Introduction to Indian Mobile Service Provider Market

8/11/2019 Introduction to Indian Mobile Service Provider Market

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Introduction to Indian Mobile Service Provider Market

Introduction

Telecommunications has evolved as a basic infrastructure like electricity, roads, water etc. andhas also emerged as one of the critical components of economic growth required for overall socioeconomic development of the country. The Indian telecom sector has registered a phenomenalgrowth during the past few years and has become second largest telephone network in the world,only after China. A series of reform measures by the Government, the wireless technology andactive participation by private sector played an important role in the eponential growth oftelecom sector in the country. !ational Telecom "olicy#$%&$ '!T"#$%&$( has been announcedduring the current year with the primary ob)ective of maimi*ing public good by makingavailable affordable, reliable and secure telecommunication and broadband services across theentire country.

Industry Overview

a( The market is divided into + metro circles and $% cellular circles. nly four cellularoperators are allowed to operate in each circle. Government#owned -T! and /0! arethe 1rdoperators in each circle.

b( The current market has 2% million subscribers '3&4 penetration rate( but is epected togrow to &%% million subscribers by $%&5.

c( Industry is highly regulated by the government with the help of T6AI. 7oreign 8irectInvestment '78I( is restricted to +94 and revenue sharing scheme implemented.

d( 8ecreasing handset costs and the introduction of pre#paid card is stimulating the demandand consumption of the cellular services has made them widely popular among the generalmasses.

e( Cellular tariffs and activation fees are reduced due to competition from incumbent fied

line operators to stimulate subscriptions and increase sales. This has led to the

widespread popularity of the mobile service providers among levels of all people.

f( perators are offering value added services and upgrading to net generation cellularsystems since voice revenues are decreasing day by day.


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Major Governing Bodies:

1. Deart!ent o" #eleco!!unications:

8oT was formed in &9;5 when the 8epartment of "osts and Telecommunications was separated

into 8epartment of "osts and 8epartment of Telecommunications. Till &9;2, it was the only

telecom service provider in India. It played a role beyond service provider by acting as a policy

maker, planner, developer as well as an implementing body. In spite of being profitable, non#

corporate entity status ensured that it did not have to pay taes. 8oT depends on Government of

India for its epansion plans and funding. Its pivotal role in the Indian telecom sector has got

diluted after formation of T6AI# Telecom 6egulatory Authority of India.

$. #eleco! %egulatory &ut'ority o" India:

T6AI was founded to act as an independent regulatory body supervising telecom development in

India. This became important, as 8oT was a regulator and a player as well. 7ounded by an Act of

"arliament, the main functions of the body was to finali*e toll rates and settle disputes between

players. An independent regulator is critical at the present situation as the sector witnesss under its administrative control. These are:

i( -ahanagar Telephone !igam imited '-T!(ii( /harat 0anchar !igam imited '/0!(iii( ITI imitediv( Telecommunications Consultants India imited 'TCI(

(. )O&I *)ellular Oerators &ssociation o" India+

The Association is dedicated to the advancement of modern communication through the

establishment of world#class mobile infrastructure, products and services and to delivering the

benefits of innovative and affordable mobile communication services to the people of India.


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CAI


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A cellular *one 'or telecom circle( is normally the entire state, with a few eceptions like

-umbai and Dolkata 'which are different *ones than their respective states(, Goa 'which is a part

of the -aharashtra *one(, Chhattisgarh 'which is part of -adhya "radesh(, Eharkhand 'which is a

part of the /ihar *one( or >ttar "radesh 'divided into multiple *ones(. 8elhi is a unique circle

because it includes towns from @aryana and >ttar "radesh as well. 6ecently Telangana 0tate has

been separated from Andhra "radesh 0tate which will still remain in the same cellular network

*one.

At present, there are $$ telecom circles or service areas. They are classified into + categories:

-etro, A, /, C. 8elhi, -umbai, Dolkata fall under -etro category. Chennai service area doesnFt

come under -etro category. It has been a part of Tamil !adu service area since $%%

#'e /ey layers in t'e #eleco! Market in India

)ellular Service roviders:

1. BS0

$. B'arti &irtel

(. 2oda"one

3. %eliance

4. #ata Indico!

