Bpl Us West, Birla At & T Lock Horns

BPL US West Cellular and Birla AT&T Communications, the two cellular operators in the Maharashtra - Goa circle are engaged in an intense battle for greater marketshare.

The first salvo in the city was fired by BPL US West which claimed that it had for the first time overtaken Birla AT&T by cornering a 53 per cent marketshare as of December 1997.

We are the market leaders in Maharashtra - Goa circle and we say this on the basis of revenue paid to DoT in the month of December, asserts P Swam-inathan, head, BPL Mobile Maharashtra.

Sandeep Chakrabarti, vice president (marketing), Birla AT&T said: BPL US West is ahead in Kolhapur and Nagpur therefore it could have an element of truth that their overall revenues have increased that of US. But he adds, Roaming and SIM card usage could have added to their revenues.

 

Revenue paid to DoT does not indicate the number of subscribers and it could also be STD cost paid to DoT and therefore has nothing to do with the market share.

BPL US West claims a total subscriber base of 30,000 while Birla AT&T says that it has a base of 25,000. Subscriber size is a closely guarded secret and sources say that both the rivals make bloated claims.

While refusing to comment on the subscriber claims of its rival, Chakrabarti says that he is confident that the entire picture will change once they make forays in Aurangabad, Satara and Kolhapur with their launch of cellular services in March next.

Chakrabarti claims that Birla AT&T has a marketshare of 60 per cent in Pune ,while in Goa it has a share of 70 per cent. BPLs performance in Goa has been dismal as it has not been able to build its infrastructure - cell sites and therefore is unable to reach all the major cities of the State. Swaminathan admits that they have had problems in building their infrastructure in Goa. Though pricing of air time usage by both the rivals is almost similar, what differs is the packaging of incentives for the cellular subscriber.

Swaminathan claims to be the first in ideas and ahead in launching various packages to subscribers, but admits that first does not necessarily mean the winner of market share. The experience in Mumbai is ample evidence. He, however, refuses to comment on the Mumbai experience on the ground it is not his circle, but seems to have taken a cue from it and decided to launch a pre-paid SIM card to subscribers in Pune.

Birla AT&T was quick to counter BPLs move by launching its own pre-paid SIM card on the very same day. Chakrabarti says that the launch time was mere coincidence.