Rank 68 - Koshika Telecom

The
"Baatein jyada dam kam" (talk more pay less) company had mixed
fortunes during last year. While it got caught in DoT’s licence net in some
places, it did exceptionally well where it escaped the net. The company
continued being the brave child of the cellular industry, daring to tread where
others have hardly dipped their fingers–the rural and semi-urban markets.

The year did not begin well as its licence was cancelled in
UP (West), Bihar, and Orissa. The reason: It failed to pay up 20 percent of its
licence dues to DoT. Though this came as a major blow to Koshika’s plans in
these circles, its confidence was not fully affected. It put all its efforts in
the UP (East) circle and came up with a good performance. During the last
fiscal, it more than doubled its subscriber base there from 43,986 to 88,111.
The service revenue during last fiscal (mostly from this circle) amounted to an
impressive Rs 55 crore. It continued to make cellular services affordable
through comparatively dirt-cheap tariffs.

Koshika Telecom showed its interest in the Internet pie, taking up an
"A" category ISP licence. It has already put up seven cyber dhabas in
UP, which basically are PCs interfaced with the GSM cellular network. These
dhabas have facilities to send and receive e-mails in addition to voice calls
and fax transmission. Its sister company, ITIL, which is developing a WAP
solution, can come up with a solution for Koshika Telecom, if it wishes to
provide mobile Internet through its cellular networks in addition to becoming an
ISP.