BPL Cellular set to lure customers with MOTS scheme

PUNE, OCT 15: Excited with the Calling Party Pays' policy, BPL Cellular Ltd is gearing up to rake in more customers with its latest Mob...

PUNE, OCT 15: Excited with the Calling Party Pays’ policy, BPL Cellular Ltd is gearing up to rake in more customers with its latest Mobile On The Spot’ (MOTS) scheme. “We are aiming for nearly 2 lakh subscribers for this financial year,” said K S Jayanth Kumar, managing director, BPL Cellular, at a press conference in Pune.

Kumar was reflecting the upbeat mood in the BPL Cellular camp that has pervaded the cellular telephone industry ever since the new telecom policy has been declared. Something that Kumar described as a “win-win situation for the customer and the company.” Which is why BPL Cellular commercials are reflecting a new message on television, targetting the middle class customer and other echelons of society that would have given the mobile a passover.

“Peak hour rates are down and we are offering benefits like free roaming facility along with Internet access, fax, voice mail and STD facility at rates cheaper as compared to other telephone companies.” This, Kumar feels, will help net the magic figure of 2 lakh aided by their latest launch — the MOTS.

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Chances are that the company could be given a few write-offs as far as debts go . “We are not paying any taxes as we are still running some losses that come with building infrastructure,”says Kumar. “This will last five years and by 2001 we should be making profits that will also help us write-off our losses. And if the write-offs come through then, that should also help.”

The MOTS essentially borrows a leaf out of the shampoo in a sachet’ strategy that made cosmetic companies break the mass market barrier. MOTS does away with security deposits, overspending, monthly bills and waiting periods. It is available in the market and BPL officials hope that it will do the trick. The recent poor man’s mobile’ launched by Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) in Mumbai has not rattled any feathers here. Samuel Sevelkumar, chief operating officer, dismissed it off as a “glorified cordless telephone.”

“They simply don’t have the reach we have and it can not be competition to us,” he said.

With a figure of 50,000 subscribers the company claimed that they had captured 52 per cent of the market, thus taking over rivals Birla AT&T. “We want to penetrate the market and target new customers,” said Jayant Kumar.

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“In Kerala even today fishermen use mobile phones to call up their customers moments after they have made their catch. So the market is increasing and we intend to tap it.” With BPL Cellular operating in nearly 52 cities in four States, the market is expanding for them. But on the home ground, BPL Cellular admits that highways will not get adequate coverage as they are not cost effective. “Essential highways like the Pune-Mumbai highway will be covered. But other highways are too expensive to be covered right now,” said Jayant Kumar.