Mumbai, Feb 25: Just a few months before the launch of its basic telephone services in the Mumbai-Pune region, Hughes Ispat Ltd (HIL), the basic services licence holder for Maharashtra, has kicked off a market research to ascertain the demand for quality telephone services.According to company sources, the research has been commissioned to find out from prospective customers the various functions they expect from their telephone.
"We have started this effort mainly to educate customers about the different features of a telephone," said an HIL source. Since the penetration of telephones is so low in the country, the market needs to be educated first about the different features that can be made available in a telephone, he said.
Apart from asking the prospective customers about the features they would like to have in their telephones, the survey is also taking note of the comments of the respondents on the present service offered by the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) and the Department ofTelecommunications (DoT).
"We are doing that essentially to find out the drawbacks in the present service, which will help us avoid committing the same mistakes," said the HIL source.
While the survey is not yet over, according to company sources, the initial response from the respondents has been positive and encouraging. "At a time when the customers are used to waiting for months to get a phone connection, they are naturally happy when we inform them that we can provide one on demand," said a source.
"If the customers think that getting a phone connection in 30 days time is good, we consider it bad," the source added.As part of its strategy, the company is planning to target its services at high usage customers with an attractive pricing scheme. Besides, HIL will also target the public call office (PCO) booths with its services. The company has already announced plans to start its services in the Mumbai and Pune regions from the middle of this year. The basic telephone services will be launched inphases over a three-month period.
As per the licence agreement, the company is required to provide 10,000 telephone lines in the first year of operations after commissioning 6,07,000 lines within three years of the signing of the licence agreement. This was signed around five months back. HIL is also required to cover 4,000 villages with a telephone facility in the first year of operations and all villages in the state within two years of commencement of operations.
The company has drawn up plans to invest about Rs 3,500 crore in the project during the next five-year period. The company has also committed to pay Rs 13,909 crore as licence fees over a 15-year period and has already paid Rs 397.5 crore as the first year's fee.
Copyright(c)1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
