Idea extends 3G services in Himachal

Idea's 3G services now extend to Dharamshala, Mandi, Sunder Nagar and Mcleodganj in HP.

Idea Cellular has expanded its 3G services to four more towns of Himachal Pradesh namely Dharamshala, Mcleodganj, Mandi and Sunder Nagar. 

The teleco launched 3G services on its network in Himachal Pradesh, starting with the two major towns, Shimla and Baddi, in March this year.

11.1 mn new GSM subscribers added in April

Idea cellular was the biggest gainer adding 2.45 mn users into its kitty followed by Airtel with 2.41 mn additions.

Indian GSM telecom operators added 11.1 million subscribers to their kitty in April, according to the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI). 

However, the figure is lower than the March figure, when 14.49 million subscribers were added by the operators. With this, the total GSM subscriber base in the country has now climbed to 580.66 million. 

Mobile TV services in India

MTNL has recently launched a new mobile TV service that will be available along with its already existing service. We compare this new offer with others in the industry.

State-run MTNL, which provides mobile services in Delhi and Mumbai, has launched a MobileTV service in partnership with DigiVive. The service, called NexGTv, offers over 50 live channels ranging from entertainment, reality, news, religious to popular regional channels.

"The new service will also offer video-on-demand content, including clips from mythological TV shows like Mahabharat; and Hindi movies in 15 minute capsule form, or mobisodes. This service is available for both 2G as well as 3G users with compatible handsets," DigiVive said in a press statement. 

Licences of Idea, Spice may be cancelled

NEW DELHI: The telecom ministry has issued a showcause notice to Idea Cellular for the Karnataka circle and Spice for the Andhra Pradesh circle for cancellation of licences on account of a delay in network rollout. "Yes, they have been issued (notices). Idea Cellular for Karnataka and Spice for Andhra Pradesh have been issued showcause notice for cancellation of license on account of delayed roll-out obligations," telecom secretary R Chandrasekhar said.

In 2008, Idea bought Spice, but has not yet received approval from DoT to go ahead with the merger. The notices have been sent recently. The companies have been given 60 days to respond, he said. Idea and Spice Telecom had procured these licences in January, 2008, under the regime of former telecom minister A Raja, who has been arrested on charges of irregularities in distribution of 122 new licences with 2G spectrum.

Top Ten Telecom Companies in India

India is the fastest emerging mobile phone market in the world. To cater to this rising sector, many foreign telephone companies are coming here to make their presence felt in the cutthroat handset market. Additionally, telecom companies are also gearing up as the industry is generating large amount of investments for the country. In fact, the number of telephone subscriber base in India touched 671.69 million as on June 30, 2010 from 653.92 million in May 2010, says the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Our list of top 10 telecom companies in India

Bharti Airtel: A recent survey by Voice and Data (CyberMedia group journal) indicated that Bharti Airtel is India’s top mobile phone operator for the 2009-10 period with fiscal revenues of Rs. 38, 800 crore (Rs. 388 billion). Led by Sunil Bharti Mittal, the company is divided into 4 strategic business arms – mobile, telemedia, enterprise and digital TV.

BSNL: State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited reported a drop of 14% this year in revenue & posted a total of Rs. 30, 240 crore (Rs. 302.4 billion) as earnings. It secures top spot as the largest wireline service provider in the country with over 71.68 million subscribers. Since Feb 2010, BSNL earned Rs. 6 crore on its 2G connections and 9, 73, 378 for 3G connections.

Vodafone Essar: Vodafone Group, the Indian subsidiary of Vodafone Essar, recorded a profit boost of 13.7% and emerged as the third largest telecom player with revenue collections of Rs. 23, 200 crore (Rs. 232 billion). Since its unremarkable beginnings in 1994, the company has come a long way in spreading its services to over 106.34 million Indian users.

Reliance: Anil Ambani’s now rebranded ‘Reliance’ (better known as RCOM too) is India’s largest private sector information and communications company with a sizeable 100 million subscribers. The giant recently reported a negative growth of 3.5% with revenue of Rs. 22, 130 crore (Rs. 221.3 billion).

Idea Cellular: With revenue of Rs. 11, 390 crore (Rs. 113.9 billion), Idea Cellular, Aditya Birla Group’s flagship company maintains its spot as one of the leading service provider in the country. Headed by Kumar Mangalam Birla, Idea has around 67 million subscribers with a pan-India presence. It was also the first cellular service provider to offer General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) & Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) in India.

Tata Communications: Even though it’s placed on number 6 slot, the company holds leadership position in emerging markets. It reported total revenue of Rs. 11, 000 crore (Rs. 110 billion) last fiscal but analysts say that Tata’s potential for this year is huge. The Tata Global Network comprises of one of the most advanced and largest submarine cable networks, a Tier-1 IP network.

Tata Teleservices: The company operates under 5 brands – Tata Indicom (CDMA services), Tata DOCOMO (GSM services), Virgin Mobile, Tata Walky (for fixed wireless phones) and Tata Photon (for wireless mobile broadband access) & is one of the 96 companies of the Tata Group to have its network in 20 circles. With revenue of Rs. 6, 900 crore (Rs. 69 million), Tata Teleservices leads the Tata Group’s presence in the telecom sector.

