Arun 795 Report post Posted May 21, 2008 Reuters India Wednesday, May 21, 2008 New Delhi Diversified Videocon group will start rolling out its telecom network from mid August and is aiming for 10 percent of the Indian telecom market in five years, its chairman said on Wednesday. "We are aiming for 50 million in five years. The Indian market will have crossed 500 million by then," Venugopal Dhoot told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference. "We have got spectrum in South India. We are rolling out from August 15, starting with Tamil Nadu" he said. The group, which controls Videocon Industries Ltd, would seek to share passive infrastructure wherever possible, Dhoot said, adding it was open to bringing in a foreign partner for the telecoms business. Videocon group expressed its intentions to capture 10 percent of the Indian telecom sector in five years as it is ready to roll out its telecom network from mid August. According to the estimates made by the company’s CEO, Venugopal Dhoot, the Indian mobile market will have 500 million subscribers within the next five years. The company also said that it is open to share passive infrastructure wherever it seems possible and ready for a foreign alliance for telecom business. Diversified Videocon group has been approached by Middle East telecom firms Emirates Telecommunications Corp of the UAE, and Qatar Telecom for tie-ups in India, the Indian firm's chairman said on Wednesday. "There is interest from Middle East firms. Etisalat, Qatar Telecom have approached us," Venugopal Dhoot said on the sidelines of an industry conference. Dhoot added the firm had appointed investment bank Morgan Stanley to advise it on its telecom business and any potential stake sales. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Honest 836 Report post Posted May 21, 2008 ^^^ Thats a great news my dear friends. 15th August is so near. Now we can expect more competition between operators which will result in even more lower call rates for the subscribers. Regards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kshah 452 Report post Posted May 22, 2008 Hope videocon start accepting any handsets in CDMA. If it does so, I am sure they will be more successful than many. With CDMA they can offer best prices due to efficiency. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dj 25 Report post Posted May 22, 2008 Kalpak... knowing cdma and its nuances... i really wonder how videocon, a startup, would be able to offer and resolve where reliance and tata lag... how would ppl like us benefit for whom our number is part of our identity and non-changeable now... i have been with reliance since its inception and i have to stay whether i like it or not... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kshah 452 Report post Posted May 22, 2008 Agreed, CDMA and its problem, but because service providers in CDMA wants to grow by monopoly, this is the problem. I too feel frustrated with handsets in reliance but then when I experience superior quality, I can not think of being GSM user any more. I hope reliance brings better GSM technology so that we have some incentive to switch over to GSM. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Greatest 55 Report post Posted May 22, 2008 are videocon going to offer GSM or CDMA connections?? im confused... because nowhere it has mentioned regarding the same!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dj 25 Report post Posted May 22, 2008 CDMA is what we understand from the news floating around... whether its a new unified license for both gsm and cdma, we'll have to wait and watch Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shashank 8 Report post Posted May 22, 2008 If its CDMA then its going to be FLOP even if they offer free outgoing calls to any operator. Example: Virgin Mobile.Not a big sensation even though they pay for incoming! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Greatest 55 Report post Posted May 22, 2008 @Dj, Aug. is not far away... lets wait and watch... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kshah 452 Report post Posted May 22, 2008 CDMA is not such a bad technology. It is handset limitations makes it bad. If you look at voice and data quality, I am sure one will like it better than GSM. True Wait and watch is the only option right now. Also virgin has offered nothing new. They targeted youth but CDMA can never attract youth who wants fancy of changing handset every fortnight. Their handsets too are overpriced. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KumaarShah 143 Report post Posted May 22, 2008 (edited) I think Videocon will offer GSM as they are targetting 50 million customers in 5 years. Even RCOM after 5 years has still not crossed 50 million since they are in CDMA. If RCOM was in GSM then they would have had close to 60 million or more by now. Since the handsets issue is a very major problem with CDMA, I doubt if Videocon would want to replicate RCOM's success or Failure in CDMA. So it has to be GSM. But lets wait and watch till Aug.08, by then many things will unfold. Edited May 22, 2008 by KumaarShah Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KumaarShah 143 Report post Posted May 22, 2008 One more thing I do not understand, How come Videocon will be able to offer their service within 2 to 3 months from now while our very great RCOM with all their technical brilliance etc will not be able to start services till March 2009? Or is it that they are waiting for the court cases to decide the roll-out of services?Then in that case, the other six new entrants will take away a lot of market share. Cannot understand the dynamics here nowadays. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Greatest 55 Report post Posted May 22, 2008 @kumaarshah, i think there are some issues still lying pending with trai for reliance... maybe tht might have deterred them to give the startup spectrum to rcom next yr only...!! i had read it somewhere, about some technical issues of rcom with trai..!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
srk006 21 Report post Posted May 22, 2008 Videocon says it will start services in August for TN circle and not the entire country. But I think RCOM plans to launch All india GSM services in MAR 09. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Honest 836 Report post Posted June 2, 2008 Videocon ups investment to Rs 12,000 cr in telecom 2 Jun, 2008, 1858 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: Videocon promoted Datacom will invite bids next week for rolling out 70 million GSM mobile lines across the country, envisaging an investment of over Rs 12,000 crore in the next four years. "We shall be releasing Request for Proposal (RFP) from telecom vendors for 70 million GSM lines. Our plan is to start rolling out network by August this year," Ravi Sharma, Managing Director of Datacom, a company led by Group Chairman Venugopal Dhoot, told media. Videocon, which has a majority stake in Datacom, had earlier announced Rs 6,000 crore investment in the telecom business and it has now been doubled to Rs 12,000 crore. Besides huge investment in the domestic telecom sector, Datacom is also looking for a footprint in the global market through a mix of stake acquisition in existing telecom companies or through greenfield projects. The company is talking to a host of players globally through its international arm Thompson, Sharma said, adding that talks are in the initial stage and fructification of the deal may take some time. Datacom was awarded licenses in 22 circles recently and the government has already started allocating spectrum (radio frequency) in some of the circles. The company has been given start-up 4.4 MHz spectrum in states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and may also get frequency in Orissa and Kolkata soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
@mitJ@in 256 Report post Posted June 2, 2008 Launching on 15th August - holiday..Thats strange..Will Govt. Of India allow Videocon to launch there product on 15th Aug? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Honest 836 Report post Posted June 13, 2008 Videocon to roll out telecom services from Chennai on Aug 15 13 Jun, 2008, 1705 hrs IST, PTI KOLKATA: Consumer durables major Videocon Group, which has bagged national telecom licence through its subsidiary Datacom Ltd, would roll out the GSM services from Chennai on August 15 this year. Unveiling the plans, Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot said that GSM services would be first launched in Chennai on August 15, to be followed by other metros, Kerala and North India. "The national rollout plan will be completed in 18 months," Dhoot added. Datacom intends to build up a subscriber base of around 10 million in three-four years of launch. Datacom had obtained licences for providing GSM services in 22 circles across the country. Dhoot said telecommunications would be a focus area for Videocon Group in the coming years and the group would invest around Rs 6,000 crore in this business. The group was also in talks with some companies based in the Middle-East to rope in a foreign partner for the telecom business. He said that while the group had a strong cash balance, the foreign partner is also expected to bring in equity in the telecom venture. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KumaarShah 143 Report post Posted June 13, 2008 Wow!!!! one more operator to choose from for GSM users. And that within a couple of months. What is RCOM doing???? Sleeping in GSM also????? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Honest 836 Report post Posted June 13, 2008 ^^^ Yes my dear Kumaar it seems that Reliance is sleeping right now and will wake up only after the lauch of Videocon in August. Regards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
