Business   

Reliance Infocomm's aggressive marketing plan

By T. S. Shankar

CHENNAI DEC. 13. With hardly a fortnight to go for the official launch, Reliance Infocomm, the next new entrant in the telecom sector, is giving final touches to an aggressive marketing strategy. The nation-wide launch is scheduled to take place on December 28, coinciding with the birth anniversary of the Reliance's founder, Dhirubhai Ambani.

While Anil Ambani, Managing Director of the Reliance Group, will participate in the launch function in Mumbai, the company's headquarters, his brother Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, is expected to switch on the system in Chennai. This move, according to industry sources, is to symbolise the commitment of the company and the significance it attaches to the southern region.

Detailing the plans of the `Reliance India Mobile', the brand name of the cellular products, company sources told The Hindu that the proposed services would be based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology platform to the subscribers. The service is compatible with several value add-ons such as data and photo messaging at a speed of 144 kbps. All these come at a specially designed package costing around Rs. 14,000 inclusive of the handset, the upfront rental charges for three years, and STD within the State and free airtime of 800 minutes. All ISD calls would however attract the normal DoT tariff. Beginning with the numeral 3, the numbers of the subscribers would have a total of 6, 7, or 8 digits.

An important customer-friendly strategy to be adopted by the company to accomplish the massive target of six lakh subscribers in Chennai, is that the company plans to provide an attractive three-instalment scheme to pay Rs. 14,000. But that will come with a penalty of diminishing rate of interest varying between 8 and 10 per cent.

Reliance Infocomm has placed orders for sleek looking mobile handsets with Samsung and LG, making it the single-largest company order in Asia. The mobile telephony will be made available in 18 circles, covering the entire country barring the North East and the Jammu and Kashmir region.

And as an inaugural offer, the company has decided to offer several freebies for the `early birds', including attractive high-value prizes.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam is poised to enter the mobile telephony scene in Tamil Nadu by March 31, making it the fourth player, in a competitive market that will be `customer-friendly'.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• PM's concern over slow economic progress
• Revival in industrial growth will continue in H2 — CII
• Jaswant for modern, efficient tax system
• Rally in HPCL, RIL, Telco lifts Sensex
• Rupee ends higher against $
• Progress on the disinvestment front
• SC permits ICICI Bank to take over Mardia plant
• No disinvestment proposal in BSNL, MTNL
• Reliance Infocomm's aggressive marketing plan
• Autopartsasia floats EoU
• Mastershare to become open-ended
• Sharp rise in gold prices
• Stock Market Index
• Exchange rates
• Bullion rates

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu