Tata Teleservices targets India internet users

14 September 2007

Bangalore: Tata Teleservices has set its sights on Internet users, with a new Internet-enabled phone that the company estimates will account for up to 15 per cent of its sales in a booming mobile market.

The company has tied up with electronics major Samsung for the launch of their internet-browser-enabled phone Explore.

The company estimates monthly sales between 100,000 and 150,000 coming from the new Samsung handset, according to Manzoor Ameen, who heads the company''s operations in Bangalore, capital of India''s southern state of Karnataka.

The company estimates that at least 15 per cent of the existing user base would switch to the new mobile phone, which will come bundeled with unlimited mobile Internet access for an affordable Rs99 a month.

The move is set to redefine non-computer based internet access in India, as it places the web in the grasp of the common man with this offer, at the same time overcoming geographical limitations related to the provision of the service.

The potential of the market can be estimated from the fact that India adds six million mobile-phone users each month, which equals the number of computers estimated to be sold in the country this year.