CDMA majors draw up big rural push

CDMA firms have roped in vegetable vendors to help them sell services.

The CDMA-based telephony operators "� Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) "� are sailing into unchartered territories to sell their products and services.

The companies have already roped in the most unconventional channel partners such as vegetable and grain vendors to help them sell services and offerings in every single village in the country.

Reliance Infocomm, the largest CDMA-based service provider, is planning to tie-up with vegetable and grain mandis, cable operators and cooking gas distributors among others.

The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises (ADAE) group is also planning to rope in farm product vendors, like irrigation pumps and tractor dealers under its rural foray.

"We are looking at selling our products and services through sabji and grain mandis and we expect this to enable us reach every inhabited place in the country. We are looking at tapping over 6.34 lakh villages and 6,000 towns, of which 4,000 has been already been covered," Reliance Infocomm head (rural marketing) Sanjeev Govil told Business Standard here today.

If this move gains momentum, Reliance Infocomm would become the first company to sell a sophisticated product through this rustic channel.

As CDMA phones are capable of performing multi-functions like viewing TV or connecting to the internet, educating the sellers is the priority. Reliance intends to train the owners of vegetable and grain mandis to demonstrate and sell the product, and to provide after sales services.

Coverage in remote towns like Jhumri-Talayya in Bihar, Javer, Tappal and Khair in Uttar Pradesh, Kufri and Naldera in Himachal Pradesh have commenced, while the rest is also expected to be completed soon.

Not to be left behind, TTSL has also begun marketing its services through the unconventional routes. The Tata group company, which sells its services under Tata Indicom brand, has started selling RCVs through pan and medical shops and hotels among others, apart from its 1,700 True Value outlets in the countries.

According to Harish Bhat President (Marketing) of TTSL, the company is looking at tapping the potential of the unconventional channels in semi-urban and rural areas to enable it reach the maximum number of customers in the country.

The company, which has over 7.1 million subscribers in the country, is looking at posting at around 9 million by the end of the current financial year.

Under the government's Universal Service Obligation (USO) initiatives, TTSL would offer services in 9 rural circles, including Uttar Pradesh (East and West), Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka and Rest of Maharashtra.