Infocomm To Order 1 Mn Handsets

[Puneet 0]

Infocomm to order 1 mn handsets

Rajesh S Kurup in Mumbai | September 17, 2005 12:12 IST

Reliance Infocomm is planning to place an order for 1 million mobile phone handsets in the next two months, which would be one of the largest orders by any telecom service provider in India, for which the company has initiated talks with global handset manufacturers like Nokia, LG and Samsung.

Reliance Infocomm, an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises group firm is expected to seal the deal "immediately". The need for a huge consignment is due to an increase in subscribers and expansion of services to newer geographies.

Sources said the handsets were in anticipation of Reliance Infocomm's network expansion in smaller cities, in addition to the requirement in existing circles.

The company has operations in over 3,750 towns, of which 3,500 small towns and talukas, while it has covered 1.40 lakh villages.

Earlier this year, the company had procured 2 million handsets of different makes and this proposed new acquisition will take the total number of mobile phones purchased to 3 million in 2006.

This procurement is the largest in India due to the sheer size of the order, however this is not the largest in the world as China Mobile Xingjiang had placed similar orders earlier, while South Korea Telecom was also looking at placing similar orders.

The company would procure various handsets, ranging from entry-level ones to the high-end TV and camera phones from different companies. This is to ensure availability of different models with an array of features and to suit wallets of all sizes, sources added.

The total outgo for the procurement could not be ascertained as Reliance Infocomm is believed to be spending around Rs 2,000 to Rs 20,000 depending on the make of the handset.

Reliance Infocomm is the largest telecom operator in the country with about 13 million subscribers and is adding with 4 - 5 lakh new users every month.

[vb86 0]

i hope some of them are high end handsets.

[basant_jp 0]

Hi all,

Came to know about this order through one of my friend working in RWW as well. He also told me that the list of handsets include several high end models including atleast one PDA phone. Should see these handsets before Diwali, RIM is preparing for the festive season.

Cheers!

Basant

[@ksh@T 20]

welcome this great decision by Lil Ambani...hope the costs are also suitable to the wallets...

[abhay 0]

Hi all,

Came to know about this order through one of my friend working in RWW as well. He also told me that the list of handsets include several high end models including atleast one PDA phone. Should see these handsets before Diwali, RIM is preparing for the festive season.

Cheers!

Basant

41216[/snapback]

you know we should go for the promises of reliance whch include the phase "its gonna be launched post Diwali or pre-Diwali"

it might be a total disappointment ! last year @ somewhat this time we were awating the arrival of NETWAY which was to be launched post diwali but we all know what had happned its been one more diwali and yet another promise

[SexyGurl 0]

They should make R-world compulsory for all high-end handsets.

And try to get a plain vanilla set, which can be sold under Rs. 1000 per set.

[@ksh@T 20]

whatever the handsets shd be value for money and can easily compete with the existing gsm handsets such as nokia 6600...and alll

[ashoksoft 83]

Yeah! hope to see something like that ... I also hear that a customized version of 6255 (a bit stripped down) 6155 will be on the cards soon

cheers

Ashok

[Pankaj Verma 0]

Hope every thing go as per plan. Nokia will be going to launch four new handsets. LG weighing its option after launching of Nokia 6255. Samsung went to sleep to see good dreams.