- BSNL will provide its existing sites, including operation and maintenance services, on a shared basis
- Company is first private telecom operator to sign such a landmark agreement
Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), India’s fastest-growing pan-India telecom service provider, today announced the signing of a landmark ‘Master Services Agreement for Passive Infrastructure Sharing’ with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), becoming the first Indian private telecom operator to enter into an agreement of this nature. The agreement—which is valid for 15 years—will be applicable to both Tata Teleservices Limited and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited in all of India’s 22 telecom Circles.
“This is a moment of pride for us, as we have become the first private telecom operator to enter into such a strategically important agreement with BSNL, one that will allow us to expand our telecom footprint across the country much more quickly,” Mr Madhav Joshi, President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Tata Teleservices Limited, said.
The agreement comes at a very strategic time for Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML), as both companies have been aggressively expanding their network presence on the CDMA side with Tata Indicom, while also rolling out GSM services under the TATA DOCOMO brand name. “In the short space of just three months, we have already rolled out our GSM services in nine Circles—Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh and Haryana,” Mr AG Rao, Chief Technology Officer, Tata Teleservices Limited, said. “This agreement has the potential to not just speed up our network expansion and rollout process, but would also have a substantial impact in terms of reduced costs,” he added.
Under the terms of the agreement, TTSL and TTML will have access to thousands of BSNL towers all across the country.
About Tata Teleservices Limited
Tata Teleservices Limited is one of India’s leading private telecom service providers, having a pan-India presence across all of India’s 22 telecom Circles. The company offers integrated telecom solutions to its customers under the Tata Indicom, Tata DOCOMO, Photon and Walky brands, and uses both the CDMA and GSM technology platform(s) for its wireless networks. Tata Teleservices Limited, along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited, operates in more than 325,000 towns and villages across the country. In November 2008, Tata Teleservices entered into an agreement with Japanese telecom major NTT DOCOMO, and this transaction marks a key step in the strategic evolution of Tata Teleservices Limited. Tata DOCOMO has so far launched GSM services in nine telecom Circles, and the remaining part of the country is also expected to be covered shortly. In December 2008, Tata Teleservices announced a unique reverse equity swap strategic agreement between its fully-owned telecom tower subsidiary—Wireless TT Info-Services Limited—and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Limited, thereby becoming the largest independent entity in this space. Tata Teleservices’ bouquet of telephony services includes mobile services, wireless desktop phones, public booth telephony and Wireline services.
For details, visit www.tatateleservices.com, www.tataindicom.com, and www.tatadocomo.com.
