Brand Aircel rings in national roll out plan
Aircel, now part of Maxis of Malaysia, is gearing up for the national roll out of its GSM mobile service. It is also banking on research to track market dynamics.
By TNN |
CHENNAI: Aircel, now part of Maxis of Malaysia, is gearing up for the national roll out of its GSM mobile service. It is also banking on research to track market dynamics.
The research is to understand how the new markets will react to Brand Aircel, which remained a regional brand, largely restricted to Chennai and Tamil Nadu circles. The company is also open to promoting Maxis as the brand for its pan-Indian presence.
“The brand will have to be talking to customers on a national basis, but the ground level addressability will be different for different markets,” said Jagdish Kini, newly-appointed group CEO for Aircel. Aircel originally operated in the Chennai and Tamil Nadu circles.
Subsequently, it bagged licences for seven other circles — North-East, Assam, Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. “We have launched our services everywhere, except Bihar and HP. While we will be launching there in December, we have also applied for licences for rest of the 14 circles in the country,” Mr Kini said.
Aircel has about 3.8m subscribers in the country, with Chennai/Tamil Nadu accounting for 3.0m subscribers. “Our focus will be on retaining existing customers than acquiring new subscribers. Sufficient investments will be ploughed to offer hassle-free connectivity and coverage to customers, who will see a qualitative improvement in our service in Chennai/Tamil Nadu within the next couple of months,” Mr Kini added.
ADVERTISEMENT
As Aircel prepares to become a pan-Indian organisation, it may take a leaf or two from the success of its parent, Maxis Communications in Malaysia. Starting as a No 8 player over a decade back, Maxis has gone on to become the market leader.Start a SIP with as low as ₹500 with ET Money App!
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
