With steep competition in the voice-based telephone services eroding profit margins, telecom service provider MTS is now targeting the data subscribers, specially those who use these non-voice based services while on roaming.
Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL), which provides mobile services under brand name of MTS, today said to encourage such high speed data subscribers to use the services while on international roaming, the company will start selling mobile phones that will support both CDMA and GSM connections.
"To initiate prepaid roaming for CDMA subscribers means collaborating with both CDMA partners supporting prepaid roaming and also with the GSM network providers. This also requires to provide convenience to subscribers so that they did not require to inter change sims in CDMA and GSM networks," SSTL's Chief Marketing and Sales Officer Lenny Musatov said.
The company will launch multi-mode phones (supporting both CDMA and GSM connections) from October. It will in the price range of Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000.
At present, MTS has 1.72 million data subscribers in India. Its total subscriber base as of June, 2012 was 16.5 million. Out of the overall revenues, MTS gets about 26 per cent of its revenues from data services. However, the company declined to share how much revenue it gets from International roaming services.
Besides, working on devices, to give customers who are travelling to countries where there is no CDMA network, MTS is working with the CDMA development Group (CDG).
The CDG, founded in December 1993, is an international consortium of companies who work together to lead the growth and evolution of advanced wireless telecommunication systems specially, CDMA. The CDG is comprised of service providers, infrastructure manufacturers, device suppliers, test equipment vendors, application developers and content providers.
GSM and CDMA are technologies, used by telecom service providers in India to offer mobile telephony services. While, GSM service providers use 1,800 MHz and 900 MHz band, CDMA players use 800 MHz
"We are regularly working with carriers (service providers) to provide international roaming facility to CDMA users. Through multi-mode handsets (phones supporting multiple technology like CDMA and GSM), we are trying to provide international roaming facility in where there is no CDMA network," CDG Chairman Federico Nienstadt said.
He said that 115 CDMA out of 331 operators across globe have signed international roaming agreement. CDMA technology has around 15 per cent market share in global mobile phone market. In India, MTS is the only pure CDMA operator.