Poll frenzy doesn't ring more biz for cellular cos

Cellular operators in the state are yet to see elections have any positive impact on their business. Leading cellular service providers in the state indicate that they are yet to see increase in usage but anticipate an increase closer to the end of the polls.

The three leading private service providers in the state "� Airtel, Idea and Hutch "� together have a subscriber base of about 1.3 million subscribers.

Speaking to Business Standard, Kumar Ramanathan, chief operating officer, Hutch - Andhra Pradesh circle, said, "There has been no gradual pattern that indicates that the poll fever has actually led to an increase in usage. There has been no build up," Ramanathan said.

Agrees, K Srinivasan, chief operating officer, Andhra Pradesh, Bharti Teleservices, "There is nothing particular that we are experiencing. Nothing spectacular or outrageous is happening and we are just seeing the normal increase in growth. The elections have not really fired usage."

"It is natural to expect that as the polls draw to a close the pace of communications will increase and it is normal to think that cellular operators will get some share in it, " Srinivasan said. "The momentum will catch on at the end of the polls," he added.

Hutch's Ramanathan points out that unlike other businesses, cellular service providers can only increase subscriber base to drive growth. "We cannot drive volumes but can only drive penetration," he points out.

The MoU (total minutes of usage which include both incoming and outgoing calls) per subscriber for Airtel hovers between 260 and 280 minutes for prepaid customers and between 650-750 minutes for postpaid subscribers. Airtel has close to 6.3-lakh strong customer base of which close to 80 per cent are prepaid.

Hutch with about two lakh customers has the highest average revenue per user (ARPU) amongst all other cellular operators in the state for the last quarter. Hutch has been able to achieve a higher ARPU than its competitors purely because of its ability to get better customers on board.

"At the acquisition stage, we are able to attract the right profile of customers. Our ARPU is about Rs 527 as of the last quarter and this is much better than competition," he said. Incidentally, Hutch had posted the highest ARPU in the industry of Rs 736 in the Mumbai circle, where it operates under the Orange brand name.

Hutch's competitors, IDEA and Airtel have an ARPU of Rs 500 and Rs 492 respectively. Importantly, both IDEA and Airtel have more subscribers with about 5,00,000 and 6,30,000 respectively.

"In the last two quarters our revenues have become healthier and in the last two months we have added about 50,000 customers in our circle," Ramanathan said.