Mumbai and Maharashtra ring in TATA DOCOMO

(From Tata DOCOMO Press release at http://www.tataindicom.com/pressroom/PR_Docs/Press-Release-August-06-2009-Pushpendra-06-08-2009.pdf)

Mumbai, 06th August, 2009: Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML) today announced the launch of TATA DOCOMO, their GSM brand, in Mumbai and across Maharashtra. The Company’s GSM services were launched by Hon. Shri. Gurudas Kamat, Minister of State for Information Technology and Communications, Government of India, and Member of Parliament from Mumbai,  who made the first phone call to Mr. Kishor A Chaukar, Chairman, TTML, from TATA DOCOMO’s NGN.

Hon. Shri. Gurudas Kamat acknowledged the iconic moment as another first in the Tata group of companies’ long repertoire of creating new opportunities for growth and expansion in India and spreading its footprint globally through excellence and innovation. He applauded the over Rs. 1000 crores investment made by TTML in its 3G-ready GSM network, and the Company’s commitment to playing its role in the industrialisation and economic development of Maharashtra.

TATA DOCOMO released a range of products and innovative tariff options and introduced the ‘Pay-per-use’ advantage. The ‘Pay-per-use’ model represents a paradigm shift in the overall telecom experience. It allows the consumer to pay only for the seconds utilized, heralding another revolution in the mobile telecommunications industry in India. As an introductory offer, across Mumbai and Maharashtra, TATA DOCOMO offers Lifetime@1 paise/second for all calls across India. Consumers can also avail of ‘Pay-for-Three and get 100 SMS Free’ offer every day. For the first time, International Calling is also available on a persecond billing model. A variety of Postpaid plans designed for a range of consumer requirements are also available in the per-second billing model.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Mukund Govind Rajan, Managing Director, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited said, “The launch of TATA DOCOMO GSM Mobile Service is a momentous occasion for all of us. The partnership with NTT DOCOMO is seeing the traditional trust associated with the Tata brand coming together with the best of Japanese technology, to offer great value to consumers. This launch will further consolidate our position as one of the leading, fully- integrated, telecommunication services providers.” The first customers of TATA DOCOMO, who were handed over complimentary lifetime TATA DOCOMO connections at the launch event, were the Pune based Ms. Krushnaa Patil, the youngest girl from Maharashtra to scale Mount Everest, and Ms. Pooja Chopra, Femina Miss India World 2009, again from Pune.

DoT seeks Rs 3000 cr support for BSNL- Telecom-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

17 Jun 2009, 0302 hrs IST, Joji Thomas Philip, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: The communications ministry has sought an allotment of Rs 3,000 crore from the finance ministry for supporting BSNL’s wireline networks that were set up before April 2002. The DoT wants the amount to be sanctioned in the budget.

This is to compensate the state-owned telco for losses during the last fiscal after telecom regulator Trai had done away with access deficit charge regime from April 1, 2008. Prior to that, all telcos were paying 0.75% of total revenues towards ADC, which was used to support BSNL’s unviable fixedline operations in rural India. In 2007-08, BSNL got Rs 2,000 crore as ADC.

But, when hanging up on ADC, the regulator in a bid to address the concerns of BSNL , which had warned that it would be forced to discontinue all its rural fixed-line operations if the levy were to go, recommended that the government give it a subsidy of Rs 2,000 crore per annum for the next three years from the Universal Obligation Fund (USOF).

All telcos pay 5% of total revenues towards the USOF, which is dedicated to improving communication facilities in rural India. Unutilised amount in the USOF is at over Rs 20,000 crore. In March 2009, BSNL and DoT had signed an MoU to provide the state-owned operator a subsidy of Rs 6,000 core over the next three years from this fund to sustain its rural operations.

In fact, BSNL had even dragged the regulator to the telecom tribunal, but the latter refused to issue a stay on the matter. Trai had however, justified its move to do away with the ADC regime on the grounds that the total support provided to BSNL over the last couple of years under various initiatives which includes reimbursement of licence fee and spectrum charges, moratorium on payment of interest, support from Universal Service Obligation Fund(USOF), ADC funding and exemption on entry fee was about $8 billion (Rs 31,500 crore), while adding that the PSU cannot be supported in perpetuity.

