BPL Mobile in Rs 1,000 cr infrastructure upgrade plan

BPL Mobile plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore to develop infrastructure in the next 12 months with a special focus on the Maharashtra circle. The service provider has also decided to launch push-to-talk services from next month. It will introduce multi-player gaming soon.

Krishna Angara, executive vice president, BPL Mobile said: "The company intends to raise Rs 1,000 crore for infrastructure development through a combination of internal accruals and vendor financing."

The company has embarked on an 'operation claw back' to re-capture its market share in the country. Angara said that the company has taken initiatives with a special focus on Maharashtra circle. BPL is now in the third position with Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) and Idea Cellular leading the pack.

BPL Mobile is working on a three-pronged strategy under its 'operation claw back.' The strategy includes investing in enhancing network coverage, bringing in cutting edge technology and delivering value to consumer through products and services. The company has decided to install 550 base stations across its circles.

Angara claimed that the company has completed the first phase which included network coverage, brand visibility and unique product promotions.

"We are into the second phase of investment which will enhance the network coverage and technology. We expect to have at least 4 million customers same time next year".

BPL Mobile has a total subscriber base of 2.01 million of which Mumbai alone contributes over 1 million. Angara claimed that the blended (post-paid and pre-paid) average revenue per user for the company was Rs 750 per month.

BPL Mobile has also registered an impressive 90 per cent growth in the last seven months across its circles. "We have achieved impressive revenue growth and consistently have achieved quarter-on-quarter revenue growth", Angara added.

Kunal Ramteke, marketing controller, BPL Mobile said the company will be introducing interactive multi-player gaming. It is also upgrading its network in Maharashtra circle to GPRS enabled technology. BPL Mobile has around 30,000 GPRS customers in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, BPL Mobile is also offering caller ring back tones, a network feature that allows to pre-set a ringtone that will be heard by the caller, and push-to talk services over a GPRS platform which will help a subscriber use mobile phone as a walkie-talkie.

These initiatives are being rolled out under its value-added services, which contributes to around 12 per cent of the total revenues of the company.

The GPRS contributes a little over 1 per cent of the total revenues of the company, Angara added.