Date:10/12/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/12/10/stories/2005121002620200.htm

Back Tata Indicom aims to cross 1-million mark

Our Bureau

Visakhapatnam , Dec. 9

TATA Indicom, which at present has nine lakh subscribers across 234 places in Andhra Pradesh, is aiming to cross the million mark by the end of the financial year and add 70 more places, according to Mr Prabhat Pani, the Chief Operating Officer, in charge of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Mr Pani, who was here in connection with the opening of a Tata Indicom True Value Hub at Gajuwaka on Friday, said at a press meet that the non-stop mobile offer (two years' validity period and free incoming calls) had elicited great response across the country and in AP and Karnataka too. "In November alone, across the country we could get a million new subscribers and in AP 79,327. In Karnataka, the figure is 68,000. The scheme is a great success," he said.

He said the company ranked first in November in acquiring new subscribers and "we are sure of attracting many more and retaining their loyalty by providing quality service."

He said the company was offering a number of value-added services to the customers and the tariff was competitive. Referring to True Value Hub, he said it was the exclusively designed sales and service centre to provide quality service to customers.

"There are 10 such hubs in the State and we are opening the first one in Visakhapatnam at Gajuwaka. We plan to set up two more here," he said.

Mr Pani said there was no additional roaming charge and the company was also setting up corridors across the states. "For instance, Tirupati is connected to Bangalore and Chennai. As we extend our services, we are planning more such corridors," he added.

Mr Sanjeev Malhotra, the General Manager, also spoke.