In a bid to give further relief to BSNL, last year, DoT also exempted telcos from paying licence fee on fixedline telephony from licence fee enabling the state-owned operator to save Rs 1,200 crore annually.

via DoT seeks Rs 3000 cr support for BSNL- Telecom-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times.

Revenue, not user base, to set telecom pecking order

17 Jun 2009, 0305 hrs IST, Rashmi Pratap, ET Bureau

MUMBAI: Subscriber numbers in India’s wireless story are losing their relevance today as far as determining the industry position of a service provider is concerned. t will be revenues and not subscriber numbers that could decide the pecking order in the world’s fastest-growing telecom market.

This is reflected in the latest revenue figures released by the industry regulator, Trai. Going by this, the top three operators in India are Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL).

Airtel’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) from wireless and wireline operations was Rs 7,998 crore for the March quarter. Vodafone Essar, which offers only mobile services, had revenues of Rs 4,456 crore during January-March 2009 on a subscriber base of 68.7 million. Reliance Communications (RCOM), which has the second largest customer base, reported an AGR of only Rs 2,998 crore on 72.6 million users during the quarter, making it the fourth largest in terms of revenues.

The revenues for the state-owned BSNL stood at Rs 3,943 crore making it the third largest. BSNL offers mobile services on GSM apart from fixed line services. Besides showing the revenue capabilities of an operator, AGR is significant, as it is the basis on which service providers pay licence fee and spectrum charges. Operators pay a revenue share licence fee to the government ranging from 6% to 10% of their AGR. Increasingly, operators are targeting revenue growth instead of a larger user base.

According to Bharti Airtel’s vision statement, the company’s aim is 20% increase in revenue margin per subscriber in the next few years.

Analysts contend that with more and more low-end users signing up for services, it is becoming difficult for operators to maintain margins and improve ARPUs (average revenue per user per month). In such a scenario, those who continue to grow revenues along with subscriber base will be the clear winners.

“As the new subscriber base is primarily drawn from tier III towns and rural markets, the incremental subscriber addition is not leading to a commensurate revenue upside for telcos. The catchphrase to evaluate a telco’s performance will be quality of subscribers rather than the number of new subscribers,” Acsendia Consulting principal analyst, Alok Shende told ET.

A smaller player like Idea Cellular, which operates in 13 circles, had AGR of Rs 2,389 crore on a subscriber base of 39 million. This is just about Rs 600 crore less than RCOM on a base which is almost half of that company.

KPMG director (telecom) Romal Shetty said, “Initially, everyone was going after subscriber numbers. Now, they are looking at quality of subscribers. This explains the emphasis on value added services (VAS), which bring in higher revenues.” He pointed out that low-end pre-paid users are now bringing in monthly revenues of as low as Rs 70 per month.

Tata Teleservices reported revenues of Rs 1,889 crore during the quarter placing it at sixth followed by state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL). Aircel, a relatively new entrant, is at the eight position, which had AGR of Rs 721 crore during the quarter.

ICT Statistics Newslog – Mobile tariffs to plunge by 20-25% in 2009 (India)

Mobile tariffs to plunge by 20-25% in 2009 (India)

via ICT Statistics Newslog – Mobile tariffs to plunge by 20-25% in 2009 (India) on May 12, 2009

In India, mobile tariffs in comparison to other countries are lowest and are anticipated to further decline by 20-25% during 2009. The decline in tariffs will triggered by the new entrants and rapid expansion of the existing telecom players. “Whenever new entrants commence operations in the country, there is a high chance of reduction in tariffs as they come in with innovative strategies and prices, including freebies. Apart from tariffs, the price reduction would also be extended to handsets,” European handset major Meridian India CEO Rajiv Khanna, reportedly said. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) estimates that the country needs around 300,000 towers by 2010 to support the massive 10 million monthly subscriber additions.

In recent, the termination charges have been brought to 20 paise from 30 for domestic calls, which the operators have begun passing on to the subscribers, is also pulling tariffs down. Though, few firms are not in favour of lowering tariffs to be an apt option for competing in the telecom space. “Indian companies are rolling our predatory prices without conducting proper studies, unlike in the U.S. or developed countries. Price reductions coming in from desperate companies are anti-competition and these are not based on economic sense, and in the long run this would be anti-consumer and anti-industry,” said Idea Cellular Managing Director Sanjeev Aga.

Source: Wireless Federation.