Mobile subscribers’ base crosses 2 mn mark

MUMBAI, AUGUST 1: Cellular subscriber base across the country has grown by 16 per cent during the first three months of the current financ...

MUMBAI, AUGUST 1: Cellular subscriber base across the country has grown by 16 per cent during the first three months of the current financial year and stood at 2.18 million as on June 30, according to the data released by Cellular Operators Associations of India (COAI).

Total cellular subscriber base has stood at 21,81,807 as on July 1, 2000 against 18,84,311 on April 1, COAI said.

Delhi outpaced Mumbai in the growth of subscriber base with 3.55 lakh connections,

while Mumbai has only 3.51 cell phone connections. Calcutta has over 1.06 lakh mobile users, while Chennai has only 66,072 users.

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Among the operators, Bharti Cellular in Delhi has maximum number of mobile users with 2.01 lakh followed by BPL Mobile in Mumbai with 1.88 lakh users. It is followed by Hutchison Max in Mumbai with 1.62 lakh connections and Sterling Cellular in Delhi with 1.54 lakh connections.

Among the metros, Chennai showed the poorest growth rate with hardly 66,072 users between the two operators. RPG Cellular has 37,708 connections and Skycell has only 28,364 users.

Among the `A’ category circles, Gujarat appeared promising with 1.56 lakh connections, followed by Karnataka with 1.47 lakh connections. Among the `B’ class circles, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh (east) have maximum number of users with 1.43 lakh and 1.33 lakh connections respectively. Of the `C’ class circles, Bihar has the highest number of users with 27,245 connections.

Telecom analysts say the number of cell subscribers is expected to go up in the coming months, thanks to the Sinha’s Union Budget which has proposed to bring down the import duty on cellular equipment and battery used in the equipment.

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Industry analysts say the changes in telecom sector, including the new telecom policy, and the proposed calling party pays (CPP) regime have resulted in a 24 per cent increase in the cellular subscriber base in the four-month period July-October 1999 compared to the growth of 23 per cent for the 12-month period from July 1998 to June 1999.

A judgement by the Delhi High Court has resulted in a reduction in monthly rentals to Rs 475 from Rs 600 for metro operators, and Rs 500 for non-metro operators. Air-time rates have also been reduced to Rs 4 per minute in metros from Rs 6 per minute and to Rs 4.50 in the non-metros from February 1, 2000.

Besides, the era of consolidation in the telecom sector has gained further momentum with the merger between Birla-AT&T and Tata Communications Ltd. With a subscriber base of over two lakh, the post-merger entity would benefit from economies of scale in the most prosperous and lucrative western belt of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Andhra Pradesh telecom circles. Analysts say in the months to come four main consortiums will rule the cell phone industry which are: Hutchison-Essar combine, Birla-AT&T-Tata group, Reliance Industries, which has licence for over half of Indian subcontinent and Bharti network which has already embarked on an aggressive acquisition spree.

With this, consumers also stands to gain as the new entities plans to offer value-added features to its subscribers. More mergers and acquisitions are set to follow, say analysts.