Tele Gyaan

India

India takes on China to become world’s fastest growing telecom market

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Moody’s Corporation, a global rating agency headquartered in New York City has termed India as the “world’s fastest growing telecom market”. As per the official statement released by the company, India’s net additions of 10 million subscribers per month have far outpaced China’s monthly rate of increase which is now below 8 million. About two years ago, China was having the maximum number of new subscribers on a monthly basis.

Moody’s explained that emerging markets with relatively low penetration continue to have above-average rates of increase in new subscribers, but those numbers tend to slow down in a while. However, in India the numbers seem to be growing by the day. [Read more…] about India takes on China to become world’s fastest growing telecom market

RCom adds 3.3 million users in Feb.

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Rcom seems to be on a roll, with largest number of users added in Jan and Feb compared to any other operator in the country. Last month the count stood at 3.3mn, which is higher than what others managed to rope in. RCom believes that the results are a clear sign of the operators increasing dominance in the Indian Telecom market. 

We Say: Though these figures represent GSM as well as CDMA users, the numbers are expected to increase in the coming months. We are of the view that this is the beginning of RCom’s continuous attempt to strengthen its foothold in the market. 

Who’s standing where: GSM Market Share update

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With the additions done and dealt with, let’s have a look at the market shares and user base of these GSM operators. Here it goes:

  • Airtel – 32.88% – 91,114,971
  • Vodafone – 23.79% – 65,920,902
  • BSNL – 15.94%  – 44,180,880
  • Idea – 14.98% – 41,518,613
  • Aircel – 6.31% – 17,476,962
  • Reliance – 3.88% – 10,744,953
  • MTNL – 1.47% – 4,084,579 
  • BPL – 0.75% – 2,073,184 

We Say: With Bharti adding the highest number of users to its kitty each month, it is unlikely that it will lose its position. However, Vodafone is trying its level best to reach closer by adding around the same number of users as Airtel. BSNL and Idea also seem to be battling it out for the third position. Though Reliance may seem to be a small player out here, it is adding large number of users each month and we expect to see it climbing up the rankings soon. 

9.18 million additions in Feb’09

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The month of February turned out to be quite positive for Indian Telecom, with GSM operators adding 9.18 mn users in the month. This has taken the total count to 277.11 mn. In percentage terms, the industry clocked a healthy growth rate of 3.43%. 

Getting into specifics, here is how some operators contributed to the figure (additions and growth rate):

  •  Airtel: 2.7 mn @ 3.09%
  • Vodafone: 2.58 mn @ 4.07%
  • BSNL: 1.5mn
  • Idea: 1.5mn
  • Aircel: 0.7mn @ 4.27%

We Say: Going by the figures, nothing seems to be obstructing the growth of Indian Telecom, making it even more lucrative to more giants. However, we hope to see this growth accompanied by a simultaneous growth/ improvement in the management and service quality. 

8.12 million GSM users added in December 08

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The economic slowdown hasn’t affected the Indian telecom industry much, quite evident by the above mentioned numbers. Against 7.62 million users being added in November, December witnessed a healthy growth in these numbers – with 8.12 million users being added. This converts into a growth rate of 3.25%, which is marginally lower than the same clocked in the previous month – 3.32%. Here are the specifics of how each operator contributed to this growth:

  • Airtel: 2.7 million
  • Vodafone: 2 million
  • Idea: 1 million
  • BPL Mobile: 65 thousand
  • BSNL:8 lakh

At the end of December, the strength of the total user base (GSM) stands at 258 million, with Bharti Airtel leading the market with its 33.22% market share. The operator is followed by Vodafone at 23.63% share of the GSM market. The month saw all operators clocking positive growth, with the exception of BPL which saw its additions go into the red.

J&K and few other areas to witness ban on prepaid connections

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Coming Feb, telecom users from J&K and some other areas, particularly from the North Eastern belt, may have to switch to postpaid connections, as the telecom regulator along with the defence ministry is considering a ban on prepaid connections in there areas.

The decision would decide the fate some million users, who already use prepaid connections in these areas. According to sources, this count could go upto 8-9 million as the areas account for about 10 million mobile users. The ministry had set a deadline, which falls in the mid of next month and may likely be extended for a while till a collective decision isn’t taken from the authorities.

3G spectrum to be allocated by January end

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There has been a lot of things happening within the telecom department regarding the 3G technology. A few weeks back a rumor revealed that the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has pushed the 3G auction by two weeks to January 15. Then some days later, we heard about the telecom ministry playing hardball by keeping the auction as per previous schedule.

Now in a recent twist, Telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura announced in a press conference that they would be conducting the 3G auction sometime in the second week of January and would be allocating spectrum by the end of month. He also said that come what may, there would be no delay in the plan to complete the auction by mid-January.

Let us hope the government sticks to their word this time because more delay could mean delay in the cash reserves for the government.

3G Bid not to be delayed

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With the global economic recession and firms going bust, a huge investment at this point of time doesn’t seem quite appealing. This was the basic reason for authorities to delay the 3G Bidding process to early next year. Telecom Biggie, Vodafone also expressed concerns over having the bid this year, with the economic meltdown taking a hit on its profits.

However, contrary to this news, the Telecom Ministry announced that the bidding process would be held this year itself. December has been earmarked as the month, which will witness the act resulting in a collection of up to $8 Billion for the Government.