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January
28, 2005
MTNL
gears up for broadband
Prem
Behl & Rajendra Prabhu
NEW
DELHI -- Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL) has come
a long way since it first began offering fixed-line
services in the Delhi and Mumbai metros. With mobile
phones becoming the first choice of telecom users, MTNL
has moved with the trend. Additionally, MTNL will be
rolling out broadband services in all the exchange areas
of Delhi and Mumbai this year. Convergence*plus
met R.S.P. Sinha, chairman and managing director - MTNL,
to find out more about its performance in the GSM and
CDMA domains, as well as to learn about its plans to
offer broadband in the country. Excerpts from an interview:
Convergence*plus: Have mobile phones become the
first choice of telecom users in Mumbai and Delhi? If
so, have you radically changed MTNL's business plan
concerning mobility?
R.S.P. Sinha: Yes, and this is presently a global
trend. The mobile-fixed crossover took place in India
last October. The total numbers of mobile subscribers
(GSM and WLL-M combined) in India at the end of October
2004 were 44.51 million versus 43.96 million fixed line
subscribers. Our business plans are made as per the
changing market trends and accordingly, the emphasis
is on GSM and CDMA. We are currently expanding 400,000
lines each in GSM and CDMA, in Delhi and Mumbai. Further,
we plan to add GSM capacity of 4 million over the next
two years, which will eventually be 3G enabled. Of this,
1 million will be added by end 2005.
CP: What has MTNL's performance been with regard to
GSM and CDMA subscriptions during 2004?
RSPS: MTNL had an installed cellular capacity
of 4.5 lakh, which was completely exhausted within the
first half of FY/2004-05. Further expansion could not
take place due to capacity constraints. However, we
have added over 325,000 mobile subscribers (GSM and
CDMA combined) during Apr -Dec 04.
CP: Are you satisfied with the growth rate of your mobile
phone subscriptions, and what are your targets for the
future, including 2005?
RSPS: As the capacity of 400,000 lines each
in Delhi and Mumbai for GSM was launched, MTNL has added
approximately 200,000 mobile connections (GSM plus CDMA)
in the two months of November and December 2004. If
you compare our figures with other private operators
for the same period, their net additions in the last
two months in Delhi and Mumbai combined, is lower than
MTNL, which shows that MTNL's mobile services are in
great demand.
CP: What is your broadband rollout plan for 2005?
RSPS: We have placed purchase orders for 350,000
broadband ports to cover Delhi and Mumbai by 30 April
2005. We plan to roll out the service in all our exchange
areas in these two cities. Triple-play services, i.e.,
voice, data and video will be available to all customers
of MTNL's fixed-line services.
CP: What are your broadband subscriber targets?
RSPS: Taking Delhi and Mumbai together, we have
a target of 1 million connections by December 2005.
We plan to provide all the three services, i.e., voice,
data and video on last mile connectivity.
CP: What technologies will you apply?
RSPS: In broadband, we are using ADSL2+ technology
for the last mile, and will use other high-end equipment
for smooth delivery of services. Customers shall get
a download speed of up to 20Mbps depending on the distance
from the exchange. Our enormous copper cable infrastructure
will help us to deploy quality broadband service expeditiously.
CP: What will you offer home users of broadband
connections?
RSPS: The invitation offer will be in the range
of Rs. 500 per month (US $11.4) for a 256Kbps broadband
service with attractive, free downloads. MTNL will provide
TV broadcasting, video on demand and gaming services
through broadband connections on the last mile connectivity
via ADSL to home customers. Customers will be able to
use the Internet services as well.
CP: How will this be different from your offer
to commercial customers?
RSPS: The usage will be linked with speed and
volume. Video and gaming services shall be of great
interest for home customers. On the other hand, high-speed
Internet services, which will be available at a download
speed up to 20Mbps, shall be attractive for commercial
customers. Different tariff slabs, based on data volume
will be charged for commercial users, while home customers
will be charged flat rates.
CP: What steps you are taking to develop content
providers?
RSPS: We are discussing with content providers
to provide quality and popular high-speed content to
customers on a revenue-sharing basis. We have plans
to broadcast popular Indian films as video-on-demand,
and real-time gaming services. We are also in the process
of tying up with Doordarshan.
CP: What billing system will you use? Will this
be by usage time or by the bit rate?
RSPS: Bills for low-end users will be based
on time with lower speed, and for high end users, it
will be based on volumes with higher speed. However,
video will be billed on content basis. A single bill
will be issued for broadband services along with fixed-line
services. We will give various options to customers
to select a service plan to suit their requirements.
Contact:
MTNL
www.mtnl.net.in
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