Tata Tele eyes bigger share of PCO mart

Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL), which provides CDMA cellular, fixed wireless phones and wireline phone services under the name Tata Indicom, aims to be a leader in the pay telephone booth (PTB) market in the state.

With value added features and distinct benefits for both the customer and the booth operator, TTSL hopes to increase its share in the market.

"Tata Indicom currently enjoys a cumulative share of around 27 per cent of the PCO business in the state with over 12,000 units installed already. However, with the kind of benefits that we have on offer for both customers as well as operators, we expect to add 10 per cent to our market share within the next six months," Jagrut Vyas, chief operating officer, TTSL, Gujarat, said.

Currently, BSNL is the leader in the PCO market in the state with a share of over 40 per cent. TTSL and Reliance Infocomm make up for the rest.

According to industry estimates, the PCO/PTB business in the state is worth around Rs 110 to Rs 120 crore annually. Over 45,000 booths have been installed so far. About 3,000 new PCO booths are added every month.

Vyas added that, for the past few months, TTSL has been garnering between 55 per cent and 60 per cent of the incremental connections in the PCO business.

Stating that the company is working to make PCO outlets more than just calling centres, Vyas added that TTSL aims at a turnover of about Rs 50 crore from the PCO business this year.

"We expect this amount to double every year, which will form a sizable part of TTSL's revenues from Gujarat," he said.

Vyas alleged that Reliance Infocomm was using the method of promising more commission to PCO operators in a bid to win them over, but the operators were looking for more than just commission.

"Reliance Infocomm has attempted to lure operators from us by providing more commission. BSNL has also followed suit. So whatever gains that Reliance Infocomm might have made have been negated by BSNL. However, the strategy that TTSL is adopting is to provide best value to both customers and operators," he explained.

TTSL, which is present in 35 cities and towns in Gujarat is now aiming to both consolidate its presence in towns and other centres.

"Unlike the other two companies, Tata Indicom's service is prepaid and that is where the preference is coming from, as people do not feel cheated as they can keep a tab on how much they are spending," Vyas said.

He added that another distinguishing feature of Tata's PCO is that Tata Indicom has branded the product as Tata Smart PCO, providing stylish phone booths.