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Mr M.A. Madhusudan, Chief Operating Officer, Tata Teleservices, addressing a press conference as the part of the launch of Tata Indicom's mobile service in Kerala. — K.K. Mustafah

Kochi , May 4

TATA Teleservices Ltd, the telecom company of the Tata group, today launched its Tata Indicom mobile phone services in Kerala, where it plans to invest Rs 575 crore in the current fiscal.

Tata Indicom, which is the sixth operator in the State, is targeting to have two lakh subscribers in Kerala by the fiscal year end, said Mr M.A. Madhusudan, Chief Operating Officer of Tata Teleservices.

"Kerala is adding 60,000 to 80,000 mobile phone subscribers every month for the past six months. The market is far from saturation at this point of time," Mr Madhusudan said at a press conference.

Tata Indicom, which is using the CDMA technology, will offer handsets starting at Rs 1,499 and pre-paid cards that give talk-time for the full value in Kerala. As an introductory offer, free SMS would be offered till June 30.

In the initial phase, coverage would be available in 100 towns and by December this year, an additional 256 towns are to be covered. The company has set up 60 `True Value' exclusive shops and their number would be ramped up to 200 across the state by end of the year.

In addition, Tata Indicom products would also be available in over 1,000 outlets.

Mr Madhusudan said the company has earmarked an investment of Rs 575 crore for beefing up its telecom infrastructure in Kerala. A part of this money has already been invested.

The company had already launched its fixed wireless phone services in the state. "We have had 70,000 customers for this services," he said. This service is expected to have a subscriber base of 2.5 lakh in the current fiscal.

As for interconnection with the other CDMA service provider, Reliance Infocomm, he said discussions are currently on between the two companies to ensure hassle-free service to the customers.

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