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Volume: IX

December, 2007

 

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Telecom (Service Providers)

Share Prices
 

 

 

 

 

 

Sales and Market Share
 

   

 

Source: Cellular Operators Association of India

 

 

 

79. 5.8 Mn New GSM Users In November – December 11

GSM mobile operators register a 3.64% growth in November

According to the statistics released by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), GSM mobile operators added 5.8 million new subscribers in November 2007, taking the total user base to 165.8 million. Registering a 3.64% growth over the figure of 160 million in October 2007, operators added nearly about 6 million new users in November.  The subscriber base in Chennai grew by 3.87% in November 2007 over that in October with the addition of about 1.8 lakh subscribers. In Delhi, the subscriber base grew by 2.6%, while the growth was 2.8% and 2.5% for Kolkata and Mumbai, respectively. In terms of market share, Bharti Airtel led the market with a 31.94% share, followed by Vodafone Essar (23.25%) and BSNL (19.26%).

 

Source: The Hindu Business Line

 

 

 

80. 7.89 Mn Phone Subscribers Added In Oct – November 30

Indian telecom operators add 7.89 million new subscribers in October

In October 2007, Indian telecom operators added a total of 7.89 million new subscribers, compared to 7.64 million in September 2007, thereby crossing the 250-million mark.  While the overall tele-density reached 22.52%, compared to 21.85% in September 2007, the gross number of telephone connections was 256.55 million at the end of October, against 248.66 million in September.  In the wireless segment, 8.05 million subscribers were added, compared to 7.80 million in September.  The total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA and WLL(F)) base reached 217.14 million, Bharti Airtel leading with more than 50 million subscribers. In the wireline segment, the subscriber base decreased to 39.41 million in October, compared to 39.58 million subscribers in September. The broadband subscriber base growth continues to be sluggish with 2.69 million users against 2.67 million in September.

 

Source: The Hindu Business Line

 

 

 

Trends, Marketing Initiatives and Others

 

81. Indian Telecom Market To Be At Rs 344,921 Crore By 2012 – November 22

Indian telecom industry to be worth Rs 344,921 crore by 2012

According to a report by Frost and Sullivan, a growth consulting firm, the Indian telecom industry is expected to reach Rs 3,449,210 million by 2012 at a growth rate of over 26%, and generate employment opportunities for nearly 10 million people during the same period. The telecom industry had a market size of Rs 1,052,870 million in 2006. This growth will occur as a result of the addition of 400 million subscribers as well as by growth of average revenue per user (ARPU) from applications facilitated through VAS services. Currently, India has 250 million telephone subscribers and the numbers are expected to reach 500 million by 2010 and 650 million by 2012.

 

Source: The Economic Times

 

 

 

82. Vodafone To Provide Agricultural Inputs Rates To Farmers – November 24

Vodafone to introduce new feature to provide rates of agricultural inputs to farmers

Vodafone Essar India, which was the chief sponsor of the Pushkar Mela, a cultural and trade-cum-religious fair held at Pushkar town (11 km from Ajmer in Rajasthan) for twelve days annually, plans to introduce a new feature that will provide day-to-day rates of agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilisers, equipment to farmers across the country through SMS.

 

Source: The Economic Times

 

 

 

83. BSNL Plans Four New Services For Its Mobile Subscribers – November 22

BSNL plans four new location-based services

Telephone operator BSNL is finalising four new location-based services as part of its strategy to offer new offerings to its mobile subscribers in Bangalore. The new services comprise Fleet Management Service, Track Your Buddy, Advertisement Services and Chatting. Under the Fleet Management Service, a logistics company would be able track all the vehicles deployed in a location, while the Advertisement Services would allow users to send out advertisement messages to subscribers in a limited area. Under the Track Your Buddy services, one would be able to keep track of the location of a friend and Chatting would enable interaction with a subscriber in a 10-km range.

 

Source: The Economic Times

 

 

 

Product Launches

 

 

84. Spice Launches SMS Service In 12 Indian Languages – December 13

On 13 December, 2007, Spice Telecom announced the launch of 'Spice Local Lingo', a messaging service that enables consumers to send and receive short messages (SMS) in 12 Indian languages.

 

 

 

85. ‘Sambhav’ Card For Disabled – December 04

On 3 December, 2007, mobile services provider Vodafone Essar launched the ‘Sambhav’ prepaid card. Targeted at customers with hearing and speech disability, the card enables customers to use mobile phones primarily for sending SMS.

 

 

 

86. MTNL Launches Multilingual SMS – November 30

On 29 November, 2007, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), in collaboration with Geneva Software Technologies Ltd, launched multilingual short messaging service for its mobile users. The service enables customers to send SMS in 11 languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali and Gujarati.

 

 

 

87. BSNL Launches New Global Calling Cards – November 24

On 23 November, 2007, BSNL launched the CallNow calling card, which allows its landline subscribers to make cheaper ISD calls to the US and Canada.  International calls to the US and Canada would now cost just Rs 1.75 per minute from BSNL and MTNL phones, compared to the earlier rate of Rs 7.20 a minute.

 

 

 

Advertising Campaigns

 

 

 

88. Reliance Mobile Taps The Cricket Fever With ‘India Ka Cricket’ Campaign – November 19

Reliance Mobile launches TVC titled ‘India Ka Cricket’

Reliance Mobile launched a new TVC titled ‘India Ka Cricket’, depicting the mindset of kids who dream and aspire to become future cricket stars. Created by advertising agency Leo Burnett, the commercial explores the various emotions that typical Indian cricket enthusiasts would go through as their team plays the game. The TVC seeks to capitalise on the cricket mania that exists in the country, and it aptly depicts Indians’ love for the game, which rises with the success and falls with every failure of the team.

 

Source: Exchange4media