Tata Docomo, the GSM brand of Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), today announced the commercial launch of its operations here, hot on the heels of its launch in ten circles in the country.
Addressing a press conference here, TTSL Managing Director Anil Sardana said, ''We are very happy to launch Tata Docomo, the next generation GSM service, in Kolkata. Knowing the city, we are providing the largest reach in Kolkata at the time of the launch.'' ''Tata Docomo offers a novel 'pay-for-what-you-use' model for subscribers in the city, with a pulse of one second, and a pricing of just one paisa per second,'' he said.
''Why should there be 60 minutes pulse and why should a customer pay 60 paise if he taaaalks for only 15 seconds? He should pay for what he used,'' he added.
''The value proposition offered by Tata Docomo is a unique and revolutionary idea which symbolises the spirit of innovation and inventive genius. The launch of pay-per-use, per second concept offered by the service will create a paradigm shift in the overall telecom experience for the customer and provide a service that is refreshingly different,'' Mr Sardana claimed.
Tata Docomo is a joint venture between TTSL and Japanese telecom major NTT Docomo. NTT Docomo has 26 per cent share in Tata Docomo.
TTSL entered into the strategic alliance for providing telecommunication services with NTT Docomo in November 2008.'NTT Docomo has played a major role in evolution of mobile communications through its development in cutting-edge technology and services,'' Mr Sardana said. Informing that the new generation teleservices has already been rolled out in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgagh and Haryana, he said the services included industry benchmarks like 3G technologies and product like i-Mode, e-wallet and a plethora of lifestyle-enhancing applications.
Currently the customer-base of TTSL was 50 million, he said, adding in this fiscal the company experienced 84 per cent growth rate against the market's total 50 per cent.
Tata Docomo president Deepak Gulati said, ''We are investing 2 billion dollar pan-India basis. The role out of the service is going on at the length and breadth of the country.'' Tata Docomo included a lot of value-added services like GPRS, news and a unique comic service, he said, adding currently 14 per cent of TTSL's revenue came from the value-added services.
The new generation telecom service would offer BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphones to its customers, he said and added that BlackBerry smartphones and services would provide customers with easy access to email, internet browsing and multimedia applications as well as thousands of business and lifestyle applications.
Tokyo-based NTT Docomo is one of the world's leading mobile operators. The company is the clear market leader used by over 50 per cent of the country's mobile phone users, he said.
