Mobile revenues surpass fixed line
Indian telecom sector registered a 30 per cent growth in revenues at Rs 87,962 crore in 2005-06, wherein revenues from mobile operators surpassed the fixed line services for the first time.
By PTI |
NEW DELHI: Indian telecom sector registered a 30 per cent growth in revenues at Rs 87,962 crore in 2005-06, wherein revenues from mobile operators surpassed the fixed line services for the first time.
Even though, the private players contributed 85 per cent to the growth, BSNL and MTNL, with joint revenues of Rs 44,371 crore remained the top most service providers as compared to Rs 43,591 crore of the private players, says Voice and Data survey.
With a growth rate of 9 per cent and revenues of Rs 39,500 crore, BSNL was clearly the winner of the race with its closest competitor, Bharti, earning just Rs 11,663 crore even at a growth rate of 49 per cent, the survey said.
Reliance came third with growth rate of 109 per cent and revenues of Rs 11,228 crore.
Service industry growth was mainly due to the 57 per cent surge in the revenues of cellular services at Rs 35,879 crore, which though less than the 63 per cent growth of FY 2004-05, was enough to take the revenues to beyond that of fixed services.
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The growth in industry was also due to expansion of networks in new areas, consolidations, and the operators offering personalised tariff structures.In the last fiscal, industry added 38.5 million users and Bharti Airtel emerged as the top services provider with revenue of Rs 7,928 crore with Tala Teleservices and MTNL as star performers.
Voice and Data survey, V&D100, is based on a survey of all licensed telecom service providers in the country.
"The fast-growing market share and revenues of private players, despite steep tariff drops, are proof that telecom liberalisation was a step in right direction," Voice and Data editor Ibrahim Ahmad said.
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The fixed services industry overcame the decline it experienced in 2004-05 and grew at 3 per cent to cross the 50 million subscribers mark in 2005-06, which is expected to grow further with newly introduced IPTV and broadband services. BSNL was the top fixed service provider with 75 per cent share of market and revenues of Rs 25,195 crore.The National Long Distance (NLD) doubled from the 22 per cent growth in 2004-05 to 45 per cent growth in 2005-06 with revenues of Rs 9,017 crore, while International Long Distance (ILD) witnessed a growth of 90 per cent with revenues of Rs 7,251 crore.
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BSNL's predominant position in NLD remained unchallenged with its above 75 per cent marketshare and growth of 35 per cent, it grossed Rs 6,792 crore.Reliance turned the tables on VSNL in ILD segment by registering a growth of 314 per cent and revenues of Rs 2,714 crore. VSNL's market share, on the other hand, fell below 50 per cent for the first time, despite the company's growth of 72 per cent.
The internet access business in the industry has, however, had a quiet year with a flat growth of 2 per cent and revenues of Rs 1,619 crore in 2005-06, broadband subscribers stood at 14 lakh, not even halfway to the target of 30 lakh.
BSNL again topped the list with a growth rate of 3.9 per cent and posted revenue of Rs 439 crore. Both Sify and VSNL declined by 25 and 34 per cent respectively.
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