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Reliance plans customer care centres

By Shanthi Kannan

CHENNAI APRIL 2. Reliance Infocomm Ltd is proposing to set up `Reliance web world' stores across the country. These outlets will act as customer care centres and facilitate direct interface with customers.

A Reliance Web World store will have three lines of businesses. It will comprise a telecom-related customer convenient centre, broad brand centre and food and beverages centre.

According to Raja Vaidyanathan, Chief Operating Officer (Tamil Nadu) of Reliance Infocomm, the customer convenient centre will be concerned more about products that the company is going to handle. It will undertake sale of products and services. It will mainly deal with sales of telephones both mobile and landline phones. It will be basically a one-stop shop for various telecom accessories and other items. The second line of its business, broadband centre, will provide a platform for high-speed surfing, video conferencing and gaming even while enabling downloading of digital music and CDs for select group. The third line of business, the food and beverages centre, will see the opening of `Java Green', an eatery. It has tied up with Qwicky's Coffee Shop for this.

Mr. Vaidyanathan said the first line of businesses of the Web World had already gone operational. By July this year, broadband and food and beverages centres would be opened. Reliance Infocomm was planning to open nearly 820 stores in 673 towns. It would have a combination of both franchise and Reliance models. The company would open 125 stores in Tamil Nadu by the end of June. In the first phase, it would open 28 stores and of this, nearly 12 would come up in Chennai and the balance in other places.

The size of the stores would vary from 500 to 4,000 sq. ft. and the revenue would be shared equally between these two models.

He hoped much of the revenue would come from sale of telephone instruments and its accessories.

On the lines of Web World stores, the company was also planning to open Small Automotive Exchanges (SAX) in 37 rural areas using CorDuct technology. It would also be in the franchise model. It was planning to open nearly 88 stores using WLL (wireless in local loop) technology and 37 SAX in rural areas. He hoped that Reliance Infocomm would get the interconnect facilities in the next few weeks.

The company, he said, would announce a new tariff structure soon. The new tariff structure would not insist on post-dated cheques. At present, the subscription fee is Rs. 3,000. This has to be accompanied by post-dated cheques for Rs. 600 for three years.

As of now, 400 minutes free talk time is available per subscriber per month. Under the new tariff structure, the subscription fee will be Rs. 6,350 and the monthly rent of Rs. 500 clubbed with the existing facilities. The new scheme will be valid up to June 30.

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