The leading telecom service providers announced their financial results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2007. All the companies reported an increase in revenues vis-à-vis the corresponding quarter of 2006. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) was the only company to report a decline in profits.

Bharti Airtel: Impressive results again

The consolidated revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 stood at Rs 59.05 billion, a 53 per cent hike over the same quarter in the previous year. The EBITDA, at Rs 24.47 billion, grew by 63 per cent during the same period. The cash profit from operations at Rs 26.22 billion showed a 97 per cent increase while net profit, at Rs 15.12 billion, showed a 100 per cent growth over the same quarter of the previous year.

Bharti's topline growth was facilitated by a robust increase in subscriber base, which stood at 45 million as on June 30, 2007, an increase of 82 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year.The company maintained its leadership position in the wireless segment, retaining the top slot with 23.5 per cent market share, up from 21.1 per cent in June 2006.

Reliance Communications: Grand plans

Reliance Communications (RCOM) posted a net profit of Rs 12.21 billion in the quarter ended June 30, 2007, a 138 per cent hike compared to the net profit of Rs 5.13 billion in the quarter ended June 2006. Its revenue increased by 32 per cent to Rs 43.04 billion from Rs 32.5 billion.

The company added 3.87 million subscribers during the first quarter of 200708, representing a 20 per cent share of the net additions during the quarter. In the month of June alone, the company added 1.45 million subscribers.

This fiscal year, the company is embarking on a major telecom network rollout. Its wireless network is expected to cover 23,000 towns and 600,000 villages by the end of 2007, with almost complete coverage of the country's rail and road networks. In 2007-08, the company is planning to spend around Rs 160 billion on network expansion.

RCOM recently acquired US-based data communications company Yipes Holdings for $300 million. The move will enable RCOM to penetrate the global enterprise and institutional data market.The company also offloaded a 5 per cent stake in its tower company, Reliance Telecom Infrastructure Limited, for $337.5 million and is planning to further hive off its tower business.

Idea Cellular: Quantum leap

Idea Cellular, which operates in 11 service areas, consolidated its subscriber share from 14.9 per cent at the end of March 2007 to 15.4 per cent at the end of June 2007. It added 2.12 million subscribers during the quarter, taking its subscriber base to 16.13 million at the end of June 2007.

The consolidated revenues for the quarter ended June 2007 were Rs 14.77 billion, a 64 per increase over the previous year's Rs 9.02 billion. The EBITDA of Rs 5.13 billion grew by 69 per cent during the same period. The net profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 was Rs 3 billion, a growth of 259 per cent over the same quarter of the previous year.

MTNL: Subscriber decline translates into lower profits

State-owned telecom service provider MTNL posted a 6 per cent decline in both net profit and revenue for the quarter ended June 2007. The operator, which offers services in Delhi and Mumbai, reported a net profit of Rs 1.11 billion against Rs 1.18 billion during the June 2006 quarter. Sales dipped to Rs 11.95 billion from Rs 12.72 billion during the period under review.

Segment-wise, it was fixed line services that pulled down MTNL's quarterly performance. Despite launching several schemes to check landline surrenders and make the service more attractive, MTNL's fixed line subscriber base registered a 2.6 per cent decline and stood at 3.75 million as of June 2007 end.

On the positive side, its cellular and broadband business showed impressive growth. GSM revenues grew 21 per cent to Rs 2.17 billion while profit before tax jumped twofold to Rs 915 million.

VSNL: Good show

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) posted a net profit of Rs 1.04 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 against Rs 881 million during the same period of the previous year. Total income increased to Rs 10.35 billion from Rs 9.51 billion.

During the quarter, VSNL announced the rollout of its Wi-Max network in Bangalore, as part of a major initiative to increase last mile coverage for both its enterprise and retail broadband customers.The company also launched several new managed services, and achieved MEF-14 certification for its Ethernet services.

VSNL's focus this year will be on enhancement of customer experience and introduction of new managed services.