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Tata group, the steel to salt conglomerate and one of India´s largest private companies, is also the country´s second largest private sector group in telecom business. Though not as aggressive as Reliance or as loud as Bharti; Tatas, as of now, have a much bigger presence in the Indian telecom business than any other private sector group. Till last year, the group also had a stake in telecom networking products (Tata Telecom) which it has exited. Tata´s telecom service business is spearheaded by VSNL, Tata Teleservices, and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra). While, TCS represents it in telecom software exports and systems integration, and CMC, which it acquired from the government, is one of the top network integrators of the country. Tata´s also have a stake Idea cellular. Besides these, Tata Power Limited (a Tata group company) is engaged in the broadband telecom business. VOICE&DATA estimates that all the Tata group companies, which have a stake in telecom business, would have a total turnover of around Rs 6,763. We have arrived at this by including the turnovers of VSNL, TTSL, TTSL (M), telecom software sales of TCS, and network integration business of CMC, Tata Infotech, Tata Elxsi, TataNet, and broadband business of Tata Power. The Rs 6,763 crore of the group also includes Rs 402 crore of Tata Telecom.

Apart from VSNL, still India´s largest ILD operator despite competition, Tata Teleservices (TTSL) is currently the major focus of the group. With a proposed investment of about 10,000 crore in its telecom business, the group aims at expanding TTSL´s presence in 12 new circles. A major portion of the Rs 10,000 crore would go to expand TTSL´s network. Curently, under the Tata Indicom brand, it offers services in eight circles—Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Delhi, and Tamil Nadu.

It plans to start operating in the new circles by September 2004. Out of which, the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh belt; Kolkata; and Kerala are priority geographies. The investment in the company, as of March 2004, totaled Rs 5,995 crore. The group, excluding TTML, posted a 191 percent growth over the last year and raked in close to Rs 700 crore with a subscriber base of around 12 lakh in over 50 cities.

TTML saw a 77 percent growth in its revenues, touching Rs 653 crore in the FY 2003–04. The company´s expansion plans involves increasing network capacities, introducing new technologies, strengthening spread and depth of coverage, and adding a host of state-of-the-art software platforms. Tata was one of the first telecom players to target corporate customers with an integrated marketing strategy under Tata Indicom Enterprise Business Unit (TIEBU). It netted a business of more than Rs 1,000 crores in FY 2003–04.

Telecom is a major focus of the Tata group, along with steel, automobiles, and software. However, it needs to be more aggressive than it has. Tata must find a leadership niche for itself, something it lacks as of now.

While it is not there in the GSM business (except for its stake in Idea Cellular that it is reportedly considering to exit) and is only a distant second in the CDMA services, Tata´s lead in the international long distance market, that too because of VSNL´s historical dominance. VSNL´s dominance too is increasingly being challenged with each passing year. In this backdrop, the best the Tata´s can do is to build up on their strong presence in the corporate connectivity business, where they have already have a head start, thanks to VSNL and the efforts of TIEBU.