Pantech and Tata Teleservices Supply 300,000 phones to India
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2005 8:45 pm
Pantech Signs Agreement with Tata Teleservices Limited to Supply 300,000 CDMA Handsets in India
- Pantech’s first direct supplier agreement with a mobile carrier in India
- Pantech to launch compact, slim PA-711 in Indian market
- Pantech’s first direct supplier agreement with a mobile carrier in India
- Pantech to launch compact, slim PA-711 in Indian market
SEOUL, October 26, 2005: Pantech, South Korea’s second biggest mobile phone maker - composed of Pantech&Curitel Communications, Inc., Pantech Co. and Pantech C&I Inc. (“Pantech” hereafter) - announced today that it has signed a direct supplier agreement with Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), the telecoms unit of one of India's largest business conglomerates, the Tata Group.
Under the terms of the agreement, Pantech will roll out 300,000 CDMA handsets in India, starting with the compact, slim PA-711 phone, which will be sold under the Pantech brand.
Pantech has had successful business relationships with wireless service providers in India since 1998. The agreement will help Pantech to further increase consumer awareness of its advanced, cutting edge handsets and to develop its share of the rapidly growing Indian mobile phone market.
Dr. Moon S. Song, President & CEO of Pantech&Curitel Communications, Inc., said: “India is a very important market for us and, as such, we are committed to offering a wide range of affordable and innovative handsets to our customers in India through the establishment of a lasting and mutually beneficial partnership with TTSL”.
“Our partnership with TTSL will further enhance brand recognition for Pantech in the region. We are confident that we will further strengthen our position in the market as a provider of attractively priced yet technologically advanced handsets - such as the PA-711 - to our customers in India,” said Dr. Song.
Pantech aims to secure more than 10 percent of the Indian CDMA market next year by forging strategic alliances with other mobile service operators. The company also plans to unveil GSM and 3G handsets in India next year.
The PA-711 is a stylish and compact CDMA handset which features the unique Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) platform, which allows users to download a range of entertainment applications to personalize their handsets. It also includes the T9 Text Input function, which offers a range of language characters and enables wireless Internet access and email functions.
TTSL is the leading fixed wireless telephony service provider in India. Pantech plans to build on its partnership with TTSL to increase its share of the rapidly growing Indian handset market, which will in turn support its plans to become one of the top five handset manufacturers in the world.
With a population of more than 1 billion, India has a mobile penetration rate of about 5 percent, or 52 million subscribers.
