TATA DOCOMO, the GSM brand of Tata Teleservices Limited, today announced the commercial launch of its operations in India, beginning with Chennai and Tamil Nadu. The company’s next-gen GSM service started on a heady note, with TTSL Managing Director Anil Sardana making the first phone call from TATA DOCOMO’s 3G-ready network to Union Minister for Telecommunications and Information Technology Thiru A Raja. TATA DOCOMO’s pan-India service rollout will be completed this year, with South Indian Circles going, live in a fortnight.
The company has earmarked an investment of $2 billion on its pan-India GSM network rollout. TATA DOCOMO also announced the introduction of the pay-as-you-use advantage for many of its Value-added Services, including all its voice portals, 24-hour music, cricket commentary and voice chat.
The Company also announced Free Missed Call Alerts service to all its customers without any charge whatsoever. In addition, VoiceMail on TATA DOCOMO will be totally free for all subscribers with no burden of monthly rentals, no deposits, and no retrieval charges.
Superior Technology and Network
From the day of the launch, the reach and coverage of the TATA DOCOMO network is greater in Tamil Nadu than that of any other operator at the launch stage. The TATA DOCOMO GSM mobile service will have extensive coverage in cities and towns, along 2,115 km of the state?s highways, at airports and along 1,897 km of rail routes, and at places of tourist interest. In fact, across the Circle, all 17 religious centers of importance in the state have been covered by the extensive new network.
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.
In a message at the launch press conference, Mr 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.”