Reliance Communications Places Rs 340-Cr Handset Order With Huawei

[me_saket 73]

source

RCom places Rs 340-cr handset order with Huawei

Firm increases focus on CDMA services.

Reliance Communications will buy two million CDMA handsets for Rs 340 crore from Chinese telecom vendor Huawei Technologies. The delivery of these handsets has started, and Reliance Communications plans to roll them out next week, according to sources.

Reliance Communications confirmed the move, but refused to divulge the details of the order.

These CDMA handsets, priced in a range of Rs 1,700-1,950 per unit, along with bundled value-added services (VAS), come with camera and FM radio, and have a one-press access to the VAS platform. The company will deploy these handsets in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

CDMA service providers, unlike GSM service providers, give bundled offers, where a network connection comes with a handset — a concept pioneered by Reliance Communications in 2003. Reliance, one of the first CDMA players in the country, started GSM services in January last year.

The company is now going back to its roots to increase sales in the CDMA space and expects this strategy to increase VAS and data consumption. “We are leveraging our extensive CDMA capabilities to drive VAS revenues as part of a larger business growth plan,” said Krishna Durbha, head, VAS, Reliance Communications. The company is looking at data and VAS sales increase to make up for declining wireless Arpu (Average Revenue Per User) due to price wars in the telecom industry.

Reliance will offer a free bundled wallpaper pack from its R-World platform along with these handsets. The handset comes with a browser that enables customers to access entertainment-based VAS services. Film and music-related services have been one of the key drivers of the company’s VAS usage. Nearly 60 per cent of the company’s overall VAS usage is driven by entertainment services like caller tunes, mobile wall papers and mobile themes.

[savramesh 37]

Source

Firm increases focus on CDMA services.

Reliance Communications will buy two million CDMA handsets for Rs 340 crore from Chinese telecom vendor Huawei Technologies. The delivery of these handsets has started, and Reliance Communications plans to roll them out next week, according to sources.

Reliance Communications confirmed the move, but refused to divulge the details of the order.

These CDMA handsets, priced in a range of Rs 1,700-1,950 per unit, along with bundled value-added services (VAS), come with camera and FM radio, and have a one-press access to the VAS platform. The company will deploy these handsets in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

CDMA service providers, unlike GSM service providers, give bundled offers, where a network connection comes with a handset — a concept pioneered by Reliance Communications in 2003. Reliance, one of the first CDMA players in the country, started GSM services in January last year.

The company is now going back to its roots to increase sales in the CDMA space and expects this strategy to increase VAS and data consumption. “We are leveraging our extensive CDMA capabilities to drive VAS revenues as part of a larger business growth plan,” said Krishna Durbha, head, VAS, Reliance Communications. The company is looking at data and VAS sales increase to make up for declining wireless Arpu (Average Revenue Per User) due to price wars in the telecom industry.

Reliance will offer a free bundled wallpaper pack from its R-World platform along with these handsets. The handset comes with a browser that enables customers to access entertainment-based VAS services. Film and music-related services have been one of the key drivers of the company’s VAS usage. Nearly 60 per cent of the company’s overall VAS usage is driven by entertainment services like caller tunes, mobile wall papers and mobile themes.

[Nags 0]

couple of them already in rcom site....i am sure these will not last even 6 months....

[Honest 836]

Topic Merged.

[_Kailash_ 63]

but why dont these guys bring some HTC handsets that would be more fruitful i think...

[me_saket 73]

they are focusing to retain cdma customer base in small tier 2 tier3 cities,

SO not focused on high end HTC customer.(let them die )

[::Hitesh:: 1,763]

^^^

i also think same !

but they should really think of HTC & Palm

[pasumark 51]

V dont need Reliance to supply us HTC or PALM

[Greatest 55]

^^ correct... there cannot be two giants (Reliance and sadikk) in the same playground...

[::Hitesh:: 1,763]

,:rofl_200:

[csmart 472]

will this really help? with MNP round the corner, in GSM you already get nokia in the same range, who will buy these chinese.

we talk about HTC.. remember the last time RCOM got HTC hansets. it got outdated phones at exorbitant price. they know that 99% of RCDMA users dont have access to imported phones and hence they dont have option..