BANGALORE, INDIA:
Indian telecom sphere is all set to witness a tug of war with six new international telecom players set to enter the scenario.
Sistema Shyam Teleservices, a joint venture between Russia's Sistema and India's Shyam group, the only CDMA (code division multiple access) player of the lot, recently launched its services in West Bengal.
During an interview given to CIOL, Vsevolod Rozanov, president and CEO, Sistema Shyam TeleServices, said that CDMA is a better technology than GSM because it enables better utilisation of the frequencies available, and thus helps in bringing down the costs. Excerpts:
CIOL: The Indian metros and urban areas have attained saturation in terms of telecom density. So where do you see the demand coming from and for what?
Vsevolod Rozanov: If we have to grow fast, apart from expanding our footprint in new circles and getting new customers (first-time users), we have to wean away customers from the incumbents.
We believe there is a huge market for us to grow. While there are players who have the first mover's advantage, there is still a vast chunk of existing individual users who will find higher value for money in our tariff and billing plans.
CIOL: What are your investment plans for India? What will be the focus?
VR: We plan to invest $5.5 billion in India over a period of five years. We will utilize most of this projected investment over the next two years for setting up infrastructure that will enable accessibility and better connectivity for mobile phone users.
We have already invested more than $1 billion in setting up our network. We have launched the brand in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Chennai, Kerala and Kolkata. We are planning to launch services in Delhi by Q3 this year, and looking to foray into one circle every month.
We will eventually cover UP, Haryana and Maharashtra circles by the end of this calendar year. Thus, in the next nine months, the MTS brand will be seen in half of the 22 telecom circles across the country, achieving a pan-India footprint by mid-2010.
CIOL: Do you see a possibility of M&A going forward to meet the increased challenge? What is your take on infrastructure sharing among service providers to combat frequent network disruptions owing to issues like natural disasters?
VR: We are not aware of any significant player in the CDMA segment in India who is planning to hive off its telecom business.
We will have a combination of self-owned and shared infrastructure to ensure that we provide the best connectivity across the country. We already have tie-ups and agreements with various infrastructure companies across the country to ensure superior quality of service.
