I have never believed in these figures. But for sake of those who follow this blog, here are latest GSM customer acquisition figures in India.
As per data provided by the GSM operators' lobby Cellular Operators Association of India, the GSM mobile user base in India touched a little over 400 million (407 million). The country's GSM mobile subscriber base has increased by 13 million to 407 million in February, with Vodafone Essar adding the maximum number of new customers in the past month. This is, however, less than the total addition of 14.4 million users in January.
The country's second largest GSM player Vodafone Essar added as many as three million customers in the past month, closely followed by Bharti Airtel. Vodafone Essar's touched an user-base of 97 million. Airtel added 2.9 million users last month against 2.85 million in January taking its total mobile user base to 124 million. Bharti has a market share of 30.55 per cent, while Vodafone Essar has 23.84 per cent. Aditya Birla's Idea Cellular added 2.25 million new users during the month, taking its total subscriber base to 62 million. It has a market share of 14.96 per cent.
State-run BSNL and private operator Aircel added 1.5 million and 1.8 million new users respectively in the month with their user base at 61 million and 34 million each. BSNL's market share reached 14.96 per cent. The major gainer in the month has been MTNL which added 86,706 new users in February from 45,067 in January.
(Note - Figures are courtesy TRAI reports and Economic Times news)
Showing posts with label Aircell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aircell. Show all posts
Rollout penalty for Indian Telcos - Delayed but not denied
The government of India has proposed a penalty of Rs 135.60 crore on private telecom operators, including Tatas, Airtel and Reliance Communication, for delays in rolling out networks. Though, the department of telecom (DoT) has lowered the total quantum of penalty from Rs 477 crore decided earlier to Rs 135.60 crore after repeated representations by the operators, giving a major benefit to all big private telecom players. Almost all private players except Vodafone-Essar face penalties.
As reported in Economic times, the penalty comes to over Rs 41 crore on Tatas, Rs 31 crore on Airtel and Rs 19.65 crore on RCOM. Among others, Aircel faces a penalty of Rs 28.85 crore, HFCL has a liquidated damages of Rs 7 crore and the two PSUs — BSNL and MTNL, along with Vodafone-Essar face no penalty.
The cases for imposition of liquidated damages were processed since 2005 and show-cause notices for imposition of liquidated damages (amounting to Rs 477.15 crore) were issued in 96 cases to 10 operators. There were representations from industry pointing out delays in statutory clearances, grant of spectrum for access, among other factors, for delayed rollouts. Thus, it was decided to revisit the subject and DoT has arrived at revised lower penalty for these operators.
As suggested in one of my earlier posts its also time to adopt Swedish model for penalizing operators for not meeting roll out obligations and are in turn hoarding spectrum. (For reading the full post click here)
As reported in Economic times, the penalty comes to over Rs 41 crore on Tatas, Rs 31 crore on Airtel and Rs 19.65 crore on RCOM. Among others, Aircel faces a penalty of Rs 28.85 crore, HFCL has a liquidated damages of Rs 7 crore and the two PSUs — BSNL and MTNL, along with Vodafone-Essar face no penalty.
The cases for imposition of liquidated damages were processed since 2005 and show-cause notices for imposition of liquidated damages (amounting to Rs 477.15 crore) were issued in 96 cases to 10 operators. There were representations from industry pointing out delays in statutory clearances, grant of spectrum for access, among other factors, for delayed rollouts. Thus, it was decided to revisit the subject and DoT has arrived at revised lower penalty for these operators.
As suggested in one of my earlier posts its also time to adopt Swedish model for penalizing operators for not meeting roll out obligations and are in turn hoarding spectrum. (For reading the full post click here)
Saudi Telecom Co. makes back door entry into Indian Telecom market
In a deal that gives it indirect entrance into the high-growth Indian Telecom market, Saudi Arabia's largest carrier Saudi Telecom Co. has bought a 25-percent piece of Malaysia's Maxis Communications for $3 billion.
As a result of this purchase, Saudi Telecom Co. will own 18.5 percent of GSM carrier Aircel, which is 74-percent owned by Aircel. Aircel provides services in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and the North-East. It has a subscriber base of 5.5 million.
Saudi Telecom reportedly had been considering India for some time, this purchase is the first major investment outside Saudi Arabia for the government-owned carrier. "
Officials in the Middle Eastern country apparently have the same concerns over a national telco having ties with foreign carriers, but it looks like those concerns weren't enough to kill the deal. The deal may raise eyebrows of security concerns in India. I will be posting the developments on the blog
As a result of this purchase, Saudi Telecom Co. will own 18.5 percent of GSM carrier Aircel, which is 74-percent owned by Aircel. Aircel provides services in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and the North-East. It has a subscriber base of 5.5 million.
Saudi Telecom reportedly had been considering India for some time, this purchase is the first major investment outside Saudi Arabia for the government-owned carrier. "
Officials in the Middle Eastern country apparently have the same concerns over a national telco having ties with foreign carriers, but it looks like those concerns weren't enough to kill the deal. The deal may raise eyebrows of security concerns in India. I will be posting the developments on the blog
Malaysian Tycoon Ananda Krishnan plans to buy Maxis communication - Aircell India to gain from plans
Malaysian tycoon Ananda Krishnan plans to buy out the country’s largest mobile operator, Maxis Communications in a deal that could be worth at least $5 billion. Maxis gave no reason for the buyout plan but industry analysts speculated that Krishnan, the country’s second-richest man after Robert Kuok, might want to relist Maxis offshore and raise foreign capital to fund international expansion. Maxis, which faces a price war and a maturing market at home, is expanding into larger and less-developed Asian markets like Indonesia and India to drive growth.
