It Statement Drags Cellular Sales Down By 30 Per Cent

There has been a 30 per cent fall in sale of cellular phones following a statement by the Income Tax authorities which said that cellular phone subscribers would be questioned on tax compliance.

Disclosing this to media persons here, J T Mobiles vice-president and head, Andhra Pradesh region, K S Reddy said the heat was already on the operators due to a 40 to 45 per cent shortfall in terms of projected subscribers and the new development had made the situation worse.

He hoped the department of telecommunications(DoT) would take an early decision on a two-month moratorium over payment by cellular operators which would provide them considerable relief. Reddy was talking to media persons at the launch of Voicemobile, a voice-mail service introduced yesterday for JTM subscribers.

He also announced JTM had been granted permission by DoT for the national roaming facility. Reddy said the mobile dialling facility introduced earlier by JTM was a big success, since the service worked out cheaper than STD.

The service is now available in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Guntur and Visakhapatnam.

He also informed that JTM would soon go in for a backbone network involving an investment of around Rs 100 crore.

JTM would also penetrate into the Telangana region, covering towns like Warangal, Nizamabad and Karimnagar. JTM hopes to operate in 40 to 50 centres in Andhra Pradesh by 1999-end.

Queried about the charge, which alleged JTM was underselling its services, Reddy said customer interest was paramount and in a competitive environment, the company had to cut costs to remain in business.

He ruled out JTM being part of a cartel to maintain high charges for services.