5. Idea )ellular

7. #& Doco!o

6. &ircel


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)o!any Pro"iles


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&I%#7

H/harti Airtel formerly known as /harti Tele#?entures imited '/T?( is among IndiaFs largest

mobile phone and 7ied !etwork operators. Jith more than 9+ million subscriptions as of

-arch $%%9.It0K. It offers its mobile services under the Airtelbrand and is headed by -r. 0unil -ittal. The company also provides telephone services and

Internet access over 80 in all $1 circles. The company complements its mobile, broadband L

telephone services with national and international long distance services. The company also has a

submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting

Chennai and 0ingapore. The company provides reliable end#to#end data and enterprise services

to the corporate customers by leveraging its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile

connectivity in fied#line and mobile circles, ?0ATs, I0" and international bandwidth access

through the gateways and landing station.

Airtel is the largest cellular service provider in India in terms of number of subscribers. /harti

Airtel owns the Airtel brand and provides the following services under the brand name Airtel:

-obile 0ervices 'using G0- Technology(, /roadband L Telephone 0ervices '7ied line,

Internet Connectivity '80( and eased ine(, ong 8istance 0ervices and Bnterprise 0ervices

'Telecommunications consulting for Corporate(.

eading international telecommunication companies such as ?odafone and 0ingTel held partial

stakes in /harti Airtel.

In Euly $%%, /harti Airtel signed an -o> with !okia#0iemens for a 9%% million dollar

epansion of its mobile and fied network. In August $%%, the company announced it will be

launching a customi*ed version of Google search engine that will provide an Farray of servicesF to

its broadband customers.

&irtel #ele!edia Services 8 7nterrise Services.

The mobile business provides mobile L fied wireless services using G0- technology across $1

telecom circles while the Airtel Telemedia 0ervices business offers broadband L telephone

services in 95 cities and has recently launched IndiaFs best 8irect#to#@ome '8T@( service, Airtel

digital T?. The Bnterprise services provide end#to#end telecom solutions to corporate customers


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and national L international long distance services to carriers. All these services are provided

under the Airtel brand.

BS0

/harat 0anchar !igam imited 'known as /0!, India Communications Corporation imited(

is a public sector communications company in India. It is the IndiaFs largest telecommunication

company with&5.2$ 4 market share as on 8ecember, $%%;. Its headquarters are at /harat

0anchar /hawan, @arish Chandra -athur ane, Eanpath, !ew 8elhi. It has the status of -ini#

6atna # a status assigned to reputed "ublic 0ector companies in India.

/0! is IndiaFs oldest and largest )o!!unication Service Provider *)SP+. Currently /0!

has a customer base of 2;.5 million '/asic L -obile telephony(. It has footprints throughout

India ecept for the metropolitan cities of -umbai and !ew 8elhi which are managed by

-T!, As on 8ecember, $%%;. /0! commanded a customer base of 1&. million Jire line,+.& million C8-A#J and 1$. million G0- -obile subscribers. /0!Fs earnings for the

quarter ending 8ecember 1&, $%%; stood at I!6 19.&5b '>0K 9.2 b( with net profit of I!6

;.%2b '>0K &.9% billion(. Today, /0! is IndiaFs largest Telco and one of the largest "ublic

0ector >ndertaking with estimated market value of K &%% /illion. The company is planning an

I" within 2 months to offload &% 4 to public.

/harat 0anchar !igam td. formed in ctober, $%%%, is JorldFs th largest Telecommunications

Company providing comprehensive range of telecom services in India: Jire line, C8-Amobile, G0- -obile, Internet, /roadband, Carrier service, -"0#?"!, ?0AT, ?oI" services,

I! 0ervices etc. Jithin a span of five years it has become one of the largest public sector units in

India.


