Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005 |
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Marketing
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Strategy Info-Tech - Telecommunications BSNL targets non-metros Thomas K. Thomas
New Delhi , Aug. 1 UNLIKE private cellular companies, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) does not consider metros as hot spots. With a target of over eight lakh new users, Uttar Pradesh is set to be the biggest market for the State-owned company during the current year. Maharashtra, which is the biggest market for private operators, is the second largest on BSNL's list. The company is planning to garner around five lakh users from the State during 2005-06. BSNL has set a target of four lakh new users in Gujarat, which is another hot spot for cellular growth. BSNL is also aiming high in States such as Kerala and Rajasthan where it is expecting to get 4.5 lakh and 4.1 lakh new mobile users, respectively. "From the beginning, our strategy has been to go where no other operator has gone. Today, we have the largest countywide network that spans across all the major highways and villages. Therefore, it is not surprising that the major share of new users this year will come from a State like UP where we have seen a huge pent-up demand," said a BSNL official. BSNL officials added that UP has had only one serious mobile operator for a long time, with the second operator going bankrupt. Even in States such as Orissa and Bihar, which have so far been neglected, BSNL has set a target of over 2.5 lakh new users. Though BSNL has been rolling out its services in the non-metro areas, its average revenue per user is as much as that of private operators. "There is definitely a market in rural India. Our tele-density is just about 10 per cent at the moment. If we have to realise the national target of 250 million telephones by 2007, we have to move to the rural areas. Since the major cities have already got saturated, even the private operators will have to look at other States," said the official.
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