Tigo to go for 3G on future demand
Shirajiv Sirimane
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“We observe that
the present local operators have been too hasty to introduce 3G,
to the country.
CCO, tigo, Erik Van Vulpen
at the tigo lounge
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 Sri Lanka's mobile tariff is the lowest among the countries where the
tigo network is being operated, new Chief Commercial Officer, tigo, Erik
Van Vulpen said. Speaking at the tigo lounge in Colombo yesterday he
said though the tariff is low in Sri Lanka, the network penetration is
very high.
He said they are very keen to penetrate in developing countries and
they are very strong in Cambodia and Myanmar. "We have noted that the
future growth in the mobile penetration will be in developing countries
and Millicom wants to be part of it," he said.
Asked if the company is planning to introduce 3G, he said it will be
done as and when the demand arises. "We observe that the present local
operators have been too hasty to introduce 3G, to the country. "How many
people can afford a 3G handset?" he asked.
Celltel Lanka, which was recently re-branded as tigo, was the first
cellular operator in Sri Lanka. Vulpen admitted that Celltel lost their
way since the company took time to move their network from Analog to
Digital.
He said they are not keen to launch a CDMA network. Airing his views
on the proposed entry of India's Bhathi Airtel, he said the company will
have a tough time since the local mobile operators are well established.
Tigo is now on a massive expansion drive and will soon have 1,000
towers to provide better coverage. He said tigo is the only company to
introduce a 'per second' billing system where the customer pays only for
the talk time.
"We have observed that with the per second billing a customer could
save around 40 per cent from their bill. This may be overheads to the
company, which we observe as an investment.
For the full year Millicom added a total of 8.4 million subscribers,
up by 56 per cent year-on-year and this culminated in the fourth quarter
with the addition of 3.4 million new subscribers, which was an
exceptional result, brought about by the seasonally strong fourth
quarter and as a result of marketing initiatives taken earlier in the
year.
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