Tata Tele rolls out BREWChat-based service

Tata Indicom, the telecom business of the $11.2 billion Tata group, has launched push-to-talk (PTT) services, based on Qualcomm's BREWChat technology, for the first time in India.

The key benefit of PTT is that it allows a customer to instantly call a group of people at one time from any place. The service will be initially tested among corporates as it suits their operations and will be rolled out commercially next month.

The special handset, which will have an exclusive button for PTT, will be priced between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000. The company has said that it will not only come out with schemes that will enable existing users to exchange their handsets, but also ensure that tariff as based on fixed costs as well as on a per call basis.

Tata Indicom has partnered with Qualcomm, a leading CDMA technology player, as well as Kyocera, a San-Diego-based CDMA handset manufacturer, to offer the PTT service.

While tariff plans for the service are yet to announced, it will definitely augur well for its airtime usage as the caller will be able to speak to a group of people at one time.

Amit Bose, president-telecom, Tata Teleservices, said, "All operators are working towards a gateway for interoperability. In the near future, we are sure that it will apply to PTT service as well. As we are not placing this product for high-end customers, we will make sure that the tariffs will encourage mass adoption."

Stating the benefits of PTT, Bose quoted the experience of Nextel, a $12 billion mobile operator which has the highest ARPUs (average revenue per user) and the lowest churn rate among all mobile operators in the US.

"As a result of the carrier's DirectConnect services, its ARPU each month is $70 higher than the average ARPU. It has an annual churn rate of only 2.1 per cent, the lowest in the industry," Bose added.

As part of its expansion plan, the company will also invest $2 billion, after recently acquiring universal access services licence for 12 new circles.

So far, the group has already invested $1,200 million and is present in 8 circles. Tata Indicom said it plans to increase its customer base from 2 million to 10 million within 12 months.

Tata Teleservices, which has a workforce of 5,500, to support its massive expansion drive is recruiting personnel for its 12 new circles and will create over 20,000 jobs by March 2005. This will include 10,000 indirect jobs through outsourcing.

Today, the company serves nearly 2 million customers in over 50 towns. It plans to be present in 1,000 towns in 19 circles by March 2005.