Firm increases focus on CDMA services.
Reliance Communications will buy two million CDMA handsets for Rs 340 crore from Chinese telecom vendor Huawei Technologies. The delivery of these handsets has started, and Reliance Communications plans to roll them out next week, according to sources.
Reliance Communications confirmed the move, but refused to divulge the details of the order.
These CDMA handsets, priced in a range of Rs 1,700-1,950 per unit, along with bundled value-added services (VAS), come with camera and FM radio, and have a one-press access to the VAS platform. The company will deploy these handsets in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.
CDMA service providers, unlike GSM service providers, give bundled offers, where a network connection comes with a handset — a concept pioneered by Reliance Communications in 2003. Reliance, one of the first CDMA players in the country, started GSM services in January last year.
The company is now going back to its roots to increase sales in the CDMA space and expects this strategy to increase VAS and data consumption. “We are leveraging our extensive CDMA capabilities to drive VAS revenues as part of a larger business growth plan,” said Krishna Durbha, head, VAS, Reliance Communications. The company is looking at data and VAS sales increase to make up for declining wireless Arpu (Average Revenue Per User) due to price wars in the telecom industry.
Reliance will offer a free bundled wallpaper pack from its R-World platform along with these handsets. The handset comes with a browser that enables customers to access entertainment-based VAS services. Film and music-related services have been one of the key drivers of the company’s VAS usage. Nearly 60 per cent of the company’s overall VAS usage is driven by entertainment services like caller tunes, mobile wall papers and mobile themes.
