SSTL eyes home segment Wi-Fi business

NEW DELHI: Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL), which provides telecom services under the MTS India brand, is mulling to provide home Wi-Fi services.

"MTS is traditionally known as a data dongle provider. The plan is to now shift focus and be recognized as a Wi-Fi solutions provider in the Indian market," media reports said quoting a top company executive.

Last year, Sistema JSFC, which controls Sistema Shyam Teleservices, President and CEO Mikhail Shamolin said that the company will draw its investment roadmap in India based on CDMA spectrum base price for auction as it finds rates "almost prohibitively high" for making return on telecom investments.

The company has invested about $3.5 billion till date. It is now offering rates that are cheaper than what GSM players typically charge for 3G data.

The company, which has airwaves in nine of India's 22 telecom zones, is therefore focusing more on dongle-based the data services. The CDMA technology is more suited for data services.

It will launch a plug and play Wi-Fi solution for the home segment that will provide connectivity to five users simultaneously.

The flagship prepaid plan under the Homespot Instant Wi-Fi program will cost Rs 499 a month and offer 5 GB data, along with free usage of WhatsApp and Viber.