The Hindu Business Line : Subscriber base — Private operators pip BSNL, MTNL

THE subscriber base of private telecom operators is now more than the user base of public sector companies - - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.

Private operators owned 50.24 per cent of the total 107 million subscriber market, comprising both landline and mobile segments.

According to the numbers released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), private players had 53.76 million subscribers by the end of July, while the two PSUs had 53.24 million. The surge by the private operators is largely due to the growth in mobile usage. While private operators accounted for 47.33 million mobile users, the state-owned companies which entered the mobile segment rather late had only 12.5 million mobile users. On the fixed line, however, the PSUs continue to rule the market with 40.74 million subscribers compared with 6.43 million subscribers on private operators' network.

However, BSNL is still the largest operator in the country by a huge margin. While BSNL with 47 million subscribers controls 44.8 per cent of the total telecom services market, Reliance is the second largest operator with 13 per cent share. Bharti, which provides cellular services under Airtel brand, has emerged as the biggest mobile company with customer base of 12.79 million, which represents 21.38 per cent of the total market in this segment.

The TRAI release said that the total capital employed in the telecom sector as on March 31, 2004, was approximately Rs 1,30,000 crore. Of this, the PSU operators had employed Rs 86,000 crore and private players pumped in Rs 44,000 crore. "The purpose of liberalisation in the telecom sector was to bring in more private capital and participation. That purpose seems to have been achieved substantially,'' TRAI said in a statement.

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