Proclaiming itself as the service provider for all, Videocon Telecommunications Limited (VTL) launched its GSM mobile services in Chennai in March 2010. With this, VTL has become the latest member of the club of new players that includes MTS, S Tel, TATA DOCOMO and Uninor, which entered the telecom space in 2009.

VTL has ambitious plans to roll out services in 100 cities in about 100 days. It intends to initially tap the Haryana, Gujarat, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Mumbai markets, and hopes to become a pan-Indian player by September 2010.

As the thirteenth telecom operator, Videocon is sure to face intense competition from the other players. However, Venugopal Dhoot, chairman of the $4 billion Videocon Group, is optimistic. "Although it may seem like the market is flooded with new players, the truth is that the teledensity of India is still 46 per cent. So, there is a huge untapped market that we can, and plan to, target with our attractive offers," he states.

The company has set itself a three-year time-frame to notch up 100 million users and a slot among the top three telecom players in the country. With such high aspirations, the company's tariff and marketing plans will have to necessarily be aggressive. Though the details of Videocon's tariff plans are yet to be announced, the company promises that its mobile services will be priced in such a manner that it will effectively result in sub-Re 0.01 tariffs for the end-user.

The tariff card is not the only strategy the company intends to use. Realising that mobile telephony is a volume-driven business, VTL plans to lay greater emphasis on value-added services (VAS) to differentiate itself from its competitors. The company also plans to leverage its popular Videocon brand, which, according to company officials, stands for "value for money".

The company also hopes to increase its user base once number portability is introduced. 3G is another area the company is betting on –­ it has already applied for 3G licences in about 20 circles, which will help it introduce data-based services. To execute its plans, the Videocon Group has earmarked Rs 140 billion worth of investment over the next three years. Of this, about Rs 70 billion has been tied up with the State Bank of India while the remaining will be sourced from equity and suppliers credit.

The launch of its mobile services has been a long-awaited and decisive move for the Videocon Group. Aggressive initially, the company (the erstwhile Datacom Solutions) had lost steam with its promoters –­ Videocon Industries (holding 64 per cent stake) and the Mahendra Nahata Group-owned Jumbo Techno Services (36 per cent) –­ engaged in a conflict, which was resolved only in 2009, after Nahata sold his stake to the Videocon Group and exited the venture.

Nahata received Rs 14 billion for his entire stake in Datacom. Following his exit, the company's name was changed to VTL. The company's management was taken over by Venugopal Dhoot who now manages the company's affairs and is aided by his brothers R.N. Dhoot and P.N. Dhoot in promoting the telecom venture.

With its disputes resolved, the company started getting its act together in late 2009. It awarded IT outsourcing contracts to IBM, and signed tower and transmission line-sharing agreements with Aircel and Tata Teleservices. VTL also entered into an agreement with incumbent operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for sharing passive infrastructure, which gave VTL access to more than 42,000 BSNL towers across the country (except in Delhi and Mumbai). Today, the company has access to around 70,000 towers across India and eight call centres where customer support is provided in 15 languages. "We had put our back-end in place before we launched services to ensure that our customers were not disadvantaged in any way. We will ramp up as our customer base increases," says Dhoot.

For procuring wireless equipment, the company has signed MoUs with Huawei. It has also tied up with Nokia Siemens Networks for its network rollout. Further, the company has signed up with technology partners including Cisco, IBM, Amdocs, Gemalto, Comverse, Comviva, Avaya, Acision, Wipro, Oracle and Unisys for its security, information technology and VAS requirements.

Last year, VTL got on to the mobile handset bandwagon in a big way by introducing a variety of feature-rich low-tomedium range handsets. The company also launched its direct-to-home services.

On the retail front, the company has tied up with Planet M, NEXT and DigiWorld stores in addition to leveraging its existing Videocon Electronics stores.

All in all, VTL's mobile launch, though delayed by two years, is expected to further stir up competition in the already crowded telecom space. For users of course, this augurs well, with plenty more options to choose from.