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/0! has more than $.5 million J subscribers and $.5 million Internet Customers who

access Internet through various modes vi*. 8ial#up, eased ine, 8IA0, and Account ess

Internet 'CI(. /0! has been ad)udged as the !>-/B6 !B I0" in the country.

/0! has set up a world class multi#gigabit, multi#protocol convergent I" infrastructure that

provides convergent services like voice, data and video through the same /ackbone and

/roadband Access !etwork. At present there are %.2 million 8ata ne broadband customers.

The company has vast eperience in "lanning, Installation, network integration and -aintenance

of 0witching L Transmission !etworks and also has a world class I0 9%%% certified Telecom

Training Institute.

2OD&9O07

?odafone Bssar, previously @utchison Bssar is a cellular operatorin Indiathat covers &2 telecom

circles in India. 8espite the official name being ?odafone Bssar, its products are simply branded

?odafone. It offers bothprepaidand postpaid G0-cellular phonecoverage throughout India and

is especially strong in the ma)or metros.

?odafone Bssar provides $Gservices based on 9%% -@* and &;%% -@* digital G0-

technology, offering voice and data services in &2 of the countryFs $1 license areas.

OWNERSHIP:

?odafone Bssar is owned by ?odafone 5$4, Bssar Group 114, and other Indian nationals, &54.

n 7ebruary &&,$%%,?odafone agreed to acquire the controlling interest of 24 held by i Da

0hing @oldings in @utch#Bssar for >0K&&.& billion, piping 6eliance Communications, @indu)a
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_network_operatorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepaidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepaidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSMhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSMhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2Ghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodafonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepaidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSMhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_phonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2Ghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodafonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_network_operator


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Group, and Bssar Group, which is the owner of the remaining 114. The whole company was

valued at >08&;.; billion. The transaction closed on -ay ;, $%%.

PREVIOUS BRANDS:

In 8ecember $%%2, @utch Bssar re#launched the M@utchM brand nationwide, consolidating its

services under a single identity. The Company entered into agreement with !TT 8oCo-o to

launch i#mode mobile Internet service in India during $%%.

The company used to be named @utchison Bssar, reflecting the name of its previous owner,

@utchison. @owever, the brand was marketed as utc'. After getting the necessary government

approvals with regards to the acquisition of a ma)ority by the ?odafone Group, the company was

rebranded as ?odafone Bssar. The marketing brand was officially changed to 2oda"oneon $%

0eptember $%%.

n 0eptember $%, $%% @utch becomes ?odafone in one of the biggest brand transition eercises

in recent times.

?odafone Bssar is spending somewhere in the region of 6s $5% crores on this high#profile

transition being unveiled today. Along with the transition, cheap cell phones have been launched

in the Indian market under the ?odafone brand. There are plans to launch co#branded handsets

sourced from global vendors as well.A popular daily quoted a ?odafone Bssar director as saying that Mthe ob)ective is to leverage

?odafone GroupFs global scale in bringing millions of low#cost handsets from across#the#world

into India.MIncidentally, ChinaFs NTB, which is looking to set#up a manufacturing unit in the

country, is epected to provide several ?odafone handsets in India. Barlier this year, ?odafone

penned a global low#cost handset procurement deal with NTB.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USDhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USDhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007


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#& DO)OMO

Tata 8C- is an Indian cellular service provider on the G0-, C8-A and platform#arising

out of the strategic )oint venture between Tata Teleservices and !TT 8ocomo in !ovember$%%;. It is the countryFs sith largest operator in terms of subscribers 'including both G0- and

C8-A(.

