How has been your overall experience in the Indian market?
We have been in the Indian market since the last three years and the
experience has been good so far. We carried studies on consumers, and searched
for potential partners and service providers. After finding it lucrative we
decided to start our service here.
There were some security concerns raised on your company, and your license
was also held for this reason. What is the status now?
It was a false allegation. All our personnel in India are Indians. They are
working in the country they live in. We have a few experts from Russia who are
working with us. Every one knows about the close ties that Russia and India
have. An official from the Department of Telecom, on September 18, 2008
mentioned in a court affidavit that Bycell complies with the letter of intention
guidelines. We don't have any pending issues with the government and are waiting
for the license.
How has been the government's attitude toward Bycell post-complaint?
The government did its every bit to ensure that there are no security
issues.The verification procedures had been very slow and are not in line with
present market dynamics. The government should consider the number of jobs that
Bycell will generate and contribute to its revenue in the coming days. So far
the company has made investments of Rs 100 crore.
What is the status of infrastructure development in all five circles?
We have started building network without waiting for the license. To develop
the network, Bycell has already issued a proposal on June 15, 2008. At the
moment we are processing proposals from all vendors.
Why did you choose the rural areas, especially the East and North-east of
India?
Most states that we are going to cover have low teledensity, especially the
North East, which has got literate and English-speaking people. We have observed
that these people quickly adapt themselves to new technology. Therefore, we see
more use of mobile phones in these cases.
What innovations will we get to see from Bycell?
We are going to come out with tariffs where time will not be a major factor.
Our tariff plan will depend on segments. Tariff for making calls to doctors will
be different from tariff for making calls to the office. There will be various
tariff plans on this kind of communication model.
Prasoon Srivastava
prasoons@cybermedia.co.in