Tata Docomo launches GSM service in Karnataka, earmarks $150 mn

Tata Docomo, the GSM brand of Tata Teleservices Limited, on Thursday announced the commercial launch of its operations in Karnataka and will invest $ 2 billion for rolling out the services across the country.

The company has earmarked an investment of $ two billion on its pan-India GSM network roll-out, to be completed this year, including $ 150 million in Karnataka, Tata Teleservices Ltd Managing Director Anil Sardana told reporters here.

Tata Docomo has already launched services in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Orissa and the entire south India is set to go "live" next week, he said. The company's GSM service offers "pay-for-what-you-use" model, with a pulse of one second, and a pricing of one paise per second.

Subscribers can call anywhere in India for just one paise per second, and in Karnataka, the GSM service covers 427 towns and 2,642 villages, including in areas of railway lines and highways, Sardana said.

Asked about the financial viability of offering GSM service at one paise per second and pay-for-what-you-use model when other operators offer it on per-minute basis, he said the service has "unleashed usage" in the circles it has been launched with the company not only confident of beating its own internal targets but also surpassing them.