Tata telephone services to start by June 2003

Tata Teleservices Ltd., a Tata group company and one of the leading private basic telecom player in the country, will launch its basic telephony services in the state from mid June 2003.

Chief Operatng Officer of TTL, Gujarat circle Jagrut Vyas said on Monday that the company plans to invest more than Rs. 1,400 crores in its first five years, it plans o cover Ahmedabad, Baroa, Surat and Rajkot in tis first phase by early next year. Mr. Vyas siad the switcing equipment is already installed at Ahmedabad and Surat and 465 k.m. of optic fibre backbone is already built in the state.

Speaking about the services, the COO said, "Apart from the basic telephony services, the company will also launch mobile services- 'Tata Mobitel', for which the charges will be Rs. 1.20 per three minutes." Managing Director of TL S. Ramakrishnan said, "The company has been successfully offering basic telecom services in Andhra Pradesh and has over 1.7 lakh customers there. Now TTL plans to cover the entire Gujarat in coming seven years."

With investment of over Rs. 1,400 crores in first five years, the company will generate nearly 7,000 direct or indirect employment in the state, Mr. Ramakrishnan said.

Republished from The Asian Age