MTS chalks big data plan for State

 In line with its national strategy to focus more on data service enabled with voice, MTS plans to spend Rs 75 crore on data service in Karnataka to further strengthen its position.

Talking to Deccan Herald, SSTL Chief Operating Officer (Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh) Suresh S Kumar claimed that MTS dongles (data cards) sold under ‘Mblaze’ brand name, already has 35 per cent market share in the state. “We cover 60 cities in the south and in that 26 towns are in Karnataka where we offer our high speed internet service,” Kumar said.

As the plug-n-play CDMA dongles completely eliminate wired line connections we see a huge demand for wireless internet coming from many small towns in the state, he said. To reach out to consumers, MTS has made recharge coupons available from 1,000 outlets and has kept minimum recharge coupon value at Rs 198.

Unlike other operators offering dongles mainly to city dwellers, MTS’ focus on small towns has resulted in half the customer base coming from outside Bangalore.

MTS has also planned to upgrade its network to compete with faster mobile internet services on 3G technology now being rolled out by many GSM operators. Currently MTS’ network is EVD Rev A which can offer a maximum download speed of 3.1 mbps.

The plan now is to upgrade its network to EVD Rev B platform that offers highest speed of 14.7 mbps. “We have already started work in adopting this next generation technology. The roll out will happen in phases but Karnataka will be one of the early states to get it,” he said.