At a time when the telecom ministry is mulling a bailout package for new telecom players, a new entrant, Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL), posted a net loss of $106.6 million (Rs 493 crore) for the second quarter. Its net loss in the corresponding quarter last year was lower at $22.9 million (Rs 106 crore).
The company's revenues, however, jumped three-fold to $23.1 million (Rs 106 crore) from $7.2 million (Rs 33 crore) in the second quarter of 2009.
“Mobile average revenue per user (Arpu) in the second quarter of 2010 was stable, even in the light of declining Arpu of most Indian operators. Mobile subscribers' minutes of usage (MOU) decreased by 6.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter to 307 from 328 in the first quarter of 2010,” the company said in a press release.
SSTL launched its operations in India in March last year. The company had earlier said it was likely to achieve breakeven in another three years — till the second quarter of 2013.
Sistema Shyam, which operates under the brand MTS, provides CDMA connections and has more than six million subscribers. It operates across 12 telecom circles that include all southern states.
The operator also offers mobile broadband connections under the brand name MBlaze. Their broadband service has around 120,000 subscribers and it registered a two-fold increase on a year-on-year basis.
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SSTL is a joint venture company between Sistema of Russia and Shyam Group of India. Sistema is the majority share holder in this joint venture with a 73.7 per cent equity stake. It is part of a Russian corporation which has interests in energy, aerospace, banking, retail, mass-media, tourism and healthcare services.
Recently, the Russian government agreed to buy 20 per cent stake in SSTL for $600 million (Rs 2,778 crore). The deal valued the company at $3 billion (Rs 13,890 crore).