Deepak Gulati, executive president, mobility, Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) is confident that the company will be ranked amongst the top two 3G operators in India by 2015. In an interview with tele.net, he provides an overview of the company’s performance in 2010, its strengths and weaknesses and its future 3G plans. Excerpts… 

What has been TTSL’s biggest achievement in 2010-11? 

Our biggest achievement has been the consolidation of its GSM services under the DOCOMO brand. The services were launched in June 2009 and took place in a phased manner. Our last launch took place in August 2010. The brand has connected very well with the consumers. We are quite satisfied with the strong brand we have created in the Indian space, which is highly competitive with 14 players. This is a huge marketing success for us.

What are your company’s plans for 2011-12? 

We have a number of plans for the coming year. We will continue to build the TATA DOCOMO brand and consolidate our GSM arm. We will also aggressively try to emerge as one of the top three wireless operators in the country. There is no set deadline but this is the clear focus and vision for our organisation. We are working towards this goal.

We have been taking a lot of initiatives on the 3G front. We believe that we have the potential to emerge as one of the top two or three players on that front. TTSL was the first operator to launch the services, and was able to complete the process of rolling out our networks within two months of receiving the spectrum. Our 3G services were launched successfully and so far we have not witnessed any problems on our network. We had the support of DOCOMO to help us roll out the network. As a result, our consumers have been enjoying a great 3G experience.

Our third area of focus will be to capitalise on our EVDO spectrum on the CDMA platform. This spectrum is most suited for data services. Globally, it is a known fact that data and voice are superior on the CDMA platform as compared to the GSM platform. This is one area which we have not tapped as much as we could have. With regard to this, we have recently launched the 3G Wi-Fi hub. The device is unique as it works both on 3G and CDMA. So depending where one is located within the country, one can use both the 3G and the Wi-Fi technologies.

We also want to make our operations superior to what they are today. Our distribution network is doing very well, but we want to enhance it further. Our networks are good and we plan to further invest in them so that our consumers find continued and enhanced value in the TATA DOCOMO services.

What has been your experience with regard to 3G services so far? 

The uptake of 3G services has been very good so far. Our future uptake will depend on the growing use of 3G handsets. We have worked aggressively with handset manufacturers to increase the penetration levels of 3G handsets in the country, and to ensure that the handsets used on our networks, are upgraded 3G handsets. We have launched a special initiative called smartpics, where we have partnered with major handset manufacturers like HTC, Samsung, Nokia and Dell. Under this scheme, when consumers buy the handsets, we also provide them special data offers from DOCOMO. Our intention is to first offer a 3G experience through such bundled plans to our consumers, so that after finding value in it, they would be willing to pay for these services.

What are your targets with regard to 3G? What are your investment plans in this area? 

The exact numbers cannot be shared. But overall, the industry’s target of attaining 100 million 3G subscribers by 2015 is easily achievable and may be met earlier than 2015. As challenger operators in the country, we are focusing on 3G to attract mid-to high-end users. Our focus on 3G is very aggressive and acquisition-led. We will be offering more relevant services to our consumers on the 3G platform. Our current subscriber base is good; in fact, it is better than what we had expected.

Globally, 3G services were launched over a decade ago. In India, it will take time for these services to reach an inflection point. Therefore, we expect our subscriber base to grow and the penetration to reach 30-40 per cent within a year and a half.

What are some of the biggest challenges for your organisation? 

The biggest challenge is to continue to be more relevant to the consumer. The consumers need to make a choice, either to continue with their existing operator, or to move to TATA DOCOMO. Today, many consumers are not satisfied with their respective service providers. Therefore, we keep assessing their major grievances. Our advertising campaign with Ranbir Kapoor as brand ambassador also focuses on addressing the issues faced by consumers. We aim to offer our customers honesty, transparency and simplicity.

Mobile number portability has empowered the consumers to make a choice and change their operator whenever they find the services dissatisfactory. Therefore, the incumbents would have to focus on consumer satisfaction. So we are working on these areas to ensure that consumers are satisfied and have no problem with DOCOMO services. We expect consumers to shift to our network. But this won’t happen in a few days. This transition will be an ongoing process.

What products can your consumers look forward to? 

We will continue to deliver simple and relevant services in the Indian market. We would offer tariffs that are easy to understand. Our services will be enriched through 3G and the 3G ecosystem, which will simplify the life of our consumers.

What according to you would be the ultimate selling point for TTSL as a brand? 

It has to be simplicity and honesty delivered in a relevant way. The company’s main motive is to enrich our customer’s life. For our employees, we aim to provide a stimulating environment that encourages innovation.

What are your future investment plans? Apart from 3G, which other areas do you plan to invest in? 

Networks and their management are areas that require regular investments. With an ever expanding consumer base, it becomes necessary to ensure that we have adequate capacity in place to meet the current and future demands. Besides network management, customer care is another area where the company plans to make some investments. We want to set up consumer friendly call centres, showrooms and retail outlets that will encourage genuine responses to a customer’s query rather than a scripted one. Basically, we would like to concentrate on several issues instead of focusing only on one major area to ensure that our customers are always a step ahead.

Where do you see TTSL five years from now? 

We see ourselves in either the first or the second position. The biggest challenge in Indian telecom journey are not voice-related services but non-voice ones. Further, non-voice services are not just limited to data but encompass other services like m-commerce, m-advertising, m-health and m-education. The possibilities are manifold. India will move beyond voice, which has so far been seen as a major reason for buying a mobile phone. With 3G, data services are getting more ubiquitous. But it is important to focus on what else can be done, given the immense opportunities present. We will focus on areas like health services across the country, providing banking services to the unbanked using the 3G and CDMA platforms we have created. So we look forward to providing non-voice based services to our customers.

Do you have any plans for consolidation? 

There is a lot of stress on consolidation in this industry because currently the sector has a large number of players. This pressure becomes manifold if one is a new company. But as of now we do not have any concrete plans to consolidate.

What are the company’s weaknesses? 

We started offering GSM services much later and did not receive spectrum in certain areas like Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, the Northeast and Assam. This has had a negative impact. We also failed to leverage the benefits of CDMA as a technology platform. CDMA’s voice quality, network efficiency, and cost and consumer benefits are way higher than what has been witnessed so far. So that is one area where we have not performed as well as we had expected. Now we are trying to ensure that the inherent benefits of CDMA are provided to the consumers.

According to data from the Telecom Authority of India, the net additions to subscriber base have actually declined since February 2011. How would you explain that? 

We do not look at the subscriber base as an important parameter any more. Due to the concept of multiple SIM card usage by subscribers, (about 25-35 per cent subscribers are using multiple SIMs), there is a difference between subscriptions and subscribers. Therefore, absolute revenue rather than average revenue per user is more relevant these days. We have done well with regard to the revenue share, and our revenues have increased consistently.

Do you have any regulatory wishlist? 

We would like to receive spectrum in areas where we have not been allotted any so far. The company has initially been allotted 4.4 on 1800 Hz instead of 6.2 on 900 Hz, which is discouraging. This does not create a level-playing field as incumbents are better placed with 6.2 MHz on 900 Hz. It is a great disadvantage, especially in high traffic circles like Delhi.