Jt Telecom Plans Internet Foray

JT Telecom, promoted by JT Mobile consortium, plans to enter mobile trunking and Internet services market.

"We are exploring options in these sectors and we will finalise the plans in a couple of months," a JT Mobile official told Business Standard. JT Telecom was initially promoted to provide basic telephone services but lost out in the bidding process. The company had earlier toyed with the idea of entering satellite communication sector.

JT Telecom has been jointly promoted by United Telecom (31 per cent), Sanmar Group (20 per cent), Telia AB of Sweden (26 per cent), Jasmine Telecom (13 per cent) and Telecom Organisation of Thailand (10 per cent).

"We have sunk in quite an amount in this company and venturing into Internet service is the logical option for us as we expect the market for this is expected to increase sharply," the official noted. "Teamed up with cellular service, our Internet service can be a good package for the consumers as we can effectively value-add to both the services," he added.

Talking about the mobile trunking business, he said, "The market in this area is still emerging and established companies such as Motorola have already entered the market. We are testing the waters for this venture and we will invest at an appropriate time."

Later talking about reports that some of the partners pulling out of the consortium, the official declared, "There is no change in the stake holding in the consortium and I don't think either Jasmine or Telia are pulling out."

JT Mobile it is learnt has posted loss in the range of Rs 100-150 crore on a turnover of around Rs 50-60 crore. "The company can be comfortable only when the company touches a subscriber base of around 1 lakh," the official added. Meanwhile, Ericsson which has set up the network infrastructure worth Rs 80 crore for JTM has extended the credit unconditionally.

"Ericsson believes that in the long run, Indian cellular service providers will make profits and will continue the relationship with them. It is based on this, Ericsson has extended the credit to us unconditionally," the official added. It is also learnt that loans worth Rs 340 crore through IDBI led consortium has finally been cleared and the first tranche of Rs 170 crore is expected to flow into JTM shortly.