Tata 8C- is part of the Indian conglomerate Tata Group. The company received the license

to operate G0- services in nineteen telecom circles and was allotted spectrum in eighteen of

these circles and launched G0- services on $+ Eune $%%9. It began operations first in 0outh

India and currently operates G0- services in eighteen of twenty two telecom circles. It has

licenses to operate in 8elhi but has not been allocated spectrum from the Government. 8ocomo

provides services throughout India. Tata 8C- offers both prepaid and postpaid cellular

phone services. It has become very popular with its one second pulse especially in semi#urbanand rural areas.

n $% ctober $%&&, the Tata Group brought its brands = C8-A, G0-, Jalky '7ied Jireless

"hone(, "hoton, I!TB6!BT = under the Tata 8C- name. All subscribers to these services

were migrated to the 8ocomo brand on $% ctober $%&&.The companies other brands = ?irgin

-obile and T$+ = are not part of the rebranding and continue to retain their names.

n 5 !ovember $%&%, Tata 8C- became the first private sector telecom company 'third

overall( to launch 1G services in India, with a $% city launch.


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&I%)7

&ircelis an Indian mobile network operator headquartered in Chennai, which offers voice L

data services ranging from postpaid and prepaid plans, $G and 1G services, /roadband Jireless

Access '/JA(, ong Term Bvolution 'TB( to ?alue#Added#0ervices '?A0(. In $%%2, Aircel

was acquired by -alaysia


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Business Initiatives:

Aircel on $ -ay $%&& launched the Apple i"hone + apart from /harti Airtel, which is one of themost popular smartphones in the contemporary world.

Telecom operator Aircel announced its partnership with Jikipedia 7oundation to offer freemobile Jikipedia access to its customers. The alliance is aimed at making knowledge availableon Jikipedia accessible to all Aircel customers in both rural and urban areas for free. Thisinitiative is a part of the foundation


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It was with this belief in mind that 6eliance Communications 'formerly 6eliance Infocomm(

started laying 2%,%%% route kilometres of a pan#India fibre optic backbone. This backbone was

commissioned on $; 8ecember $%%$, the auspicious occasion of 8hirubhai


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#& #77S7%2I)7S

Tata Teleservices imited 'TT0( is part of the Tata Group of Companies, an Indian

Conglomerate. It runs the brand name Tata Indicom in India in various telecom circles of India.

The company forms part of the Tata GroupFs presence in the Telecommunication Industry in

India, along with Tata Teleservices '-aharashtra( imited 'TT-( and ?0!.

TT0 was incorporated in &995 and was the first company to offer C8-A -obile services in

India, specifically in the state of Andhra "radesh.

In 8ecember $%%$, the company acquired the erstwhile @ughes Telecom 'India( td. which was

renamed Tata Teleservices '-aharashtra( imited. In 0eptember $%%, Tata Indicom launched

the Talk Jorld plan, an International ong 8istance "lan.

Tata is the direct competitor with 6eliance, both C8-A operators in India. The company

provides unified telecommunication solutions including mobile, fied wireless, fied line and

broadband. ther competitors are ?odafone, Airtel, Aircel, Idea, -T!, and /0! providing

G0- based mobile telephony.

The company was first in India to provide free intra network calling within city limits. They

launched a unique scheme providing lifetime rental free connectivity on its mobile and fied

wireless for a onetime charge.

Tata Teleservices '-aharashtra( td 'TT-(, one of the fastest growing telecom service

providers, until now has crossed the #million#subscribers milestone across the -umbai and 6est

of -aharashtra.


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ID7& )7;&%

Idea Cellular is a part of the >0 K$+ billion Aditya /irla Group and a leading G0- mobile

services operator with licenses to operate in &1 telecom service areas in India. The company has

operations in 8elhi, @imachal "radesh, 6a)asthan, @aryana, >ttar "radesh 'J( L >ttaranchal,

>ttar "radesh 'B(, -adhya "radeshL Chhattisgarh, Gu)arat, -aharashtra L Goa, Andhra

"radesh and Derala with the planned epansion into -umbai, /ihar LEharkhand. Idea


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The company has its retail outlets under the M-y IdeaM banner. The company has also been thefirst to offer fleible tariff plans for prepaid customers. It also offers G"60 services in urbanareas. I8BA Cellular has been recogni*ed as the F-ost Customer 6esponsive CompanyF in the

Telecom sector offering an array of services to its customers.

