World phone expects five times growth from channels

In a bid to capture the corporate market, New Delhi based World Phone Internet Services (World Phone) is aggressively expanding its channel base in all regions of India. The company has already placed its channel partners in places like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. It is now eyeing the markets of West Bengal, Punjab, Rajasthan among other regions. 

Talking about the company's channel status and its plans, Aditya Ahluwalia, Chairman of World Phone said, "We have five channel partners covering part of Maharashtra, South India and Gujurat. We are hunting for representation in Punjab, Rajasthan and some other states. Right now I am in close dialogue with people from Baroda and Kolkatta and most likely
they will soon be added in my list of franchisee-based channel approach." 

World Phone hopes to have at least 10 partners covering most of the country, by this November. It wants to tie up with franchisees who have sufficient infrastructure to reach out to their respective geography and experience in this field. 

The company is also targeting the corporate sector with its new launched 'World Phone Corporate Plan' for Internet telephony. Elaborating its recent shift to target the corporate sector, Aditya noted, "We are specially targeting BPOs, software exporters and other MNCs headquartered in the US with a cost-effective plan." Currently, World Phone sells around 55 monthly. 

The cost of the corporate plan is Rs 6,995 per month in which customer can make unlimited calls to any North American
country. All a customer needs for implementing this plan is an analog telephone adapter, which costs Rs 7,500. These adapters are currently available from Cisco and Motorola.

World Phone provides sales training and technical support to its franchisees, regularly by sending a team member to the partner's location. It also plans to open a regional support center for end-customers.

Faiz Askari

In New Delhi