27% of 2G GSM spectrum serves less than 5% users: TRAI data

21 Nov 2011 Evaluate

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI’s) latest August subscriber figures showed that the more than 27.13% of the total GSM spectrum allocated to new companies such as Uninor, Datacom , S Tel, Loop and Etisalat, serves less than 5% mobile subscribers in India.

These five companies jointly hold around 375.2 MHz of 2G GSM spectrum of all spectrums allocated till date. However they serve just 4.8% of total subscriber base, this includes the old BPL Mumbai circle, taking Loop's tally in subscriber base up to 3.18 million. Without Mumbai, Loop just has 3,067 users in remaining 21 circles. 

According to the TRAI’s August subscriber data, these five new entrants still don’t have a single subscribers in 33 of their 94 circles. On the other hand, the two dual technology CDMA/GSM operators, i.e. Reliance ADAG and Tata now account for 13.9% of GSM spectrum in addition to their CDMA spectrum holding since 2003.

The dual technology operators who are using combination of GSM and CDMA spectrum serve around 27% of user base. Both Reliance ADAG and Tata form most part, hold around 5 MHz of CDMA spectrum in each of the 22 telecom circles in addition to their GSM allotment.

On the contrary, the major GSM operators like Bharti, Vodafone, Idea and Aircel holds 43.79% of the total GSM and serve around 53.7% of the total subscriber base. The TRAI says that, of this, 12% is excess spectrum beyond the contracted amount for which it recommends an additional levy of Rs 6,264.52 crore.

The government-owned operators such as MTNL and BSNL jointly hold around 15.21% of GSM spectrum with additional access to significant quantities of CDMA spectrum. Both MTNL and BSNL jointly serve 11.68% of India’s subscriber base.

This unclear spectrum utility vis-à-vis subscriber base has prompted the government to hasten fresh Mergers and Acquisition norms and exit policy. New telecom companies have only been in operation for 2-3 years, which makes an absolute comparison of subscriber base unfair.

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