The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the performance indicator report for the quarter ended December 2010. The report reviews growth trends in telecom services for the period October-December 2010, and is compiled on the basis of information furnished by the service providers.

According to the report, the total number of telecom subscribers in the country (wireless and wireline) increased from 723.28 million in end-September 2010 to 787.28 million in end-December 2010, registering a sequential growth of 8.85 per cent over the previous quarter and a growth of 40.05 per cent compared to the corresponding quarter of 2009. The overall teledensity reached 66.16 per cent as on December 31, 2010.

The wireless segment continued to follow an upward trajectory with total subscribers reaching 752.19 million compared to 687.71 million for the quarter ended September 2010, marking a quarter-on-quarter growth of 9.38 per cent. The wireline user base, on the other hand, registered a 1.34 per cent decline to 35.09 million. The rural subscriber base grew from 236.21 million in September 2010 to 259.78 million in December 2010, taking the rural teledensity from 28.42 per cent to 31.18 per cent. The urban subscriber base also increased, from 487.07 million to 527.5 million, during the same period, with urban teledensity touching 147.88 per cent.

In the quarter ended December 2010, 63.17 per cent of the total net additions were in urban areas as compared to 66.83 per cent in the previous quarter. The rural user base showed an increase in the growth rate, from 7.81 per cent in September 2010 to 9.98 per cent in December 2010.

Wireline 

The country?s wireline subscriber base continued to decline. It dropped from 35.57 million at the end of September 2010 to 35.09 million at the end of December 2010, reducing the wireline teledensity from 3 per cent to 2.95 per cent.

The rural subscriber base marked a decline of 10.73 per cent on an annual basis, from 9.95 million in December 2009 to 8.88 million in December 2010. During the same period, the urban subscriber base also recorded a decline of 3.34 per cent.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited continued to lead in the segment with a market share of 73.09 per cent and a subscriber base of 25.65 million. However, specifically for the quarter ended December 2010, its subscriber base decreased by 2.2 per cent. Bharti airtel recorded the maximum net additions (41,000 subscribers) during this quarter. Circle-wise, Delhi, Mumbai and Orissa were the only service areas that showed positive wireline growth.

The number of public call offices stood at 3.34 million at the end of December 2010 as compared to 3.52 million at the end of September 2010. The decline over the corresponding quarter of 2009 was 39.72 per cent.

The number of village public telephones, however, increased from 569,000 in the quarter ended September 2010 to 581,000 in the quarter ended December 2010. Currently, 97.8 per cent of the total 593,731 inhabited villages in the country (as per the 2001 census) are connected.

Wireless 

The total wireless (GSM+CDMA) subscriber base increased from 687.71 million at the end of September 2010 to 752.19 million at the end of December 2010, indicating a growth of 9.38 per cent. Wireless teledensity rose from 57.99 per cent to 63.22 per cent. The number of rural wireless subscribers increased from 227.08 million to 250.89 million.

GSM services continued to dominate the wireless market. The GSM subscriber base stood at 641.73 million, accounting for 85.31 per cent of the total wireless subscriber market. The CDMA segment had a total of 110.46 million subscribers and a market share of 14.68 per cent.

Bharti airtel, with a subscriber base of 152.5 million, had the highest share in the wireless market. The company also led in the rural wireless market with 60.85 million subscribers.

Amongst CDMA operators, Reliance Communications maintained its lead position with a subscriber base of 54.1 million, accounting for a market share of 48.98 per cent.

Mobile ARPUs 

The stiff competition in the market continued to impact the ARPUs of these companies. The monthly ARPU for GSM mobile services declined by 4.38 per cent from Rs 110 in the quarter ended September 2010 to Rs 105 in the quarter ended December 2010. The decrease over the corresponding quarter of 2009 was 26.96 per cent. The monthly ARPU for CDMA mobile services registered a decline of 6.38 per cent, from Rs 73 in the quarter ended September 2010 to Rs 68 in the quarter ended December 2010.

Mobile usage pattern 

In spite of cheaper call rates and innovative tariff plans, there was a steep decline in the monthly minutes of usage (MoU) for both GSM and CDMA services. GSM MoU declined by 2.29 per cent, from 368 in the quarter ended September 2010 to 360 in the quarter ended December 2010. For CDMA subscribers, the monthly MoUs per subscriber fell from 283 in the quarter ended September 2010 to 270 in the quarter ended December 2010, a decline of 4.73 per cent.

Wireless quality of service 

During the period under review, the performance of wireless service providers deteriorated with respect to quality of service (QoS) parameters such as metering and billing credibility for post-paid connections; accessibility of call centres or customer care centres; 100 per cent termination or closure of service within seven days; and time taken for refund of deposits after closure.

The performance of wireless service providers improved during the quarter with respect to parameters like fault incidence per 100 subscribers per month; percentage of faults repaired by the next working day; resolution of billing/charging/credit issues; and addressing validity complaints.

Internet and broadband 

The number of internet subscribers increased from 17.9 million at the end of September 2010 to 18.69 million at the end of December 2010, registering a growth of 4.43 per cent. The 10 leading internet service providers together accounted for 95 per cent of the subscriber base. 

The share of broadband in the total internet subscriber base increased from 57.6 per cent to 58.8 per cent. The total number of broadband subscribers increased from 10.31 million to 10.99 million, registering a quarterly growth of 6.64 per cent and a year-on-year growth of 40.48 per cent. Digital subscriber line was the preferred broadband technology, which was used by 86.29 per cent of subscribers.