The Hindu : Phone users on the rise, thanks to telecom revolution

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 07, 2004

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Phone users on the rise, thanks to telecom revolution

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JAN. 6. With the telecom revolution in full swing, India has reached the teledensity target of 7 per thousand in 2003 itself, 15 months ahead of March 2005 target set in the New Telecom Policy.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), addition of total telephones exceeded 20 million in 2003, thereby taking the total subscriber base to around 70.5 million. This means that the teledensity target has been reached 15 months ahead of the schedule, the TRAI said.

The subscriber base for mobile services continued to maintain its growth throughout 2003 with about 17.5 million mobile subscribers being added.

The total number of mobile subscribers, thus, reached 28.20 million with another 42 million being fixed line subscribers.

TRAI figures also show that the annual increase in mobile phones was three times higher than the increase in 2002 and the average monthly additions of 1.5 million achieved in 2003 was about 14 times higher compared to the average growth of mobile subscribers in the preceding eight years, that is, since 1995.

TRAI figures also show that among the top five mobile phone service providers, Reliance has taken the lead in 2003 with Bharti following in the number two position.

As per TRAI figures, Reliance had a subscriber base of 5.01 lakhs in 2002 which increased to 62.43 lakhs in 2003 while Bharti increased its base from 27.74 lakhs to 55.11 lakhs. Hutchison's base increased from 20.24 lakhs to 37.70 lakhs while BSNL's base increased from 8.43 lakhs to 17.70 lakhs. Idea increased its base from 12.04 lakhs to 22.41 lakhs.

The TRAI also claimed that it was successful in lowering tariffs to unprecedented levels. The minimum effective local call charges in cellular mobile services declined from Rs 14.51 per minute (for 100 minutes of usage per month) in March 1995 to 77 paise per minute which was only 5 per cent of what the tariff was in 1995.

Moreover, the effective local call charges for fixed and mobile services have converged, the TRAI said.

In the case of international long distance tariffs, the maximum decline took place in tariffs applicable to countries in the American continent, the tariff coming down from Rs 75 per minute in the pre-1999 period to Rs 24 per minute in July 2002. The tariffs have further declined and the promotional tariff plans available today indicate that calls to the U. S., Canada and Europe were now costing only Rs 9.60 per minute.

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