Hutchison Essar unveils unified brand ‘Hutch’

HYDERABAD: Hutchison Essar has unveiled its unified brand ‘Hutch’ in the

three southern circles of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Chennai. "We are

launching our operations in these circles with the brand name of Hutch. In

keeping with our phased plan to unify cellular brands pan-India, our services in

Delhi are also moving to the new brand, though in Mumbai we will continue to

operate as Orange," said, Asim Ghosh, Director, Hutchison Essar.






Announcing the launch of hutch, Ghosh said, "We are delighted to be the
first among the fourth group of cellular licensees ready to launch in the

country. Our new network in the southern region has been set up in a record time

of three months and we are investing more than Rs 1,200 crore in this phase of

the southern project. We will roll out our products in a short time within

AP."






Inaugurating the launch of the operator in the state, chief minister N Chandra
Babu Naidu said, "Hutchison brand is well established with a presence in

over 36 countries worldwide and a one million customer base in the four telecom

circles in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Gujarat. I am sure that we are on our way

to create a knowledge society and the availability of affordable and high

quality telecommunications for the people of the state."






The cellular operator has come to AP at a time when already there are two
players Airtel and Tata Cellular operating in the same arena, but the company

plans to create its own niche in the market in terms of customer base. "We

are going to build our brand image initially and after sometime we will look

forward to having a strong customer base within the region," explained Asim.






The company has also announced that it will be investing Rs 400 crore in the
state of AP by December 2003. To start with the cellular operator will commence

its operations in five cities of AP by July 2002 and the company is going to

have more than 300 cell sites by the end of December 2003. "By the end of

year 2004, the company will having its footprint in 35 towns and connect all 23

LDCAs (Long Distance calling Areas)," informed Ghosh.






Hutchison Essar is a JV between Hutchison Telecom and Essar Group. Hutchison
Essar and its affiliates now have operations pan-India, and leverage strengths

from Hutchison Telecom’s international cellular operations across five

continents.