TTSL bags TRAI’s ‘Least Congested Network’ tag

· Third consecutive TRAI report rates TTSL network as the ‘least-congested’ in India

New Delhi, 12th January 2009: Validating its claim as a superior telecom service provider, Tata Teleservices Limited, India’s youngest and fastest-growing pan-India telecom operator, has yet again emerged on top in the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) Quarterly Report on Network Congestion. In the pan-India survey conducted for the July-September 2008 quarter, the TTSL network recorded the least congested PoIs (Points of Interconnection), only 1, against 41 such PoIs of Airtel, 19 of Reliance and 22 PoIs of Vodafone.

In the earlier TRAI Report on Network Congestion for the April-June 2008 period too, TTSL was ranked as the company with the least congested network, with only 5 PoIs found congested—against 56 PoIs of Airtel, 22 of Reliance and 19 of Vodafone.

Commenting on TTSL’s continued network dominance, Tata Teleservices Limited’s Chief Technology Officer AG Rao said: “As telecommunication services evolve and competition stiffens, service providers need new ways to streamline processes, meet service-level goals and improve on all parameters. This is where the TTSL policy helps—of ensuring that our customers experience the advantages of our network, crystal clear voice quality and minimal call drops. This is the third consecutive time that the TRAI Report on Network Congestion has rated TTSL as the best amongst all pan-India telecom operators. It is a proud achievement for us—and a validation of the extraordinary standards that we have set for our network.”

The growth of mobile telephony networks is taking place at a rapid pace and more than 9 million subscribers are being added in India every month. In order to ensure seamless interconnection, TRAI has been monitoring the level(s) of congestion at the PoI between various service providers on a monthly basis. This parameter signifies the ease with which a customer of one network is able to communicate with a customer of another network. This parameter also tabulates just how effective the interconnection is between any two networks. The benchmark notified by TRAI in the QoS Regulation of July 2005 for this parameter is <0.5%. This means of any 200 calls between any two operators, only one call should face congestion problems.

About Tata Teleservices Limited
Tata Teleservices Limited is one of India’s leading private telecom service providers, having a pan-India presence. The company offers integrated telecom solutions to its customers under the Tata Indicom brand, and uses the latest technology platform(s) for its wireless network. Tata Teleservices Limited, along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited, operates in more than 7,500 towns across all of the country’s 22 telecom Circles. In November 2008, Tata Teleservices entered into an agreement with Japanese telecom major NTT DOCOMO, as part of which the Japanese company acquired a 26% stake in TTSL for USD 2.7 billion. The transaction marks a key step in the strategic evolution of Tata Teleservices, as it moves towards a pan-India dual network presence. The company also recently announced a unique reverse equity swap strategic agreement between its fully-owned telecom tower subsidiary, Wireless TT Info-Services Limited, and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Limited—with the combined entity kicking off operations with 18,000 towers, thereby becoming the largest independent entity in this space in the country. Tata Teleservices’ bouquet of telephony services includes mobile services, wireless desktop phones, public booth telephony and wireline services.

For Further information please contact

Rajeev Narayan Atul Dwivedi

Tata Teleservices Limited Vaishnavi Corporate Communications

+91 9212105151 +91 9212743191

rajeev.narayan {at} tatatel.co(.)in adwivedi {at} vccpl(.)com