India - growing telecom revenues

Telecom services revenue up 21% to Rs 1.30 lakh crore

With one out of four Indians owning a phone, revenue of the country's telecom services industry has swelled to Rs 1,30,561 crore (Rs 1,305.61 billion) in 2007-08, up 21 per cent over the the previous fiscal.

India added 100 million new subscribers in this period.

The revenue of telecom services, including that of cellular, fixed line, national long distance, international long distance, broadband, radio trunking and VSAT services, has risen to Rs 1,30,561 crore, registering a growth of 21.3 per cent, a survey by Voice&Data revealed.

Among the services, cellular segment contributed a major chunk of around 59 per cent to the total revenue. The segment's topline rose to Rs 76,608 crore (Rs 766.08 billion) in 2007-08, compared to Rs 56,183 crore (Rs 561.83 billion) last fiscal, a growth of about 36 per cent.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited topped the survey list in terms of revenue with Rs 35,296 crore (Rs 352.96 billion) total income. However, it registered a negative growth of 12 per cent. Its revenue for last fiscal was Rs 40,135 crore (Rs 401.35 billion).

Bharti with Rs 26,436 crore (Rs 264.36 billion) topline clinched the second slot while Reliance communications was placed at the third position reporting total income of Rs 18,638 crore (Rs 186.38 billion), the survey read.

Fixed line business was the second biggest revenue earner for the industry, contributing more than 20 per cent. However, its total income dipped 11.6 per cent in this financial year to Rs 26,692 crore (Rs 266.92 billion), compared to Rs 30,190 crore (Rs 301.9 billion) in 2006-07, it said.

Broadband business showed a huge growth of 162.7 per cent in terms of revenue. It reached to Rs 5,359 crore (Rs 53.59 billion) in 2007-08, compared to Rs 2,040 crore (Rs 20.4 billion) in the previous fiscal.

The growth in the number of broadband subscribers, however, was not appealing as the country added only 1.4 million new users in this period. The total subscriber base was up 56 per cent to 3.9 million, the survey added.