MOBILE

SUBSCRIBE
R
STATISTIC
S
Recently, mobile
phone connection
s in India
have crossed
the 400-
million mark,
whichmeans over
forty in 100
Indians have a
phone. Adding on
to this benevolent
and
happyinformation,
telecom
companies are
anticipating the
number will
nearly treble in
the nexttwo years.
According to a
survey, by 2010,
the cellular
networks are
expected to
cover 4,50,000
(out of 6,07,000)
villages, covering
550 million
people.
Figure 1 Market
Share of both
mobile and wire
line Service
Providers in India
2.1 GSM
Subscribers
The cumulative
All India GSM
subscriber base
rose to 72.12
million in
April2006 from
69.19 million in
March 2006
which is a growth
of 4.23% for a
month
under review [4].
Table I shows the
subscribers
growth rate for
one month along
with marketshare
of each provider
with coverage
2.2 CDMA
Mobile
Subscribers
The total
cumulative all
India CDMA
subscriber base
rose by 0.97
million from
23.25million in
March 2009 to
24.22 million in
April 2009,
representing a
growth of 4.2% in
the month under
review. A
summary picture
of the company
wise performance
is given in Table
II.
TELECOM
IN RURAL
INDIA
Table I. GSM
Subscribers
growth rate
Company No
of Subscribers
(in million)%
M a r k e t ShareSe
rvice
AreasM a r c h 2 0
09April 2009
B h a r t
i 1 9 . 5
7 2 0 . 6
8 2 8 . 7
% 2 3 B
S N L 1
7 . 1 6 1
7 . 5 9 2
4 . 4 %
2 1 V o d
a f o n e 1
5 . 3 6 1 6
. 0 6 2 2 .
3 % 1 6 I
D E A 7
. 3 7 7
. 6 4 1
0 . 6 %
1 1 A i
r c e l
2 0 . 6
1 2 . 8
3 3 . 9
% 7 R e
l i a n c
e 1 . 9 0
2 . 0 1 2
. 8 % 8
S p i c
e 1 . 9
3 1 . 9
8 2 . 7
% 2 .
M T N
L 1 . 9
4 2 . 0
2 2 . 8
% 2 B
P L 1
. 3 4
1 . 3
1 1 .
8 % 1
T o t a l
6 9 . 1 9
7 2 . 1 2
1 0 0 % Indi
a has an
urban population
of

about 26.8
% and
rural population
is

about
73.2%. And there
are over 600,000
villages in India.
But a vast section
of the rural
sector is still cut
off from the
benefits of
telecom services.
The rural
population of
around 700million
is waiting for its
share of economic
growth. Initially
the big telephone
companiesfocuse
d only on urban
centres, which
they felt were
more profitable.
However, this

mindset is
gradually
changing with the
realisation that
there is equal, if
not bigger
moneyin rural
areas.
Table II. CDMA
Subscribers
growth rate
Company
(No.of Subscriber
s,per million)( %
i n MarketShare)S
erviceAreasMarch
2009April2009R
eliance18.3
0718.80977.
65%20T A T
A4.8515.
32321.98
%20H F C l
0 . 0 6 2 0 . 0
6 2 0 . 2 6 %
1 S h y a m 0 .
0 2 7 0 . 0 2 8
0 . 1 1 % 1 To
tal69.197
2.12100%
It is estimated that
a one per cent
increase in rural
connectivity can
generate 0.5 per
centeconomic
growth. Thus a
well-planned 10
per cent increase
in rural
connectivity
can propel India
into double-digit
growth and
unprecedented
prosperity.Rural
India possesses
enormous
potential in terms
of economy and
human
resources.Recent
experiments hav
e confirmed that
ICT (informatio
n and communic
ationtechnology)
helps improve the
timeliness and
efficiency of rural
farm operations
andenhance
income through
producer-oriented
markets. Hence
the
communication
ministryhas reque
sted the finance
ministry
for higher
allocations from t
he USO Fund
for executing
rural telephony
network. The
finance ministry
has made a
budgetary
allocationof 15
billion from the
USO Fund. The
rural telephony
targets include,
providing 50
million telephones
by 2009(i.e. one
phone per three
rural households)
and 80 million
by2012 (i.e. one
phone per two
rural households)
and provisioning
mobile access to
allvillages with
population more
that 5,000 by
2009 and more
than 1,000 by
2010.TheGovern
ment is confident
that the Bharat
Nirman
Programme target
of providing
coverageto
remaining 41,000
villages would be
met by March
2010 which will
be much
earlier than a
schedule of
November
2010.India plans
to establish 0.25
million, village
knowledge
centres. The ICT
industry
canestablish rural
call centres
modelled on the
Kisan Call Centre
established by the
Ministryof Agric
ulture to provide
domain knowle
dge in the servic
es, agriculture a
ndmanufacturing
sectors. This
spread will
increase the
volume of users
and
automatically bri
ng down bandwi
dth cost, with a s
piralling effect o
n efficiency and
economy.Advanc
ed telecom
services are no
longer considered
a luxury but a
necessity for
all.Thus,
providing
telecom services
to every
individual in a
country like India
is a
hugechallenge,
and at the same
time holds
immense
opportunities for
those in the
telecomindustry.
1. C o m p a n y N o o f S u b s c r i b e r s ( i n m i l l i o
n ) % M a r k e t ShareService
AreasM a r c h 2 0 0 9 A p r i l 2 0 0 9 B h
a r t i 1 9 .
5 7 2 0 . 6
8 2 8 . 7 %
2 3 B S N L
1 7 . 1 6 1
7 . 5 9 2 4
. 4 % 2 1 V
o d a f o n e 1
5 . 3 6 1 6 . 0
6 2 2 . 3 % 1 6
I D E A 7
. 3 7 7 .
6 4 1 0 .
6 % 1 1 A
i r c e l
2 0 . 6 1
2 . 8 3 3
. 9 % 7 R
e l i a n c
e 1 . 9 0 2
. 0 1 2 . 8
% 8 S p i
c e 1 . 9
3 1 . 9 8
2 . 7 % 2
. M T N
L 1 . 9
4 2 . 0
2 2 . 8
% 2 B P
L 1 . 3
4 1 . 3
1 1 . 8
% 1 T o t
a l 6 9 . 1 9
7 2 . 1 2 1 0

0 %