Tata DOCOMO to cover 18 circles by Dec

Tata Teleservices is confident of rolling out its GSM service "Tata DOCOMO" in seven more circles by December this year, a top official has said.

Currently, Tata Teleservices operates its GSM service in 11 circles. "We are confident of covering 18 circles by December," company Managing Director Anil Sardana told reporters here last night.

"We have also applied for licenses in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and North East. We are on schedule of becoming pan India operator," he added.

Out of the total 23 telecom circles in the country, the company has rolled out GSM services in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, and Kolkata, Mumbai and Rest of Maharashtra.

Sardana said the company would focus more on Value Added Services (VAS). As there was tremendous dependency on handsets in terms of VAS, the company has tied up with mobile handset manufacturers to offer better services.

"Our objective is to bring more 'affordable' handsets to enable customers enjoy VAS. We have been making bundling offers (phone + connection) to customers," he said.

The company had launched stores titled "Dive-In" showcasing the VAS concepts for customers.

To a query, Sardana said 14 per cent of the company's revenues came from VAS. "We hope to increase it to 20 per cent by the next three years."

He said the company was also working on a VAS concept where a parent would be able to track their school going children. "This application is under testing. We need to get the regulatory approvals," he said.

The application would be embedded on the ID card of the student so that it would enable the parents to keep a track on their wards.