MTS expects surge in data traffic

NEW DELHI: Sistema Shyam TeleServices expects strong data growth over its networks, despite challenges to spectrum availability, but doesn't see wide adoption of 4G LTE services in India before two to three years, a top official said.

"We foresee exceptional data growth onto our networks. Nearly 40 per cent revenue comes from data services today," Sistema Shyam chief information officer Rajeev Batra told ET. He added that a lot of peer-to-peer (P2P) downloads were happening already.

The Indian unit of Russia's Sistema JSFC that operates under the MTS brand operates in nine out of 22 telecom circles in India.

MTS feels that Big Data analytics is becoming core to telcos’ strategy despite its prohibitive cost. "Big Data's potential is humungous and it will be a game changer for the future for market intelligence," added Batra.

The company has, of late, shifted its focus to data-centric services such as video streaming. The non-voice revenues contributed 38.6 per cent as of quarter ended June 30, 2014, which the telco claimed is highest in the industry.

Batra said that they witness a large chunk of subscribers using social media sites, followed by instant messaging (IM) apps and video traffic on their network, and maintained that entertainment and gaming services bring in data growth for them.

The telco said that adequate spectrum availability remains a key challenge for data services expansion but the company ensures new tower installations to improve quality of service.