The Hindu Business Line : Subscriber base swells to 33.28 million — Cellular industry fears slowdown in growth

CELLULAR operators (both GSM and CDMA) have notched up 33.28 million subscribers in the last month of fiscal 2003-04, having added close to 19.11 lakh additional customers in March 2004.

As per the latest statistics released by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and the Association of Basic Telecom Operators (ABTO), while the aggregate GSM cellular subscriber base has been placed at 26.13 million, the CDMA subscriber figure (excluding BSNL and MTNL) is lower at 7.15 million.

As many as 15.07 lakh additions took place in the GSM segment, while 4.04 lakh new subscribers joined the CDMA bandwagon during the month.

At the individual operator level across the technology platforms, Reliance Infocomm had a 72.64-lakh subscriber base (64.74 lakh in CDMA and 7.90 lakh in GSM) followed by Bharti 66.04 lakh (GSM), BSNL 52.29 lakh (GSM), Hutch 51.48 lakh (GSM) and Idea Cellular 27.32 lakh (GSM).

Bharti is also the single largest operator in any one single circle with over 13.66 lakh customers in Delhi.

In March, Reliance added 4.42 lakh new customers (4.08 lakh in CDMA and 0.34 lakh in GSM) while Bharti roped in 3.04 lakh, Hutch 3.21 lakh followed by Idea cellular 1.48 lakh and BSNL 3.01 lakh.

The COAI statement notes that the growth in GSM subscribers achieved during the fiscal year 2003-04 works out to 106 per cent compared to the growth seen in 2002-03 of 97 per cent. Average subscriber additions during the year is 1.12 million per month although in the last 4 to 5 months additions have been at the rate of 1.35 million per month.

"Notwithstanding the above aspects, there is increasing concern that the subscriber additions trend is appearing to plateau off. This is particularly disturbing against the background of the aggressive tele-density targets that the industry wishes to achieve. There appears to be an urgent need to analyse the situation and remove whatever impediments exist to continue an accelerated growth path. The industry is examining all concerned aspects to help arrive at an answer", the COAI has said.