Tata Teleservices has become the second telecom operator in India to offer both CDMA- and GSM-based mobile services. On 30 December 2008, Reliance Communications became the first telecom service provider to offer mobile services on both CDMA and GSM platforms.
TTSL’s next-gen GSM service started on a heady note, with TTSL managing director Anil Sardana making the first phone call from Tata DoCoMo’s 3G-ready network to A. Raja, union minister for telecommunications and IT. Tata DoCoMo’s pan-India service rollout will be completed this year, with South Indian circles going ‘live’ in a fortnight.
In a message at the launch press conference, Ratan Tata, chairman, Tata Group, said, “This launch is truly a moment of triumph for the consumer. The launch of pay-per-use, per-second concept offered by Tata DoCoMo will create a paradigm shift in the overall telecom experience for the customer and provide a service that is refreshingly different.”
Anil Sardana said, “It is a privilege to be fulfilling that promise first in the Tamil Nadu circle — where subscribers are discerning and seek transparency, innovation and differentiation. Our partnership with NTT DoCoMo will help us provide our subscribers with tremendous technological and service differentiation. Keeping in view the century of trust associated with the House of Tata, we are launching the concept of fare being fair.”
In a video address, Toshinari Kunieda, senior vice president and managing director, global business division, NTT DoCoMo, said, “NTT DoCoMo has provided technical inputs to make the Tata DoCoMo GSM network world-class. Progressively, NTT DoCoMo shall bring to India the various products and services that we offer in Japan and many other countries — such as i-mode, Location-based Services (LBS) and mobile payment — and give Tata DoCoMo customers a flavour of tomorrow. TTSL and NTT DoCoMo are closely engaged in integrating technology, value-added services, products and applications through the mechanism of Business and Technology Cooperation Committee (BTCC). This should see Tata DoCoMo change the way India communicates.”
Deepak Gulati, president, Tata DoCoMo, said, “From day one of our launch, we will work on a per-second pricing model for almost everything, be it voice calls, VAS services and IVR interactions. Above all, we promise to always listen to our subscribers.”
Tata DoCoMo products will be available in nearly 20,000 outlets very shortly. The company has earmarked an investment of $2 billion on its pan-India GSM network rollout.
Tata DoCoMo has also introduced the pay-as-you-use advantage for many of its value-added services, including all its voice portals, 24-hour music, cricket commentary and voice chat. The company also announced free missed call alerts service to all its customers without any charge whatsoever. In addition, voicemail on Tata DoCoMo will be totally free for all subscribers with no burden of monthly rentals, no deposits and no retrieval charges.
