Tata Tele lines up Rs 4000 cr for tier II, III towns

Tata Teleservices (TTL) will be investing close to Rs 4,000 crore, in 2006-07, to extend its network to 4,000 towns, most of them in the C and D categories. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal circles will benefit the most from the network expansion by the Tatas.

TTL Chief Executive Officer Darryl Green spoke about the company's intent on increasing the subscriber base from the current 10 million to 18 million by the end of this financial year.

He is in the city along with Hyunbai Kim, vice-president and head of CDMA (code division multiple access) division for Samsung Telecommunications India Pvt Ltd, to launch a new Samsung handset made exclusively for TTL CDMA users.

"We have struck a deal with Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer ZTE Corporation for the installation of 2,600 base stations "� mostly in remote areas "� over the next 18 months. The technology they use enables us to begin service at stations where electricity is scarce, but small diesel generators are sufficient. The eastern part of the country will get the most out of this deal," said Green.

The company was not very confident about making profits in the current financial year, although it was optimistic about invading the portions of the country that are not covered by radio networking. Such spaces constitute 70 per cent of the Indian land mass, he said.

Speaking about the third-generation (3G) technology, Green said the Indian government should be aware of the extensive spectrum needed for it and allocate spectrum fairly to service providers.

The company was also thinking of getting into the global positioning system through its CDMA services. However, till the time such services were officially permitted in India, the programme would remain stalled though the technology is in place, Green said.

TTL, which already works with LG, ZTE, Haier, Motorola, Nokia and Kyocera for providing handsets to subscribers for its mobile telephony services, has been working with Samsung for the last one year for CDMA handsets. The 'Hero' is the third and latest launch from the Samsung stable exclusively for TTL.

The company is in talks with Samsung for the launch of six other phone models for TTL subscribers, each at an interval of three months.

The Hero, an entry-level CDMA handset with anti-theft mobile tracker and emergency SOS alert and priced at Rs 1,499, is expected to make one million unit sales in four months.