The Hindu Business Line : Tariff cuts boost cell-phone subscriber base in South

The combined subscriber base of AirTel in these regions is close to 7 lakh. The average increase in cellular subscriber base in the southern region between two sequential quarters— fourth quarter of the last financial year and the first quarter of this year— has been about 24 per cent. In the first quarter of this year, the combined subscriber base of the 10 mobile licensees in the region was about 2 million as against 161 million during the fourth quarter of the last financial year, making this region among the fastest growing zones for the cellular phone market.

Chennai, which is the only metro circle in the southern region, alone had a subscriber base of close to 2.85 lakh, with Bharti having about 1.54 lakh, followed closely by the RPG, the second mobile service provider, with a base of 1.31 lakh subscribers.

Karnataka has shown the fastest growth in cellular usage among the A circle regions with a subscriber base of about 4.5 lakh and the average growth rate in the region during the sequential quarter was about 35 per cent. AirTel's growth has been fastest in Karnataka where it has increased its subscriber base by about 38 per cent during the period to about 2.61 lakh. These figures are based on the data released by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

But Spice, the second operator in Karnataka, has also been growing at a fast pace of over 32 per cent. Spice had a subscriber base of close to 1.86 lakh in the first quarter of the current financial year.

The growth in Andhra Pradesh was the second highest. But among the "A" circles, AP is the largest cellular market in the southern region with two licences having between them at least 5.5 lakh subscribers. Both the cellular licensees in AP - - harti and IDEA have recorded subscriber growth rates of 32 per cent and 27 per cent respectively. IDEA, promoted jointly by the Tatas, Birlas, and AT&T, had at least 2.85 lakh customers, followed by Bharti with 2.75 lakh subscribers in the first quarter of the current year.

BPL, which is the cellular operator in Kerala and Tamil Nadu is the laggard, where it has recorded very low subscriber growth rates. The growth rates in both these regions are only 3.5 per cent and 2.14 per cent respectively. In both these regions, BPL had a subscriber base of 1.53 lakh and 1.35 lakh each, according to the data. BPL's nearest competitor in Kerala, Escotel had shown a subscriber growth rate of 26 per cent to slightly over 2.50 lakh subscribers. In Tamil Nadu, BPL's competitor, AirCell had a subscriber base of close to 1.7 lakh subscribers during the first quarter of the current year after having posted growth close to 20 per cent on sequential basis.

The reason for the increasing subscriber base in the region is partly on account of the reduced tariffs by all the operators during the last few months. Besides, the entry of the fourth operator has also pushed the likenesses to offer more competitive tariffs in the region so as to increase the average revenue per subscriber.

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