Bangalore, March 1 (IANS) Tata Teleservices Ltd, a leading wireless service provider in the CDMA space, Thursday launched a single-chip mobile handset with multiple features and a host of functions.
Claimed to be the first single-chip cellular product in operation worldwide, Motorola's Motofone F3c handset with Qualcomm's chipset measures 9.1mm and weighs 75 grams.
"The debut of Motofone with Qualcomm reaffirms our commitment to offer the latest in global innovation and technology on the CDMA (code division multiple access) platform to meet the diverse needs and tastes of our customers in India," Tata Teleservices CEO Darryl Green said here at a preview of the product.
The ultra slim handset has been specially designed to suit the Indian consumers, with voice prompts in six languages - English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. More languages will be added later.
"Combined with the benefits of the Go Xtra Pack, the first of its kind offer will enable subscribers to avail double talk time for the first six months with bonus talk time valid for one year on activation. The scheme also offers free incoming calls for the first six months without re-charge," Green told reporters.
Qualcomm president for India and SAARC market Kanwalinder Singh said Tata Indicom, the mobile brand of the Tatas, became the first operator in the subcontinent to introduce the single-chip handset in place of the four-chip handsets prevailing in the market, especially in the rival GSM space.
"In our pursuit of bringing wireless connectivity to emerging markets, we have collaborated with Tata Indicom and Motorola to introduce the world's first single-chip handset in India. We look forward to working with the industry to make connectivity accessible to more people in the country," Singh pointed out.
With Rs.200 billion investment in 20 circles covering 3,100 cities and towns across the country, Tata Indicom has a customer base of about 15.5 million, including 3.8 million in the fixed wireless telephony segment.
"We are targeting to achieve over 100 million subscribers by 2011. In Delhi, we have already crossed the two million mark and one million mark in Karnataka.
"With the latest single-chip handset at an affordable price, we hope to rope in about three million subscribers in the next three months," Green said.