The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recently released the performance indicator report for the quarter ending September 2010. The report provides a broad perspective, key parameters and growth trends for the telecom services for the period covering July-September 2010, and is compiled on the basis of information furnished by the service providers.

According to the report, the number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 671.69 million in June 2010 to 723.28 million at the end of September 2010, registering a sequential growth of 7.68 per cent over the previous quarter as against 8.11 per cent during the quarter ended June 2010. This reflects year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth of 42.09 per cent over the corresponding quarter of last year. The overall teledensity in India has reached 60.99 as on September 30, 2010. 

The subscription in urban areas grew from 452.59 million in June 2010 to 487.07 million at the end of September 2010, taking the urban teledensity from 128.20 per cent to 137.25 per cent. Rural subscription increased from 219.09 million to 236.21 million, and the rural teledensity increased from 26.43 to 28.42. The share of rural subscribers has increased slightly to 32.66 per cent in the total subscription from 32.62 per cent in June 2010.

The rate of growth of rural subscription, however, declined during the quarter. About 66.83 per cent of the total net additions came from the urban areas as compared to 63.47 per cent in the previous quarter. The growth rate of rural subscription declined from 9.18 per cent in June 2010 to 7.81 per cent in September 2010.

With 52.21 million net additions during the quarter, the total wireless subscriber base registered a growth of 8.21 per cent over the previous quarter and increased from 635.51 million at the end of Jun 2010 to 687.71 million at the end of September 2010. The year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth over the same quarter of last year is 45.79 per cent. Wireless teledensity reached 57.99 per cent.

The country’s wireline subscriber base continued to dwindle. It declined from 36.18 million at the end of June 2010 to 35.57 million at the end of September 2010, bringing down the wireline teledensity from 3.06 per cent in June 2010 to 3 per cent at the end of September 2010. On a Y-o-Y basis, the wireline subscriber base saw a decline of 4.6 per cent.

The internet subscribers increased from 16.72 million at the end of June 2010 to 17.90 million at the end of September 2010, registering a quarterly growth rate of 7.02 per cent. The top 10 internet service providers (ISP) together hold 95 per cent of the total Internet subscriber base.

The share of broadband in total internet subscription increased from 56.7 per cent in June 2010 to 57.6 per cent in September 2010. Total number of broadband subscribers increased from 9.47 million at the end of June 2010 to 10.30 million at the end of September 2010, registering a quarterly growth of 8.79 per cent and Y-O-Y growth of 42.93 per cent. Digital Subscriber Line was the preferred technology and was used by 86.89 per cent of the broadband subscribers.

With the increasing competition in the market, the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) continued to suffer. For GSM services, the ARPU declined by 10.16 per cent, from Rs 122 in quarter ended June 2010 to Rs 110 in quarter ended September 2010. Moreover, it registered a 33.1 per cent decline on a Y-O-Y basis. The ARPU for CDMA too services declined by 1.34 per cent, from Rs 74 in quarter ended June 2010 to Rs 73 in quarter ended September 2010.

A similar trend was observed in the minutes of usage (MOU). In spite of the cheaper call charges, MOU per subscriber for GSM declined by 8.1 per cent, from 401 minutes in quarter ended June 2010 to 368 minutes in quarter ended September 2010.

A copy of the report is attached.