The Hindu Business Line : BPL Tele handsets hit market — Talks on with Intel to expand manufacturing

BPL Telecom Pvt Ltd will invest Rs 50 crore by March 2005 in its GSM mobile handsets manufacturing facility in Kerala. The company, which announced the launch of its range of GSM mobile handsets here on Wednesday, has also initiated discussions with Intel Corporation for enhancement of its existing manufacturing capabilities, according to Mr P.M. Jayakrishnan, Director (Sales). Addressing a news conference here , Mr Jayakrishnan said of the earmarked investment amount of Rs 50 crore, Rs 18 crore had already been invested in the handset manufacturing facility. Of the seven models launched, two are manufactured in India while the other five are outsourced from Korea. These handsets are priced between Rs 3,800 and Rs 13,000. They would be retailed through the company's distributors and dealers' network countrywide.

Mr Jayakrishnan said the company was hopeful of launching around 20-25 handset models in the months ahead. While the high-end models would be imported, the rest would be manufactured locally. To attract customers, the introductory launch offer has schemes that include free gifts with the purchase of handsets.

According to him, the sale of mobile handsets is doubling every year. Our desire is to emerge as the No. 2 player in the domestic market for mobile handsets," he said.

By the end of the current fiscal, BPL Telecom hopes to generate a revenue of Rs 35-50 crore from mobile handset sales. The company, which manufactures and sells telephone handsets, EPABX systems and power line carrier communication systems, is hopeful of a revenue of Rs 200 crore in 2004-05.

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