Hutch crosses 50 lakh subscribers in Gujarat

Hutch, the leading cellular service provider in Gujarat, on Wednesday announced it has crossed the 50 lakh subscribers in the circle and has maintained its position of being the largest operator in the circle.

Hutch has maintained a market share of over 48 per cent, month-on-month this year to touch the 50 lakh mark. Hutch is also planning to invest over Rs 1,000 crore in the state through initiatives during the present fiscal. Hutch invested over Rs 330 crore during the last financial year in the state.

With this, Hutch has over two and a half times the subscribers compared to its nearest competitor in the region.

Addressing media here Sunil Sood, operations director, Hutch - Gujarat said over the last 12 months, Hutch has focussed on rural penetration and its programme 'Har Gaon Hutch Gaon' helped Hutch reach the interiors of Gujarat, bringing communication to the smallest of villages. Over 65 per cent of Hutch Gujarat's subscribers now come from rural Gujarat.

Hutch has added over 3,000 towns and cities and today covers more than 10,500 towns & villages in Gujarat.

This network expansion into rural markets was further enhanced by providing a service counter for face to face interaction in more than 226 towns and installing more than 20 Self Service Kiosks catering to urban areas as well.

"Our initiatives in Gujarat have been in tune with local requirements and we have always had a clear vision of where we want to be. We aimed at garnering the highest market share and knew our strategy must have rural as well as urban focus, helping us touch all the corners of Gujarat, bringing the benefits of communication to the smallest of villages and largest of cities. Today, our focus and drive have resulted in making Hutch the brand of choice for over 50 Lakh customers," said Sood.

According to Sood, initiatives like post office tie-up have ensured that customers have all their communication needs fulfilled at their doorstep. The introduction of innovative services like 99 Recharge, Chota Recharge, 495 Lifetime, Bonus Cards and SML (Small, Medium, Large) further helped Hutch to grow from a thirty lakh subscriber base in August 2006 to fourty lakh in February 2007 and further, to fifty lakh as of today.

Hutch also launched a first of its kind Call Filter service for its subscribers on Wednesday from Ahmedabad. This service will enable subscribers to take control of their incoming calls and filter unwanted calls by blocking specific numbers.

Call Filter will enable Hutch subscribers to block the numbers they do not want to receive calls from. When a call is received from a blocked number, the caller will hear the message "" "The Hutch subscriber you have called does not wish to receive your call right now, please try again later."

Harit Nagpal, director - marketing and new business, Hutch, said, "Even though mobile phones have become an integral part of our everyday lives, incessant calls from unwanted numbers takes away a lot of time from our busy schedules. "Hutch claims it's Call Filter service would help subscribers identify such callers and avoid their calls. This service is our next step after the Do-Not-Disturb initiative to protect the privacy of our subscribers."