BPL buy won't alter cell ranking

The acquisition of a controlling stake in BPL Communications will not change the pecking order of cellular operators in terms of subscriber base.

Hutchinson Essar will continue to remain the third-largest cellular operator in the country. The acquisition would, however, give Hutch an increase in subscriber base by around 2.6 million and extend its reach to over 21 circles from the present 13 circles.

According to data from Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), Hutch has around 8.44 million users and that of BPL is around 2.6 million, as on June 30, 2005.

BPL's subscriber base is reached by combining both the subsidiaries of the company, BPL Mobile in Mumbai and BPL Cellular for the rest of the country.

The merged entity's subscriber base would rise to 11 million, with the addition of 1.25 million customers from BPL Mobile and the remaining 1.38 million from BPL Cellular.

With over 1.1 million subscribers, the merged entity would be the second leading GSM operator in India, next to AirTel which has a user base of around 1.2 million. However, combining GSM and CDMA, the merged entity would still be the third player, even though the gap in subscriber number will be narrowed down.

Reliance Infocomm, with around 12.4 million subscribers, of which around 12 million is in CDMA and around 0.4 million in GSM, leads the pack. AirTel, with around 12.3 million subscribers, is the leading GSM player.

The merged company will have a pan-India presence in 21 circles of the total 23 circles in the country. By acquiring BPL Cellular, the company will get access to Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu circles, where it does not have operations.

The formidable presence would be a competition to AirTel, which operates in all 23 circles and Reliance Infocomm that has a presence in 21 circles.