Telecom major Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) entered the Indian market in 2008 and began offering commercial services under the MTS brand in 2009. The company had a pan-Indian presence with operations across 22 circles. However, it had to scale down operations in 2012, following the cancellation of 21 licences by the Supreme Court in the 2G spectrum case. Subsequently, SSTL participated in the second round of auctions held in March 2013 and won licences in eight circles. Currently, the operator offers services in nine circles: Delhi, Kolkata, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh (West), West Bengal and Rajasthan.

SSTL has invested significantly in telecom and IT tools to strengthen its sales and distribution network. Its distribution and retail network comprises 450 branded company stores and about 7,000 multi-branded retail outlets, spread across nine circles.

tele.net takes a look at the operator’s telecom infrastructure for delivering a seamless user experience to its customers…

Current infrastructure

According to the company’s chief information officer Rajeev Batra, SSTL, in the early years of its operations, had been using leased lines for point-to-point connectivity. However, with the gradual expansion of its network and a pan-Indian footprint across 22 circles, the operator switched to a cloud-based multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network in 2011. At its offices and other core locations, the operator uses its own MTS network for accessing basic telecom services. It uses a cloud-based MPLS network for last mile connectivity. Meanwhile, SSTL’s retail outlets are interconnected through a VPN, which is linked to its central system via 20,000 secured access lines. The company has also partnered with other operators to address redundancy issues.

The operator has made significant investments in data centres as well. Currently, it has two green data centres operational in Noida and Chennai that are both ISO 27001 certified. The data centres are connected via Ethernet with a connectivity speed of 100 Mbps. They support 700 high-end servers and offer a storage space of 1 petabyte. The key functions of the data centres include billing; input and output computing; and data storage, backup and recovery. In addition, the two data centres support applications like customer response management, enterprise resource planning, management information reporting, SMS and MMS along with a host of other value-added services and marketing campaigns.

Since customer satisfaction is a key priority for the operator, a lot of emphasis is put on providing easy connectivity and access to its sales personnel and distributors. Batra says, “The company has provided its brand stores and retailers direct access to its communication network. The majority of these stakeholders have access to the cloud-based MPLS network. A few of them also use the MBlaze dongle, which provides a minimum connectivity speed of 2 Mbps.” The sales personnel also have access to the lead management system while the retailers have access to various customer and sales modules for facilitating payments and activation services.

For simplifying internal as well as external functions, SSTL has deployed a host of mobility solutions and IT applications. The lead management system and a dedicated e-commerce portal allow the company’s sales personnel to carry out options assisted sales. The e-commerce portal provides complete details regarding the various products and services being offered by the operator.

Further, SSTL has deployed several mediums to ensure data and network security. It uses a number of solutions based on wireless application protocol to secure communication on mobile devices. SSTL has also deployed security firewalls and host intrusion systems. The company focuses on user verification through measures like dual authentication and secure logins for employees. Moreover, active directory controls are in place and the management is alerted in case of unauthorised access to the company’s network.

The way forward

Going forward, in 2014, SSTL plans to develop a device management system that will help track the movement of primary, secondary and tertiary stock. This, in turn, will boost the company’s sales operations.

With a robust telecom infrastructure in place, the operator has been able to achieve significant cost savings. Batra adds that customer satisfaction and stickiness are enhanced with easy access to data and connectivity at retail stores, which result in higher sales. Moreover, with service-level agreements in place with distributors, retailers and other stakeholders, achieving targets becomes a much simpler and smoother experience.