Tata Teleservices’ GSM brand, TATA DOCOMO today announced the launch of its GSM based mobile services in Chennai and Tamil Nadu circles with the company’s MD, Anil Sardana making a formal call to Union Communications Minister, A Raja. The company aims to make its GSM presence in the Southern circles within a fortnight’s time.

Tata Group Chairman, Ratan Tata said on the occasion, “The value proposition offered by TATA-DOCOMO is a unique and revolutionary idea which symbolizes the spirit of innovation and inventive genius. This launch is truly a moment of triumph for the consumer. The launch of pay-per-use, per-second concept offered by TATA-DOCOMO will create a paradigm shift in the overall telecom experience for the customer and provide a service that is refreshingly different.”

The company launched new products and services backed by a competitive tariff to coincide with the launch. It introduced a per second pricing model instead of the per minute model followed traditionally by Indian operators.“We had made a promise that we would bring to the country products and services that would redefine the telecom experience,” said Anil Sardana. “It is a privilege to be fulfilling that promise first in the Tamil Nadu Circle—where subscribers are discerning and seek transparency, innovation and differentiation. Our partnership with NTT DOCOMO will help us provide our subscribers with tremendous technological and service differentiation. Keeping in view the century of trust associated with the House of Tata, we are launching the concept of fare being fair. From today, TATA DOCOMO subscribers will now be able to enjoy the benefits of ‘pay-as-you-use’, at only one paisa per second for all voice calls across India,” he added.

The company claims that its reach of presence in 775 towns and 4,370 villages in Tamil Nadu presently makes it the highest for any operator at the time of launch. It covers 2,115 km of highways, 1,897 kms of rail routes, 17 religious centres of importance and other prominent places in the circle. The services will soon be available across 20,000 retail outlets in the circle.

In a video-address, Toshinari Kunieda, Senior Vice-President and Managing Director, Global Business Division, NTT DOCOMO, said, “NTT DOCOMO has provided technical inputs to make the TATA DOCOMO GSM network world-class. Progressively, NTT DOCOMO shall bring to India the various products and services that we offer in Japan and many other countries—such as i-modeTM, Location-based Services (LBS) and mobile payment—and give TATA DOCOMO customers a flavor of tomorrow. TTSL and NTT DOCOMO are closely engaged in integrating technology, value-added services, products and applications through the mechanism of Business and Technology Cooperation Committee (BTCC). This should see TATA DOCOMO change the way India communicates.”

TATA DOCOMO President, Deepak Gulati said that the company will offer simplicity to consumers by being most transparent, innovative and liberating brand.