MTNL aims at 300,000 subscribers for 3G service

Taking advantage of its head start in providing third generation (3G) telecom services in the country, state-owned telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd plans to attract up to 300,000 subscribers for its services.

Speaking at the sidelines of the launch of its pre-paid 3G mobile service, MTNL's CMD R S P Sinha said: "In the first year of operations, we want between 200,000 and 300,000 customers for our 3G services."

Interestingly, after about six months of operations, MTNL has only 400 subscribers for its 3G service, which has been branded 'Jadoo'.

Asked about this, Sinha said: "We expect the subscriber numbers to pick up now, since most of the Indian subscribers are pre-paid subscribers and there is need for high speed data services. So I expect the subscriber base to grow multi-fold after this launch."

Given the headstart that the company got in 3G services when compared with private operators, Sinha said this lead could attract high-end customers from other networks to MTNL's network.

The pre-paid 3G service will be available for Rs 300,  with lifetime validity. A customer can make local video calls at Rs 1.8 per minute and download data at Rs 3 per MB. In addition, a subscriber can also choose from data coupons of various denominations to avail of free data downloads, along with making free video calls as per individual requirement.

The Rs 300 pre-paid Jeevan Sathi (Lifetime Trump) card has a talk value of Rs 15 and 3G calls (local video calls) are charged at Rs 1.80 a minute to other MTNL 3G phones. For other networks, it is Rs 3 a minute.

Domestic long distance video calls are priced at Rs 3.75 a minute and ISD video calls are charged at Rs 30 a minute. Data download rates are Rs 3 per MB. The company has also introduced 3G Data coupons ranging from Rs 99 to Rs 2,500 with slabs at Rs 250, Rs 450 and Rs 750.

MTNL was the first company to launch its 3G services in the country in December 2008, after the government gave state-owned operators 3G spectrum ahead of private operators, who are still waiting for the auction of 3G spectrum to start their operations in this space.

"We have invested an incremental amount of Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) for our 3G services. We hope to recover our costs in the next year or two," Sinha said. The company launched its 3G services in Mumbai last month and will introduce its pre-paid offer in the city by next week.

The company launched its 3G services in Mumbai last month and will introduce its pre-paid offer in the city by next week.