Aircel: With the highest growth record of 37.2% in 2009-10, Aircel is a joint venture between Maxis Communications Berhad of Malaysia and Sindya Securities Investments Private Limited. Commencing operations in 1999, it became the leading mobile operator in Tamil Nadu, Assam and North Eastern provinces speedily.

MTNL: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) has a customer base of 8.06 million in Delhi and Mumbai and the government holds a 56.25% stake in the company. Managed by Mr. Kuldip Singh (Chairman and MD), the company offers state-of-the art telephone services and has more than 9, 00, 000 GSM mobile connections.

TTML: Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Limited (TTML) earned revenues worth Rs. 2, 300 crore (Rs. 23 billion) helping it to preserve its place in this list. TTML leads its parent company Tata Group in the telecom circles of Maharashtra (Mumbai) & Goa. With 6 lakh subscribers today, it started operations in 1998 and now prides itself as the largest wireline base in Maharashtra among all private operators.

Idea launches 'My Card' to present special gifts to subscribers in NCR

• A unique product ‘My Card’ offers an array of Voice & VAS benefits to Idea subscribers, absolutely free
• Idea subscribers also stand a chance to win Tickets to Delhi Daredevils match and also Meet their favorite Daredevil players
• Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar to be seen promoting Idea My Card

IDEA Cellular, the 3rd largest mobile operator in India, has launched a new ‘My Card’ voucher in Delhi, enabling its subscribers to avail multiple Voice & VAS benefits, absolutely free. Idea subscribers can now avail benefits in the form of free talktime, free minutes, free SMS with this special voucher.
Idea has innovatively christened this new voucher as ‘My Card’ providing free voice and value added services for its subscribers and can be availed from any My Idea showroom or select retailers across Delhi NCR. Idea subscribers who avail ‘My Card’ till 15th May 2011 also stand a chance to win Tickets to Delhi Daredevils match and an exclusive opportunity to be present at the Toss, and Meet & Greet their favorite Delhi Daredevil players.
Idea is the Principal Partner of Delhi Daredevils, and the Team Captain, Virender Sehwag, pace bowlers Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar will be seen promoting Idea’s My Card in Delhi.

Idea rings in the 'Power of 3G' in Goa

Goans & Tourists can now experience Gold Standard 3G services in Panaji, Mapusa, Margao, Vasco and Ponda

• Enjoy Video Conferencing, Video on Demand, Mobile TV, IdeaMall and high-speed Internet
• Easy & Convenient Time based Billing plans for 3G services
• Visit www.ideacellular.com/3g or 3G Experience Kiosks at select Idea stores in Goa

IDEA Cellular, India’s third largest mobile operator and the leader in Maharashtra & Goa announced the launch of its ‘Gold Standard’ 3G services in the hot tourist destination of Goa, today. Idea’s 3G services are now available in 9 circles - MP, Gujarat, HP, UP West, UP East, AP, Kerala and Haryana, besides Maharashtra, and has already enrolled over 1 million users in the first of month of launch.

Idea’s 3G services will be available in Panaji, Mapusa, Margao, Vasco and Ponda in Goa. Idea’s 3G services now cover 4 major cities in Maharashtra & Goa, and will progressively grow to cover 400 towns by mid year, and over 750 towns by the end of FY12. Idea has traditionally focused on growth from semi-urban heartlands of India and will continue to drive its 3G services from these industrial, agricultural and educational regions.

India has only 500 mn mobile users, not 800 mn

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The number of real, active mobile users in India has just crossed 500 million, according to a analysis of statistics released by telecom regulator TRAI along with industry data and inputs. This is much lower than the 811.59 million that is projected as the official number of mobile subscribers in March 2011, says a study.

According to Voice&Data, the Indian telecom Industry journal from South Asia’s largest specialty publisher, CyberMedia, the actual numbers are much below this projection. The study is based on the April 6 release of TRAI, which gave details about the cellphone connections in the country in February 2011.

A footnote tells the actual story

Voice&Data said a footnote in the April 6 release provides the first caveat: “Active wireless subscribers in VLR in February 2011 are 563 million”, pointing to the fact that the actual number of mobile users in India is below the 810 million or even the 791 million mark.

The VLR, or Visitor Location Register, is a database of the subscribers who have roamed into the jurisdiction of the mobile switching center (MSC) which it serves. Each base station in the network is served by only one VLR, hence a subscriber cannot be present in more than one VLR at a time.

3G Launch in India – Analysis of Services Rollout and Key Players Strategies

3G services have been launched by all the carriers (except STel) in India with multiple services and various sachet & usage-based tariff plans, with varying uptake. Globally, 3G services have been available for a long time (almost ten years in Japan). Carriers in various international markets have adopted different strategies while launching 3G services. While carriers in developed markets primarily focused on enterprise customers, carriers in developing markets (launching 3G relatively later) targeted retail consumers and offered the high speed wireless technology as a potential broadband option to the consumers.

