Indian mobile network operator Tata Teleservices (TTSL) has revealed that it has integrated all of its services under a single banner, having previously used two separate brand names for its CDMA-based and GSM-based services. According to India’s Economic Times, the cellco has announced that its Tata DoCoMo brand, which had previously only been used for services offered over its GSM network, will now be used for all of its products. CDMA-based mobile voice services previously offered under the Tata Indicom banner, alongside the operator’s fixed-wireless ‘Walky’ product and its mobile broadband plans (‘Photon’), will all now be offered as part of the Tata DoCoMo portfolio, with Deepak Gulati, TTSL’s executive vice-president of mobility business, noting: ‘All Indicom customers will now be under the DoCoMo brand. The integration extends beyond the brand – there will be one website and one call centre for customer services.’ The executive also stated that TTSL was aiming for a technology agnostic structure in order to leverage emerging market opportunities, with Gulati claiming the move would also lead to significant cost savings for the company.
In separate but related news, China’s NEC has announced a deal with TTSL under which it will deploy its iPASOLINK platform for the transformation of the Indian cellco’s backhaul mobile transport network. NEC claims the iPASOLINK provides an ultra-flexible mobile transport network that can be adapted for next-generation IP-based networks, while meeting current capacity and service demands. ‘TTSL is now in the process of expanding its network for both coverage and capacity in the mobility and enterprise business segments, which will require backhaul of both TDM and IP traffic. Our requirements, therefore, necessitate the deployment of Hybrid Radio in the network. NEC’s iPASOLINK platform fully meets these requirements,’ said TTSL executive president of enterprise business and technology AG Rao.