BANGALORE, INDIA: TATA DOCOMO, the GSM brand of Tata Teleservices Limited, on Thursday announced the commercial launch of its operations in Karnataka, just a few days after it announced its launch in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Orissa.

The company's Next Gen GSM service started on a heady note, with TTSL Managing Director Anil Sardana announcing a novel "Pay-for-what-you-use" model, with a pulse of one second, and a pricing of 1 paisa per second. TATA DOCOMO's pan-India service rollout will be completed this year, with the entire South India set to go going 'live' next week.

In a message at the launch press conference, Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons, said: "The value proposition offered by Tata-DOCOMO is a unique and revolutionary idea which symbolizes the spirit of innovation and inventive genius. This launch is truly a moment of triumph for the consumer. The launch of pay-per-use, per-second concept offered by Tata-DOCOMO will create a paradigm shift in the overall telecom experience for the customer and provide a service that is refreshingly different."

·        From today, subscribers can call anywhere in India for just 1 paisa per second

·        Best coverage at time of launch—427 towns and 2,642 villages in Karnataka

·        Complete South India rollout in a week

·        Country-wide service rollout to be completed this year itself

Introducing the One-Second Pulse—Local. STD. ISD

TATA DOCOMO also unleashed a wide array of products and services at the launch, riding on the back of path-breaking innovative products and services, and never-before tariff options. "We had made a promise that we would bring to the country products and services that would redefine the telecom experience," Anil Sardana said. "It is a privilege to be fulfilling that promise in Karnataka—where subscribers are discerning and seek transparency, innovation and differentiation.

Our partnership with NTT DOCOMO will help us provide our subscribers with tremendous technological and service differentiation. Keeping in view the century of trust associated with the House of Tata, we are launching the concept of fare being fair. From today, TATA DOCOMO subscribers will now be able to enjoy the benefits of 'pay-as-you-use', at only one paisa per second for all voice calls across India," he added.

NTT DOCOMO is acknowledged as the global leader in 3G technology and respected worldwide for its futuristic product innovations.

In a video-address, Toshinari Kunieda, senior vice-president and managing director, Global Business network world-class. Progressively, NTT DOCOMO shall bring to India the various products and services thatDivision, NTT DOCOMO, said: "NTT DOCOMO has provided technical inputs to make the TATA DOCOMO GSM  we offer in Japan and many other countries—such as i-modeTM, Location-based Services (LBS) and mobile payment—and give TATA DOCOMO customers a flavor of tomorrow.

TTSL and NTT DOCOMO are closely engaged in integrating technology, value-added services, products and applications through the mechanism of Business and Technology Cooperation Committee (BTCC). This should see TATA DOCOMO change the way India communicates."

Announcing some very aggressive pricing and customization options, Deepak Gulati, President, TATA DOCOMO, said: "In a market that is cluttered with many operators and throws up confusing options, we will offer simplicity to consumers by being the country's most transparent, innovative and liberating telecom brand. The first move on this front is to cut through the clutter and redefine the entire pricing paradigm—from Day One of our launch, we will work on a per-second pricing model for almost everything, be it voice calls, VAS services, IVR interactions. Above all, we promise to always listen to our subscribers."

"We are focusing strongly on network superiority, coverage and service offerings. Our presence in 427 towns and 2,642 villages makes our network footprint the largest among all telecom operators in Karnataka, at the time of launch. We have already made large investments in the Circle, and further expansion this year itself is on the anvil," Mr Yatish Mehrotra, TATA DOCOMO's Hub-head for South India, said. "TATA DOCOMO will unveil a portfolio of Value-Added Services that will reinvent mobile telephony in India, with products and services like Free Voicemail, Timed SMS Service, Free Missed Call Alerts, Call-me Tunes, etc—all of them customized to liberate and refresh our subscribers," he added.

The company has earmarked an investment of $2 billion on its pan-India GSM network rollout.

Superior Technology and Network

From the day of the launch, the reach and coverage of the TATA DOCOMO network is greater in Karnataka than that of any other operator at the launch stage. The TATA DOCOMO GSM mobile service will have extensive coverage in 427 towns and cities and 2,642 villages in Karnataka, along 505 km of the state's highways, at airports, along 220 km of rail routes and at places of tourist interest.

NTT DOCOMO has played a major role in the evolution of mobile telecommunications through its development of cutting-edge technologies and services. Over the years, technologists at NTT DOCOMO have defined industry benchmarks for 3G technology, as also products and services such as i-mode and a plethora of lifestyle-enhancing applications.

Today, while most global telecom players are only beginning to talk of 4G technology and its possible applications, NTT DOCOMO has already recorded a downlink transmission rate of 250 Mbps over a high-speed wireless network in an outdoor test of an experimental system for Super 3G, also known as LTE, and is targeting to complete the commercial development by the end of 2009. This will hold Tata DOCOMO in good stead as it launches GSM services.