Industry Analysis: Telecom Sector

The Indian Telecom sector is one of the fastest growing among the world. On an average it adds more than 17 million subscribers every month. Telecom Industry contributes 2% in Indias GDP, and is bound to Increase, due to its huge potential of urban market and still untapped rural market. The Indian telecom sector has one of the lowest tariffs in the world enabled by hyper-intensive competition in its market. The Industry has grown over twenty times in just ten years, from under 37 million subscribers in the year 2001 to over 846 million subscribers in the year 2011. India has the world's second-largest mobile phone user base with over 929.37 million users as of May 2012. It has the world's third-largest Internet user-base with over 121 million as of December 2011. The total revenue of the Indian telecom sector grew by 7% to 283,207 crore (US$51.26 billion) for 201011 financial year, while revenues from telecom equipment segment stood at 117,039 crore (US$21.18 billion). Telecommunication has supported the socioeconomic development of India and has played a significant role to narrow down the rural-urban digital divide to some extent. It also has helped to increase the transparency of governance with the introduction of e-governance in India. The government has pragmatically used modern telecommunication facilities to deliver mass education programmes for the rural folk of India. The Total Revenue of Indian Telecom Services company is likely to exceed Rs 200000 Cr ( US$ 44 Bn approx) for FY 1112 based on FY 1011 nos and latest quarterly results. These are consolidated nos including foreign operation of Bharti Airtel. The major contributions to this revenue are as follows: Bharti Airtel 65,060 Reliance Comm 31,468 Idea Cellular 16,936 Tata Comm 11,931 MTNL 4,380 TTML 2,248 BSNL 32,045 Voda 18,376 TataTeleservice 9,200 and Aircel 7,968. Major sectors of telecommunication industry in India are telephony, internet and broadcasting. The primary regulator of telecommunications in India is the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). This rapid growth has been possible due to various proactive and positive decisions of the Government and contribution of both by the public and the private sector. The rapid strides in the telecom sector have been facilitated by liberal policies of the Government that provide easy market access for telecom equipment and a fair regulatory framework for offering telecom services to the Indian consumers at affordable prices.