Motorola India chief quits

By siliconindia   |   Monday, 15 March 2004, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Global telecom major Motorola India's president Pramod Saxena has resigned from the company and has tied up with a South African company to set up a 50:50 joint venture to offer "virtual prepaid time" services to the mobile telecom subscribers. The joint venture company, with a total investment of Rs 10 crore and to be called "India Prepaid Services" (IPS), will be the first in India to offer virtual prepaid time. The company has already tied up with India 's largest private cellular service providers – Bharti and Hutchison – to introduce its services of virtual airtime recharge, Saxena, co-promoter, IPS, said in a statement here. Asked if he was quitting Motorola in the wake of a recent controversy over a tender for supplying equipment to Bharat Sanchar Nagar Limited, Saxena told PTI, "It has absolutely nothing to do with that tender process. It was big opportunity to set up a new company (IPS) and I took it up." Initially, the company will only offer virtual prepaid airtime services in Delhi and Mumbai , India 's two largest markets for mobile prepaid cards. Trial operations with the operators in these cities for offering virtual prepaid services will begin later this month. In the trial phase, it will offer virtual prepaid service through 200 retailers in Delhi and Mumbai, which will go up to 2000 retailers by the year-end. " India 's prepaid market is set for phenomenal growth with the entry of CDMA-based operators as well. The physical distribution process is getting increasingly complex, which is why we believe there is a virtual prepaid recharge airtime concept which will benefit operators, retailers and end-consumers in a market like India ," Saxena added. Over the next 12-18 months, IPS plans to tie up with all Indian operators and have a nationwide network for offering virtual prepaid services to the consumers throughout the country. IPS has aggressive plans to increase its network of third-party retailers, Saxena said, adding the company was talking with banks, petrol companies and large shopping malls among others to connect with their point of sale terminal and introduce its services, making prepaid recharge even more accessible to the end-consumer.