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With around five million 3G subscribers, Idea Cellular is much ahead of its closest competitor, Vodafone India, with 3.3 million. Idea, the third largest telecom operator in the country after Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, is now inching towards the largest operator’s 3G numbers — 8.4 million. In the quarter ended March, Idea managed to add a million 3G subscribers. The company had a three-pronged approach towards increasing the spread of its data business. One of them is to launch Idea-branded smartphones, which go bundled with 3G services. Around 75-80 per cent of those who bought these remain loyal to the service, the company claims. The surge was also aided by network expansion.
The company has been undertaking in the last six to nine months. In the quarter ended March, Idea added 1,595 3G cell sites, taking total to 17,140. It also added 2,432 GSM cell sites, taking the total to 90,094. The issues with networks within the towns and cities have reduced, with far better coverage,” claimed Sashi Shankar, chief marketing officer. Idea has also set up an entire sales and distribution network exclusively for mobile broadband, last September. This team of 250 people in circles where they have 3G licences will concentrate on exclusively selling data recharges and devices.
Its 2G data subscribers’ numbers have more than doubled in the last one year. The company has 26 million data subscribers (2G and 3G) at the end of March this year. Last year, they had 11 million subscribers. Idea has 119 million subscribers in total.
The operator believes its 3G subscribers will grow further, withstanding regulatory worries. Recently, the Supreme Court asked Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea not to add subscribers in circles where they do not have 3G licences. Earlier, the operators were doing so as a part of roaming pacts.
“We will continue to focus on the data business,” said Shankar, while refusing to comment on the roaming matter, which is sub-judice. He believes the expanding smartphone ecosystem will aid data usage. Idea vows to launch and add more smartphones in its portfolio.
