VISHAKAPATNAM: Tata Teleservices Limited, a private basic telephone service
provider in Andhra Pradesh, has launched ‘TATA mobitel' the first Limited
Mobility service in the country, using the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
technology.
With the launch of the company's basic telephone services in Vishakhapatnam
this will be the firm's expansion in the fourth city after Hyderabad, Vijayawada
and Guntur. The technology involves deploying the Wireless in Local Loop (WLL)
through the Short Distance Charging Area which is effective in a radius of 20 to
40 km. The Limited Mobility unlike the cellular phone is defined as a basic
phone and hence attracts call charges that are applicable on basic fixed phones.
Tata Teleservices Limited plans to provide the service with a fixed monthly
rental of around Rs 600, with users being charged a modest Rs 1.20 for 3 minutes
for outgoing calls. Presently handsets for the same are priced at Rs 9,800. In
addition to the service charges, the company will charge an activation fee of Rs
1,050. This apart, user will also get value-added services like call forwarding,
call waiting and three-way conferencing.
Presently the services will be made available in Hyderabad and Vijayawada
that will be expanded to Guntur and Vishakhapatnam in the next four months. Tata
Teleservices has invested nearly Rs 1,100 crore till date and plans to invest an
additional sum of Rs 1,100 crore in the next three years. The overall investment
will come around Rs 5,000 crore in the license period.