MTS india focus on Data services than Voice for growth

MTS, Russia’s largest mobile phone operator, which launched CDMA mobile services in India over a year ago, is daring to be different by focusing on the data segment rather than voice for increased market penetration.

On the qs that why MTS was betting on CDMA while most companies were either in the GSM business or moving to dual offerings of GSM and CDMA, Vsevolod Rozanov, President and CEO of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd said, “CDMA is the technology of choice for data. Smart phones on CDMA technology will be a game-changer for people on the go. Prices will also drop as the universe of users grows and this will be an important development to witness over the next four quarters”.

MTS believes India is ripe for a shift from mobile voice to mobile data services. Given India’s hunger for real time information and infotainment, MTS expects markets expanding beyond just corporate users for data to include SME’s, students and eventually small households. MTS received licences to operate 22 telecom circles in 2007. It has launched services in 11 circles with over three million subscribers so far and targets pan-India coverage within 2010. The company has over 3,000 employees. MTS plans to be EBITDA positive in three years and cash positive one to two years after that with data revenues contributing a third of total revenues.

The company has launched high speed data services branded MBlaze. This allows subscribers to browse the Internet for news, sports, fashion, lifestyle, and to shop using websites like Yahoo and Wikipedia. The emphasis for 2010 will be two-fold: Taking the MTS footprint national and launching more data services.

A great reason for less users of Cdma technology is portability like If you are on a GSM network you can just buy a new mobile or change to a different mobile and get along. Not the same case with CDMA. The handset is locked to the service provider and not a whole lot of choices are available.