Tata Teleservices to reach 75 towns by year-end

Tata Teleservices plans to expand its coverage to 75 towns across Gujarat by the end of this year. The company has a presence in 13 centres in the state at present. Twelve of the new towns added on the company's map are in south Gujarat.

"We have already launched our services in Vapi, Navsari, Bardoli, Surat, Valsad, Palsana, Pardi etc in south Gujarat and intend to consolidate our presence by launching services in Billimora, Umargam and Chikhli in the coming weeks," said Jagrut Vyas, chief operation officer, Gujarat circle, Tata Teleservices Ltd.

"We launched our services in Gujarat in December 2002. The journey so far has been very eventful. We have achieved considerable success and are thankful to our subscribers," he said.

"We have invested in Surat and south Gujarat for scaling up our network coverage, which will ensure that our customers get a congestion-free network. Subscribers will also get seamless coverage and connectivity, even on highways," Vyas emphasised.

"Tata Teleservices had limited mobility due to the unified license regime, but today we are providing roaming and other facilities to our subscribers. Our value roaming services will help our customers save significantly on their mobile phone bills while travelling within the state or the country," Vyas said.

Vyas also spoke about the various new schemes such as 'Ek Se Bhale Do" and "Hum-Tum" offered by Tata Teleservices.

"We believe customers deserve the best and we can certainly claim that we offer the best value-for-money to customers. We are constantly increasing the number of our cell sites. We are also enhancing retail penetration to ensure easy availability of our products and services to customers," Vyas said.

Asked about the number of subscribers of Tata Teleservices in Surat, Vyas said: "I do not have the exact figures for Surat, but we have approximately 1 lakh subscribers, including mobile phone users and fixed wireless customers, in south Gujarat."

To a question about the total investment made by Tata Teleservices in Gujarat, Vyas said: "We have invested about Rs 750 crore in the Gujarat circle. Further investments will be made to cater to the growing customer base in the state and to significantly enhance the quality of services."

Tata Teleservices currently operates in eight circles, viz. Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Gujarat, Karnataka, New Delhi, Maharashtra, Mumbai and Tamil Nadu, having a customer base of over 20 lakh.

The company has acquired licenses to operate in 12 ore circles, which include Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West) and West Bengal.