Tata Indicom eyes 100 mn subscribers by 2011

New Delhi, Sept 22: Telecom major Tata Indicom is eyeing 100 million subscribers by 2011 and has earmarked Rs 100 crore to rope in at least 18 million subscribers by March next year, by setting up 800 exclusive retail stores across the country.

In a bid to get 'close and personal' to its current subscriber base of 12 million, Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTLS) which offers telecom services under the Tata Indicom brand, will launch new outlets in city malls, high streets, kiosks and super markets.

TTSL will expand its retail stores to 3,500 from the current 2,700 outlets across 100 cities and towns, out of which 25 per cent will be established in the rural areas across the country.

''We are looking at 100 million subscribers in the next five years. As part of the brand building exercise, the company will add 800 more outlets to touch 3,500 outlets by March next year,'' TTSL Circle Operating Officer (Delhi and NCR) Debashis Sur told reporters here today.

The company will set up 38 True Value Shops (TVS) and 8-10 True Value Hubs (TVH) for the Tata Indicom users in Delhi and NCR at an investment of Rs 30 crore out of the Rs 100 crore package, Mr Sur said.

With the festive season just around the corner, the company also plans to launch one new handset model every month, he said but declined to give further details.

TTSL is also looking at other initiatives like 'retail on wheels,' which will enable the company to reach its customers in every nook and corner of the country without the customers going to the service centres, to increase its penetration and ensure easy accessibility to the company's products and services.

The company currently has 6,500 base stations across the 20 circles where it operates and intends to add over 3,000 stations during this year, Mr Sur said.

Of these, atleast 1,500 sites will be on a sharing basis with Bharti Airtel, Hutchison Essar and Idea Cellular.

In addition, the company today entered the Limca Book of Records for opening 100 retail outlets or TVS across the country in a single day.

TTSL today stands as the fifth largest cellular operator with revenues of over 1 billion dollars. It added around 1.1 million subscribers last month.

The company has been increasing users by 0.5 to 1 million every month since October last year after it introduced free lifetime incoming plans.

UNI