'We are open to sharing infrastructure in Gujarat too'

Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTL) is going to launch its basic telephony services
in the Gujarat circle, in Q3 of this year. The company is in the first phase of
rolling out its network in the state and is waiting for frequency allocation.
Jagrut Vyas, chief operating officer, TTL spoke to VOICE&DATA about his
company’s plans. Excerpts:

How big will be your network and which towns do you plan to cover in the
first phase?

After commencing operations in the third quarter of this year, we plan to
cover major towns and cities, such as Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat and Rajkot, and
other important areas in the first phase, by March 2003. We are going to wire up
the entire state in a phased manner in the next seven years. We are using both
wireline and wireless for this purpose.

Jagrut Vyas

What is the ratio of wireline and wireless in your network?

Our mix for wireline and wireless subscribers over the next three years
would be 25:75. In the initial phase, as the network rolls out, this is going to
be even more skewed towards wireless, as it is easier and faster to roll out.
Our wireless infrastructure is almost ready. Switches are already deployed in
Ahmedabad and Surat. We will have 60-70 cell sites in place during the first
phase. We intend to offer 3G 1X CDMA-based mobile and fixed services.

What is the project’s capital outlay and the projected subscriber base?

We are going to invest Rs 1,000 crore in the first five years. Out of this,
we will spend Rs 200 crore by March 2003. Tata Teleservices expects to achieve a
customer base of 75,000 to 100,000 subscribers in the first 12 months.

How much of fiber optic cable have you deployed so far and what are your
future plans?

TTL will have around 465 km of fiber network between Gandhinagar and Umargaon by
the time of the launch. We are working towards deploying 1,900-km of backbone
network in the state.

What is your VPT target?

The new license comes up with a different kind of an obligation. The SDCAs
are categorized into urban, semi-urban and rural areas. By the end of August
2003, we have to cover 15 percent of each of these categories. This is the
obligation. Gujarat has around 162 SDCAs and we are supposed to cover 28 SDCAs
by the end of 2003, and create a PoP in all these places.

Will you share infrastructure in Gujarat as you have been doing in Andhra
Pradesh?

Yes, we are open to the idea of sharing infrastructure. We are in talks with
Fascel, GAIL and Bharti for leasing ducts and bandwidth.

What is your marketing and QoS strategy?

We have segmented our subscribers into corporates, SMEs, households, and
PCOs. We will address the corporate segment with direct sales force and the rest
through channel partners. Being a total telecom company means helping customers
to access the solution or services they need, by having width and depth of
products and services, and the skills to integrate them.

MT Jeevan