Maxis can be listed overseas, feels telecom analysts , the buyout plan could be a first step toward raising money to fund major investments in India and Indonesia. Krishnan-controlled firm Usaha Tegas, a major shareholder in Maxis, has notified the company that it and its affiliates will make an offer by Thursday, Maxis said. Krishnan, a self-made billionaire of Sri Lankan origin, held an indirect interest of 47.05% in Maxis as of April last year, according to company data. At the current share price, a buyout bid for the remainder of about 53% would cost around 17.4 billion ringgit ($5.1 billion).
Malaysia’s mobile phone market is fast reaching saturation, forcing Maxis and smaller rival, state-controlled Telekom Malaysia, to expand overseas for growth. In Malaysia, more than three-quarters of the 26 million population own a mobile phone. Maxis stock, which was suspended from trade before the company statement, has climbed nearly 50% in the past 12 months, outperforming the wider market by about 7%. The stock fetches 16.2 times projected earnings, compared with India’s top mobile phone services firm, Bharti Airtel, on 38 times and China Mobile on 18.2 times.
Ananda Krishnan’s plans to buy out Maxis Communications will boost the company’s plans for India, say analysts. Mr Krishnan owns just under 48% of Maxis, which has a controlling stake (74%) in Aircel, India’s fifth largest GSM player with over 5 million subscribers. More so, considering that Maxis had recently said that it would need an additional $3 billion to expand operations in India in the future. Maxis two overseas ventures — India’s Aircel and Indonesia’s PT Natrindo Telepon Selular . The company’s profits have surged 46% over the last 12 months riding on strong subscriber gains both at home and in India. In fact, Aircel accounted for 13% of Maxis’s fourth-quarter revenues. The company plans to invest over Rs 2,000 crore in its Indian operations in 2007-08, as it has set a target of reaching 8 million subscribers during this period. In the last fiscal, Maxis had invested about Rs 2,700 crore in Aircel, of which Rs 1,350 crore was paid to the Department of Telecom (DoT) towards entry fee for licenses in 14 new circles in the country, while the remaining was spent on network expansion. Aircel holds licence to offer telecom services in 9 telecom circles in the country and aims to be a pan-Indian player and expand its presence to all 23 circles by the first half of 2009. As the first step, the company recently launched services in both Himachal Pradesh and Bihar. Aircel was recently been granted both the national and international long distance licences by DoT.
The reclusive 68-year-old Krishnan, a former oil trader, also controls Malaysian pay-TV operator Astro All-Asia Networks and gambling and leisure firm Tanjong. The Harvard Business School graduate, with a net worth of $6 billion according to Forbes magazine, was a close friend to former premier Mahathir Mohamad.
Maxis can be listed overseas, feels telecom analysts , the buyout plan could be a first step toward raising money to fund major investments in India and Indonesia. Krishnan-controlled firm Usaha Tegas, a major shareholder in Maxis, has notified the company that it and its affiliates will make an offer by Thursday, Maxis said. Krishnan, a self-made billionaire of Sri Lankan origin, held an indirect interest of 47.05% in Maxis as of April last year, according to company data. At the current share price, a buyout bid for the remainder of about 53% would cost around 17.4 billion ringgit ($5.1 billion).
Malaysia’s mobile phone market is fast reaching saturation, forcing Maxis and smaller rival, state-controlled Telekom Malaysia, to expand overseas for growth. In Malaysia, more than three-quarters of the 26 million population own a mobile phone. Maxis stock, which was suspended from trade before the company statement, has climbed nearly 50% in the past 12 months, outperforming the wider market by about 7%. The stock fetches 16.2 times projected earnings, compared with India’s top mobile phone services firm, Bharti Airtel, on 38 times and China Mobile on 18.2 times.
Ananda Krishnan’s plans to buy out Maxis Communications will boost the company’s plans for India, say analysts. Mr Krishnan owns just under 48% of Maxis, which has a controlling stake (74%) in Aircel, India’s fifth largest GSM player with over 5 million subscribers. More so, considering that Maxis had recently said that it would need an additional $3 billion to expand operations in India in the future. Maxis two overseas ventures — India’s Aircel and Indonesia’s PT Natrindo Telepon Selular . The company’s profits have surged 46% over the last 12 months riding on strong subscriber gains both at home and in India. In fact, Aircel accounted for 13% of Maxis’s fourth-quarter revenues. The company plans to invest over Rs 2,000 crore in its Indian operations in 2007-08, as it has set a target of reaching 8 million subscribers during this period. In the last fiscal, Maxis had invested about Rs 2,700 crore in Aircel, of which Rs 1,350 crore was paid to the Department of Telecom (DoT) towards entry fee for licenses in 14 new circles in the country, while the remaining was spent on network expansion. Aircel holds licence to offer telecom services in 9 telecom circles in the country and aims to be a pan-Indian player and expand its presence to all 23 circles by the first half of 2009. As the first step, the company recently launched services in both Himachal Pradesh and Bihar. Aircel was recently been granted both the national and international long distance licences by DoT.
The reclusive 68-year-old Krishnan, a former oil trader, also controls Malaysian pay-TV operator Astro All-Asia Networks and gambling and leisure firm Tanjong. The Harvard Business School graduate, with a net worth of $6 billion according to Forbes magazine, was a close friend to former premier Mahathir Mohamad.
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