Confident of getting reasonable return on our investment: Himanshu Kapania

Interview with Managing director of Idea Cellular

Himanshu Kapania, managing director of Idea Cellular, speaks to Sadananda Mohapatra. Edited excerpts:

Internet data charges are expected to drop with the emergence of large players such as Reliance Jio and you have also announced to roll out 4G services from 2016 onwards. Do you expect data charges to drop sharply with increased competition?

Pricing is an interplay of demand and supply. Most of us are expanding our supplies with the belief that demand will
surpass supplies. Let us see what happens.

Competitive intensity usually results in price wars. Do you expect the same in data?

Telecom is an infrastructure-based industry and large outlays have happened in terms of spectrum auction payment and infrastructure set up. We are very confident that we will be able to get reasonable return on our investment.

Some of your competitors are expected to offer 4G services bundled with a compatible device. Is Idea also planning to do the same?

We have done that (bundling) before when we launched 3G. As we are getting ready to launch 4G services, it is important for us to make sure that affordable 4G handsets are available in the market. We are evaluating all options including working with device manufacturers and marketers so that subscribers can get 4G devices at affordable prices.

In the financial results, you have mentioned that the company will roll out its own range of digital services as part of expanding its value-added services. Can you elaborate on that?

As the demand grows, consumers are looking for more content and applications. We will be providing services in utility, information, entertainment segments as well as open our platform for start-up app creators, who will get an opportunity to market their product through us.