AirTel on Wednesday launched a consolidated strategy for the western region -- InnoWest -- and roped in batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar as its brand ambassador, even as the company is planning to invest an additional Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) in the region.
"With InnoWest, which means innovation for the western region, we will provide improved services in the region, which is the fastest growing mobile territory in India," Bharti Tele-Ventures president (mobility), Manoj Kohli told reporters in Mumbai.
BTVL owns and operates AirTel brand and its western region consists of four circles -- Mumbai, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
BTVL is offering Free WestRoam, a free inter-state roaming service in the region under the InnoWest scheme. The company would not collect rentals or deposits under the scheme, while the customer would get free airtime for all incoming calls, Kohli said.
This would be applicable to national roaming customers who visit the region, he said, adding interconnect charges for outgoing calls has been reduced to Rs 2.99 per minute from Rs 6.44 a minute.
BTVL would charge a flat rate of 40 paise for national and local SMS, while it reduced caller line identification protocol charges to Rs 49 from Rs 75 a month, he added.
However, the SMS charges would be applicable only on the post-paid schemes, he said.
BTVL has also introduced a RateSaver plan under the scheme, which offers a 15 per cent discount on calls beyond two minutes and a 30 per cent discount on call of over five minutes, he said.
"The benefit for customers is extended conversations, as they talk more, they save with continuously reducing rates," Kohli said.
Talking on roping in Tendulkar as the brand ambassador, he said the batting maestro was an icon of youth and innovation. However, he did not divulge the terms of the contract.
Meanwhile, Bharti Enterprise corporate director (marketing) Hemant Sachdev said AirTel is planning to invest an additional Rs 100 crore in the four western circles by March 2004. This would take the total investment to Rs 1,605 crore (Rs 16.05 billion) in the region.
The fresh investments would be to expand the capacity and to provide new coverage even to the outskirts of the region. With the fresh investments, AirTel is gearing up to expand its services in 45 additional towns by the timeframe, increasing its footprint to 304 towns in the region.
BTVL has also earmarked around Rs 600-700 crore (Rs 6-7 billion) for the new six circles it has applied for, he said. This also includes Jammu & Kashmir, which is relatively new circle and has only Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd as its competitor, he added.
The telephony major, which has invested over Rs 11,000 crore (Rs 110 billion) as capital investment and provides services in 23 circles, expects to post six million customers by the end of this month.
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