Indian carriers (especially incumbent carriers) currently face multiple structural challenges such as congested networks and limited available spectrum (5MHz) to offer 3G enabled data optimized services at launch. Also, carriers’ “walled garden” approach to value added services and prevalent piracy and Indian consumers’ lack of willingness to pay for such services pose a huge challenge for immediate uptake of 3G services. However, once the 3G device prices decrease and the tariffs stabilize in the first two years, Knowledgefaber believes that the 3G uptake will rise in 2013 and reach over 90 million by March 2014.

Mobile phone subscribers in India rises to 811.59 million

India’s mobile phone subscribers base has touched 811.59 million in March with the addition of 20.21 million connections, official data shows.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the wireless user base grew 2.55 percent, from 791.38 million in February.

While the share of urban subscribers declined to 66.30 percent from 66.36 percent, the share of rural subscribers increased from 33.64 percent to 33.70 percent, the report said Friday.

With this, the total number of telephone subscriber base touched 846.32 million, registering a growth of 2.43 percent.

Overall teledensity in India reached 70.89.

However, according to the report, of the total 811.59 million wireless subscribers in March, only 573.97 million subscribers were active subscribers on the date of peak visitor location register (VLR).

VLR is a temporary database of the subscribers who have roamed into the particular area, which it serves. Each base station in the network is served by exactly one VLR, hence a subscriber cannot be present in more than one VLR at a time.

The growth in this category was led by Vodafone, which added 3.65 million users to take its subscriber base to 134.57 million users.

Reliance Communications followed next with an addition of 3.54 million new subscribers, taking its subscriber base to 135.72 million.

Telecom giant Bharti airtel added 3.2 million subscribers to take its total number of customers to 162.2 million.

Idea Cellular added 2.7 million subscribers, increasing its subscribers count to 89.5 million while Uninor added 1.21 million subscribers to have 22.79 million subscribers.

According to the data, the broadband subscriber base grew 3.51 percent from 11.47 million in February to 11.87 million in March 2011. However, the wireline segment declined marginally from 34.87 million in February to 34.73 million at the end of March. 

Idea 3G services soon to be launched in Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab

Idea Cellular, the country’s third largest mobile operator with its 3G services is present in 11 circles now. “The company is intended to go in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, through strategic alliances by the end of this financial year. and will continue to expand 3G services in centres of learning, and high potential rural hinterlands where broadband is yet to make a breakthrough” Rajat Mukarji, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Idea Cellular said in a press release

The company has 3G spectrums in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (E), Uttar Pradesh (W), Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and. So far Idea operates its 3G network in eight of these circles. Except Kerala, it offers 3G services in 29 cities across seven circles. In Kerala its 3G services are available in almost every part of the state. So we can safely recommend Idea Cellular 3G for Kerala customers. One city each in Himachal, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat is covered by Idea 3G so far.

With its 3G service has entered into the competition with other 3G service providers. Idea launched its 3G services in the last week of March and has become the latest operator to do so. Idea Cellular is last in offering 3G services in the country and tariff plans offered by the cellular company are slightly cheaper than other networks available.

Idea Cellular's tariff plans come as a mixed bag. While dongle tariffs are among the most attractive on offer, Idea's rates for mobile users are at best similar to other operators' plans. However, Idea is slightly cheaper than Airtel but same as what RCom and Tata Docomo offers. Idea has something for everyone be it prepaid customer or postpaid customer. Idea’s dongle plans are better than those offered by most other operators.

Hoping with the outstanding response to the 3G services by the customers for other networks, Idea Cellular with its plan to reach almost\every state in the country would help Idea to build its market well and will boost the communication within India.

Idea Cellular gains on getting one million 3G customer in first month of launch

Idea Cellular is currently trading at Rs. 69.00, up by 0.90 points or 1.32% from its previous closing of Rs. 68.10 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 68.30 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 69.55 and Rs. 68.20 respectively. So far 73398 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 79.90 on 17-Sep-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 48.65 on 01-Jun-2010.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 70.50 and Rs. 66.65 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 22710.54 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 46.04% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 17.81% and 36.15% respectively.
Idea Cellular, telecom service provider has enrolled one million third generation (3G) users within the first month of launch in India. The company started its operations in nine cities in March this year and was the first operator in India to introduce Time based Billing plan for 3G services enabling users to avail high-end data services without worrying about the volume of usage.
The company is going to launch the service in 10 new towns every day for the next one year to extend the experience to 50 percent of the existing subscriber base with the latest 3G services. Idea's 3G services will progressively grow to cover 750 towns by mid 2011, and 4,000 towns by the end of FY12.
Idea's 3G services cover 400 towns in nine circles extending from major urban markets, Tier 1 and 2 cities and finally reaching out to the deep hinterlands. Idea Cellular had launched its 3G Services on 28th March, 2011 in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and since then has been progressively launching 3G services in 6 other circles of UP East, UP West, Maharashtra and Goa, Kerala, Haryana, and Andhra Pradesh.