savramesh 37 Report post Posted February 15, 2010 Source NEW DELHI: MTS, Russia’s largest mobile phone operator, which launched CDMA mobile services in India a little over a year ago, is daring to be different by focusing on the data segment rather than voice for increased market penetration. When asked why MTS was betting on CDMA while most companies were either in the GSM business or moving to dual offerings of GSM and CDMA, Vsevolod Rozanov, President and CEO of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd said, “CDMA is the technology of choice for data. Smart phones on CDMA technology will be a game-changer for people on the go. Prices will also drop as the universe of users grows and this will be an important development to witness over the next four quarters”. MTS received licences to operate 22 telecom circles in 2007. It has launched services in 11 circles with over three million subscribers so far and targets pan-India coverage within 2010. The company has over 3,000 employees. MTS believes India is ripe for a shift from mobile voice to mobile data services. Given India’s hunger for real time information and infotainment, MTS expects markets expanding beyond just corporate users for data to include SME’s, students and eventually small households. India’s highest data users are existing postpaid customers of MTS’s competitors like Reliance, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Tata Docomo. “We will fight a battle for new customers. It is very hard to wean existing customers of other operators”, admitted Rozanov. MTS plans to be EBITDA positive in three years and cash positive one to two years after that with data revenues contributing a third of total revenues. The company has launched high speed data services branded MBlaze. This allows subscribers to browse the Internet for news, sports, fashion, lifestyle, and to shop using websites like Yahoo and Wikipedia. The emphasis for 2010 will be two-fold: Taking the MTS footprint national and launching more data services. MTS’s marketing campaign is also carefully crafted for young professionals and urban youth for increasing usage of data services. Apart from data, MTS believes that the increase of PC sales will drive the data services market way above the current forecasts. According to Rozanov, this, along with the popularity of video streaming and social networking, will unlock the Indian data market. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Himanshu Singh 19 Report post Posted February 15, 2010 Mr.Rozanov must do something about launching an ad campaign..MTS is literally invisible on TV commercials..Wake up.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
::Hitesh:: 1,763 Report post Posted February 15, 2010 it is due to their advertising agency, they have given their advert agency to agency having a print media only. so they are active on paper advert not in TV or OOH.... they need to change this policy ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
srk006 21 Report post Posted February 15, 2010 Launch some CDMA smartphones and see your data revenue shoot up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
me_saket 73 Report post Posted February 15, 2010 First increase penetration in existing circle. in rajasthan they r incresing, but in other circle, no Even they didn't start even 1x serviceon mobile too............... Where they are focusing to capture data market? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
me_saket 73 Report post Posted February 26, 2010 mts selling mblaze online in delhi website Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KanagaDeepan 1,084 Report post Posted February 27, 2010 In my town, MTS even has given coupon recharge only... They are very very bad in responding dealer's questions and suggestions... They are very bad here in TN... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
