<p> <i> 13.54 pm </i>

MTS makes foray into home Wi-Fi segment

Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd. (SSTL), which provides telecom services under the MTS brand, on Wednesday, entered into the home Wi-Fi segment. The company till now had primarily provided data services via dongles. The product, Homespot Instant Wi-Fi, is being targeted at people in the age group of 16-35 years with small families, with higher focus on Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, the company said, adding, this will enable high-speed broadband access to five users simultaneously, including smartphone customers.

MTS India Chief Marketing and Brand Officer Leonid Musatov said, “MTS is traditionally known as a data dongle provider in the Indian market. The plan is to now shift focus and be recognised as a world-class Wi-Fi solutions provider.”

While pre-paid users need to pay Rs.1,299 for the device with which they will get 10 GB of bundled data, post-paid users will need to pay Rs.999 for the device.

Monthly tariff plans start at Rs.248 for pre-paid users and Rs.550 for post-paid users, going up to Rs.999.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the number of broadband subscribers increased to 85.74 million at the end of December last year from 82.22 million at the end of November, 2014, with a monthly growth rate of 4.28 per cent. However, fixed wireless subscribers, which include Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, point-to-point radio and VSAT, remained flat at 0.43 million during the same period, it added.</p>