9&I;%7 O9 ;0I0O%

Telewings Communications 'operating under the brand name >ninor(, is an Indian mobile

network operator based in Gurgaon, @aryana, India. The company is a subsidiary of Telenor

Group, a telecommunications company headquartered in slo, !orway, and Telenor owned +4

of the stake in Telewings Communications.

Telewings offers mobile voice and data services based on the G0- technology, on 5 -@*

spectrum. >ninor services are commercially available in 2 circles, covering a population

footprint of 2%% million people. >ninor serves more than 1 crore customers in the states of >ttar

"radesh, >ttarakhand, /ihar, Eharkhand, -aharashtra, Goa, Gu)arat and Andhra "radesh. The

mobile service provider targets youth and other communities within the Indian mass market.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenor_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenor_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenor_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenor_Group


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9&I;%7 O9 2I%GI0

?irgin mobile is a very famous brand, which is used by various telecommunication companies in

the world. @eadquarter of ?irgin mobile is situated in >nited Dingdom. ?irgin mobiles have its

local operations in many countries including Australia, Canada, India, 7rance, chili, Greece and0outh Africa. International business of ?irgin mobile company act as an independent entity with

a partnership with the owner of virgin mobile and the eisting mobile company. Actually, virgin

mobile issue a licenses to a mobile service provider and the company operates the network

infrastructure. ?irgin mobile provide services in India. G0- mobile services with 0I- card are

used in India. ?irgin mobile offers various services including G0-, prepaid, postpaid and

internet services worldwide.

%7&SO0 O9 9&I;%7

?irgin mobile launched its brand in India on -arch $%%;. ?irgin mobile launched its services

through a popular Indian franchise Tata Teleservices. It was the seventh largest global launch of

?irgin mobile. It provided its services about few days and caught by some controversies. There

aroused an issue about the virgin mobile services by the department of telecom. The issue was,


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virgin mobile has not entered in India as a mobile virtual network operator also called -?!.

In !ew 8elhi, the department of telecom had an enquiry on the alliance of Tata Teleservices and

virgin mobile. 8T got the answers about all the controversy on the services of virgin in India.

The board said that. This tie#up of virgin mobile was not under the mobile virtual network

operator in India. Barlier it was said by department of telecom that, there is no issue with the tie#

up, and it was written by cellular operation association of India that virgin is operating as -?!

in India. @owever, the department of telecom took the final decision and it was the actual reason

of failure of virgin mobile in India.

SO)I& IMP&)# O9 MOBI7 07#,O%/S

-obile networks have changed how we negotiate our relationships with family, spouses and

close friends. Increased levels of mobile phone subscriptions are linked with improvements in

education, gender equality and political participation, particularly in developing countries. They

are also associated with higher economic growth. 0ome of the primary social impacts of the

widespread popularity of mobile networks are as follows:#

1. %elations'is: -obile phones have altered our relationships with family, spouses and

close friends. /ut while they seem to promise a wider social network, more than half of

the average person


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possible. -obile networks have played a ma)or role in facilitating higher and efficient

communication for business practices all over the country.

5. I!roved )o!!unication:-obile networks enable new services and applications that

provide opportunities to generate income .7urthermore, the access to information and

increased communication through mobile communication facilitates coordination

resulting in productivity gains. -obiles also enable immediate responses to crises and

shocks that without them may lead to destruction of crops or machinery.

9;#;%7 70&0)7M70#S I0 MOBI7 07#,O%/

i. In the !et Generation !etworks, multiple access networks can connect customers to

a core network based on I" technology.

ii. These access networks include fibre optics or coaial cable networks connected to

fied locations or customers connected through Ji#7i as well as to 1G networks

connected to mobile users.

iii. As a result, in the future, it would be impossible to identify whether the net

generation network is a fied or mobile network and the wireless access broadband

would be used both for fied and mobile services. It would then be futile to

differentiate between fied and mobile networks = both fied and mobile users will

access services through a single core network.

Documents

Introduction to Indian Mobile Service Provider Market