State records highest growth in telecom subscriber additions

Orissa has achieved the highest growth of 17.1 per cent among all the telecom circles in the country in terms of net addition of subscribers, both wire-line and wireless, during the January-March period of this year.

The overall subscriber base, mobile as well as landline, of the state went up from 13.57 million in December 2009 to 15.89 million by the end of March 2010. The growth in the Orissa circle is well ahead of the pan-India growth rate of 10.5 per cent in the said period, according to a performance indicator report of Indian telecom service providers prepared by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).The figure says that Orissa is also leading the pack in terms of growth in mobile subscriptions during the January-March period. As against the pan-India growth of 11.28 per cent, the state has clocked a growth of 17.91 per cent in the said period.

Orissa's mobile subscriber base moved up from 12.95 million in December 2009 to 15.27 million by the end of March this year.

The growth in the Orissa telecom circle is not just restricted to subscriber additions. The state's mobile services market, which is already cluttered with the presence of nine operators, has also shown an interesting trend on the urban teledensity front.

The state's urban tele-density which stood at 133.25 (as on March 31, 2010) as per the TRAI report, is higher than the national average of 119.73. The circle's overall tele-density at 39.30 still needs to be improved considerably to catch up with the pan-India average of 52.74.

Mobile operators have attributed this growth to the increased coverage in urban and rural markets fuelled by the foray of more players in the market, introduction of competitive and customer friendly tariff plans, availability of affordable handsets and expansion of distribution channels.

“The phenomenal growth has been fuelled largely by increased coverage in urban and rural areas combined with an ever increasing influx of more affordable handsets and relevant tariffs. Increased competition has also encouraged growth through a better penetration of distribution channels. Last but not the least, economic and industrial growth encouraged by an investment friendly government has increased personal incomes and thereby usage of mobile systems”, said Dushyan Vaithiyanathan, Executive Vice President (Hyderabad Hub) of Uninor.