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| TATA DOCOMO Rings in GSM Service | |
| Announcement / Corporate June 24, 2009, 20:07 IST | |
Pay-for-what-you-use, Per-Second Paradigm Comes to India.
"Moment of triumph for the Indian consumer": Ratan Tata.
- From today, subscribers can call anywhere in India for just 1 paisa per second
- Starts national rollout with Chennai and Tamil Nadu
- Best coverage at the time of launch—775 towns and 4,370 villages in TN
- Complete South India rollout within a fortnight
- Country-wide service rollout to be completed this year itself
TATA DOCOMO, the GSM brand of Tata Teleservices Limited, today announced the commercial launch of its operations in India, beginning with Chennai and Tamil Nadu. The company’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 Union Minister for Telecommunications and Information Technology Thiru A Raja. 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, Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons, said: “The value proposition offered by TATA-DOCOMO is a unique and revolutionary idea which symbolizes the spirit of innovation and inventive genius. 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.”
TATA DOCOMO also unleashed a wide array of products and services at the launch, riding on the back of path-breaking innovative products and services, and never-before tariff options. “We had made a promise that we would bring to the country products and services that would redefine the telecom experience,” Mr 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. From today, TATA DOCOMO subscribers will now be able to enjoy the benefits of ‘pay-as-you-use’, at only one paisa per second for all voice calls across India,” he added.
NTT DOCOMO is acknowledged as the global leader in 3G technology and respected worldwide for its futuristic product innovations.
In a video-address, Mr 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-modeTM, Location-based Services (LBS) and mobile payment—and give TATA DOCOMO customers a flavor 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.”
Announcing some very aggressive pricing and customization options, Mr Deepak Gulati, President, TATA DOCOMO, said: “In a market that is cluttered with many operators and throws up confusing options, we will offer simplicity to consumers by being the country’s most transparent, innovative and liberating telecom brand. The first move on this front is to cut through the clutter and redefine the entire pricing paradigm—from Day One of our launch, we will work on a per-second pricing model for almost everything, be it voice calls, VAS services, IVR interactions. Above all, we promise to always listen to our subscribers.”
“We are focusing strongly on network superiority, coverage and service offerings. Our presence in 775 towns and 4,370 villages makes our network footprint the largest among all telecom operators in Tamil Nadu, at the time of launch,” Mr Yatish Mehrotra, TATA DOCOMO’s Hub-head for South India, said. “TATA DOCOMO promises to make everyday life simple and more enjoyable for its subscribers by delivering useful new products and simply, trustworthy and transparent services. TATA DOCOMO products will be available in nearly 20,000 outlets very shortly,” he added.
The company has earmarked an investment of $2 billion on its pan-India GSM network rollout.
TATA DOCOMO also announced the introduction of 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.
Superior Technology and Network
From the day of the launch, the reach and coverage of the TATA DOCOMO network is greater in Tamil Nadu than that of any other operator at the launch stage. The TATA DOCOMO GSM mobile service will have extensive coverage in cities and towns, along 2,115 km of the state’s highways, at airports and along 1,897 km of rail routes, and at places of tourist interest. In fact, across the Circle, all 17 religious centers of importance in the state have been covered by the extensive new network.
NTT DOCOMO has played a major role in the evolution of mobile telecommunications through its development of cutting-edge technologies and services. Over the years, technologists at NTT DOCOMO have defined industry benchmarks for 3G technology, as also products and services such as i-mode and a plethora of lifestyle-enhancing applications. Today, while most global telecom players are only beginning to talk of 4G technology and its possible applications, NTT DOCOMO has already recorded a downlink transmission rate of 250 Mbps over a high-speed wireless network in an outdoor test of an experimental system for Super 3G, also known as LTE, and is targeting to complete the commercial development by the end of 2009. This will hold TATA DOCOMO in good stead as it launches GSM services.
About NTT DOCOMO
NTT DOCOMO is the world’s leading mobile operator and provider of advanced mobile services. The company serves over 54 million customers in Japan, including 48 million using i-mode™, the world’s most popular mobile e-mail/Internet platform, and 49 million using FOMA™, the world’s original 3G mobile service based on W-CDMA. As a leader in the development of cutting-edge mobile technologies, DOCOMO is continually expanding the role of mobile phones as versatile and highly personalized "lifestyle tools" for everyday life, including with a wide range of innovative services for mobile payments, GPS, mobile TV, multimedia content and much more. NTT DOCOMO is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM) and New York (DCM) stock exchanges. For more information, visit www.nttdocomo.com.
FOMA and i-mode are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DOCOMO, INC. in Japan and other countries.
About TATA DOCOMO
TATA DOCOMO is Tata Teleservices Limited’s telecom service on the GSM platform—arising out of the Tata Group’s strategic alliance with Japanese telecom major NTT DOCOMO in November 2008. Tata Teleservices Limited has received a license to operate GSM telecom services in 19 telecom Circles and has also been allotted spectrum in 18 of these Circles. It has rolled out its GSM services in Tamil Nadu, and the other Circles in South India will also go live shortly. TATA DOCOMO marks a significant milestone in the Indian telecom landscape, as it stands to redefine the very face of telecoms in India. Tokyo-based NTT DOCOMO is one of the world’s leading mobile operators—in the Japanese market, the company is the clear market leader, used by over 50 per cent of the country’s mobile phone users. DOCOMO, the world’s leading mobile operator, will work closely with the Tata Teleservices Limited management and provide know-how to help the company develop its GSM business.
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