 18,000 CDMA mobile customers, Mr. Mathur said. "Our executives have been trained to offer the most suitable plan to the customer and we do not force any plan on customers," he said.

A majority of Indicom's fixed connections operated on wireless technology and there were some operating on wire connection too, he said.

SMS and Voice Mail

Mr. Mathur said the Short Messaging Service (SMS) facility would be offered not only to CDMA mobile customers, but also to fixed-line customers from next week. Initially, the SMS was enabled within the Tata network and, within a month, it would be enabled for all other networks.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

Stories in this Section

Lokayukta unearths funds embezzlement

Tata Indicom scores over BSNL

'You have a defective number plate, sir'

BATF generates interest in other cities

BESCOM to launch website soon