Mtnl To Outsource Services For Cell Network

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) has decided to outsource its call centre requirements for the existing cellular network in Mumbai. It will outsource the services to leading call centre operators for a year, senior MTNL officials said here on Thursday.

The decision is aimed at reducing operational costs. At present, the company offers cellular services under the Dolphin brand name and has a small team for its call centre needs. "As the cellular subscribers have been growing, we need to get call centre service from companies which have additional expertise in the business," officials said.

The call centre operator, as per the proposed one-year agreement, will handle customer enquiries and other requirements of MTNL customers. MTNL is yet to finalise the number of people for the call centre needs. The operator will offer service to MTNL users from its own premises.

According to the MTNL officials, the company's cellular subscriber-base has touched more than 86,000 in Mumbai as on February 15, while the company's Garuda brand of limited mobility services (Wireless in local loop services (WiLL)) has also received good response from the subscribers since it launched the services in the first week of January.

The state-run company has already given connections to more than 12,000 WiLL users in Mumbai. The company will complete the first year of cellular operations in Mumbai in the last week of February. "The substantial growth in cellular user-base was mainly because of our marketing plans," the officials said.

Its rivals, Hutchison and BPL Mobile, in Mumbai are also increasing their customers. Hutchison Max Telecom has a user base of 3.8 lakh in Mumbai, while BPL has 3.78 lakh as on December 31, 2001. Both BPL and Hutchison recently slashed their pre-paid rates after MTNL launched its Trump brand of pre-paid cellular cards in Delhi and Mumbai at economical tariffs.