Tata Indicom to set up 100 retail outlets in AP

Visakhapatnam: Tata Indicom is planning to set up at least 100 low-cost retail outlets in the rural areas and small towns of Andhra Pradesh in the next two months to increase its presence, according to Mr S. Ramakrishna, the Chief Operating Officer.

He said, after opening two exclusive Tata Indicom stores that such outlets would open up business opportunities for the small entrepreneurs in rural areas. “It won’t take more than Rs 25,000 to set up such a low-cost, no frill shop. We have already opened four such shops in Ranga Reddy, Guntur and Nalgonda districts,” he said.

Mr Ramakrishna said the company, presently having 2.8 million subscriber base in the State, wanted to cross the three-million mark as soon as possible and “by the end of the financial year we want to get as close as possible to the four-million mark”.

He said Tata Indicom was invest Rs 140 crore in the State in enhancing its network. The company was present in 482 places in the State and services would be rolled out in 68 more places within the next two months.

Mr Ramakrishna said Tata Indicom has 4,000 True Value Shoppes across the country in the circles allotted to it and in AP the number was 340. “In Visakhapatnam, we have 13 outlets and we want to set up more,” he added.

He said the survey conducted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had stated that the Tata Indicom’s network in Andhra Pradesh was the least congested and “therefore, we are confident of giving quality service to the customer”.

He also spoke about a new product introduced by the company a new cordless walky talky combining the features of a land phone and mobile one. Priced at Rs 1,299, it was getting a good response from the customers, he claimed.