Mtnl Prepares To Outwit Rivals

Confronted with stiff competition from Hughes Tele.com in Mumbai, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd is gearing up to match its rival's marketing prowess. MTNL is, for the first time, offering a nine per cent discount on the total billing of high-end corporate customers in Mumbai so that they do not cross over to their rivals. However, companies have to ensure 25 lakh calls in two months to be eligible for the special offer. "We have to take permission from the ministry of communications for giving any rebate to our customers, unlike our competitors, who can provide rebates any time they want to," says Kishore Kumar, deputy general manager of MTNL in Mumbai. That's not all. MTNL is also offering freebies to its corporate clients. For instance, international frequent fliers who work in companies that are MTNL customers will be offered a Thomas Cook credit card membership free of charge. "We intend to issue 250 such cards this year, of which we have already issued 130," said Kumar. To retain corporate customers, MTNL is also introducing bulk billing, wherein just one bill is processed against 400 telephone lines, and electronic clearing scheme, which allows the client to automatically clear its telephone bills by giving standing instructions to its bank to debit the bill amount. Of course, MTNL officials are not too worried about losing corporate clients to Hughes. Says Kumar, "Most of these contracts by Hughes are on a trial basis ...they still remain our clients." The company is also lContinued on Page 8 challenging its competitor on the technology and products front. It has introduced digital loop carrier systems (DLCS), which offer multiple services through one rack to a client who has more than 300 telephone lines in his office. In simple terms, it means that the corporate need not go in for separate connections for ISDN, leased line, Internet connection and data transmission ""it can all be merged into one connection. "Priced at Rs 25-30 lakh, DLCS allows customers to connect to any medium through one single rack in the customer's premises connected to the local exchange via optical fibre cable," Kumar said. He said Mumbai MTNL has sold 30 such DLCS and 130 more are in various stages of being installed. Some of the customers who has bought these racks includes ICICI, Times of India, India Leasing & Finance Services and Wockhardt. To improve client servicing and customer relationships, MTNL has set up a special task force which will send representatives to its clients to assess their needs and demands and also register complaints. "We have also set up a task force to keep a tab on corporate customers and identify their demands and level of satisfaction," Kumar said. The impending threat of competition means MTNL Delhi is also not taking any chances. MTNL Delhi is expanding its optical fibre network base to the doorstep of its corporate clients. "This year we plan to lay 1,000 km of optical fibre connecting key places in Delhi to provide bandwidth on demand to corporates. We have already completed one-third of the project," said K H Khan, chief general manager of MTNL in Delhi. He also said that next year's plan is to lay 2,500 km of optical fibre to high density zones. "As pricing is not our prerogative, what we intend to offer is better technology and services for our premium customers," Khan said.