Mobile base grows 153% in 2003-04

Despite attracting a record 1.5 million new mobile subscribers in March, GSM-based cellular operators have issued a warning that the growth in mobile numbers is "appearing to plateau off". The number of CDMA mobile subsribers have gone up by 4 lakh to touch 7 million.

While the total mobile base crossed 33 million in 2003-04 recording a 153 per cent growth compared with last year's figures, the Cellular Operators' Association in India (COAI) said, "Subscriber additions trend is appearing to plateau off. This is particularly disturbing against the background of the aggressive teledensity targets that the industry wishes to achieve.

There appears to be an urgent need to analyse the situation and remove whatever impediments exist to continue an accelerated growth. The industry is examining all concerned aspects to help arrive at an answer."

While COAI did not divulge the reasons for the warning, some of the outstanding issues included hike in foreign direct investment, abolition of access deficit charges and permits to offer long distance services.

Contrary to the sentiments expressed by COAI, the operators continue to make a killing in the market. Reliance Infocomm was the biggest gainer in March with over 4 lakh new mobile users, taking its tally to over 7 million, including the GSM subscribers in the Northeast.

Reliance's success is being attributed to the pre-paid card launched by the company last month. The number of CDMA mobile phones have gone up by 4 lakh to cross 7 milllion by March end. The pace of CDMA growth has slowed in the last couple of months, while GSM has picked up steam.

Bharti Cellular, the second largest mobile operator, added just over 3 lakh new users to take its tally to 6.5 million subscribers. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd was a distant third at 5.2 million cellular users, closely followed by Hutch with 5.1 million subscribers. Hutch also had the highest new users in the GSM market with 3.2 lakh additions.

Region wise, Delhi continues its hold on the telecom market, followed by Mumbai.

However, Circle A states, comprising Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh among others, has the highest concentration of mobile users.

On the fixed-line front, private operators have managed to cross the 1 million mark compared with 42 million users of BSNL and MTNL. Bharti is the largest fixed-line private operator with over 5 lakh users followed by Tata Teleservices with over 3 lakh users.