Mobile subscriber additions continue to fall in Gujarat

New monthly rate of mobile subscriber additions continue to fall in Gujarat on account of subdued smartphone sales and inadequate tariff packages, say industry sources.

As against an overall growth of 1.32 per cent in the month of February 2015, as per the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) data, growth in monthly net mobile subscription additions grew by 0.97 per cent and 0.74 per cent in March and April 2015, respectively.

Among the top telecom operators, in terms of absolute numbers, Telewings Communications which runs the Uninor service in Gujarat added the highest number of subscribers for all the three months at 265,414, 277,843 and 277,318, respectively.

Uninor also maintained its leadership in terms of percentage growth with its net subscriber additions growing by 3.89 per cent, 3.92 per cent and 3.76 per cent in February, March and April 2015, respectively. Following Uninor was Videocon which grew by 2.81 per cent, 1.88 per cent and 1.59 per cent, respectively.

"However, the growth rate evidently declined for all operators on the back of subdued smartphone sales and inadequate tariff packages. The trend in subdued smartphone sales could be attributed to the general economic slowdown in the market," a telecom analyst stated on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile industry sources stated that the industry may hike tariff by roughly 15-20 per cent on the back of fresh spectrum auction costs.