TATA EXEC TO LEAD SNO
The appointment is an important step as the company gears up to begin offering services in competition with incumbent Telkom SNO Telecommunications hopes to begin providing services to customers in the second half of the year, more than four years after Telkom’s statutory monopoly ended.
Tata, through its Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) subsidiary, holds a controlling 26% stake in SNO Telecommunications. Other shareholders include Transtel, Eskom and empowerment company Nexus
Pandey has more than 20 years’ experience in the telecom industry, which could prove invaluable for the second operator. In November 2003 he was appointed president of India’s Tata Teleservices, tasked with expanding the company’s geographic presence in that country. Pandey was also previously CEO of Tata Internet Services
Tata Teleservices provides telephony and Internet access to Indian consumers through the Tata Indicom brand. It operates cellular, fixed-line and fixed-wireless networks and boasts 4,6m customers in 1400 towns in India.
The company claims to be the market leader in fixed wireless telephony, with 2,7m such customers. Because of the enormous cost involved in building a fixed-line network, it’s likely SNO Telecommunications will rely heavily on fixed-wireless technologies.
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