Pvt phone players cross PSUs

53.76 mn subscribers for pvt operators, 53.24 mn with BSNL and MTNL

Riding on the unprecedented growth of mobile services over the last couple of years, the subscriber base of private telecom operators has crossed that of the PSUs.

The private operators have managed to reach out to 53.76 million subscribers while the PSU operators "" BSNL and MTNL "" were at 53.24 million, as of July, according to the latest data compiled by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). This has also seen private operators have a higher market share at 50.24 per cent.

In the fixed line space, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) continues to be the largest player with 36.8 million subscribers and a market share of 78.02 per cent, followed by MTNL with 3.94 million subscribers and 8.35 per cent market share, Trai said. Private operators account for just 13.63 per cent of this sector.

The mobile sector is dominated by private operators who have a combined market share of close to 80 per cent. Bharti is the largest wireless player with a subscriber base of 12.79 million and a market share of 21.38 per cent, followed by Reliance Infocomm and BSNL with 12.15 and 11.16 million subscribers respectively, the regulator said.

BSNL, however, continues to be the largest service provider in the country with a combined subscriber base of 47.96 million and a market share of 44.82, followed by Reliance Infocomm at 14.01 million and 13.09 per cent and Bharti at 13.76 million subscribers and 12.86 per cent market share.

The total capacity employed in the telecom sector as of March 31, 2004 was Rs 1,30,000 crores, of which PSUs had employed a capital of Rs 86,000 crore and private operators Rs 44,000 crores. The figures for the additional investments in 2005-05 were awaited from operators, the regulator said.

According to Trai, the telecom subscriber base increased to 108 million in July 2005, from just 18.68 million in March 1998.

Also, the average growth for the subscriber base for 1998-2005 was about 11.5 million per year as against the earlier annual growth rate of 0.37 million. The average growth of total telephony subscriber base during the last two years was about 22 million per year, thus showing better performance than earlier years of liberalisation, the regulator added.