New Delhi, Dec.

27: Paving way for consolidation, the Telecom Commission has accepted liberal norms of up to 35 per cent market share for merger and acquisitions in the Indian telecom sector, which has 12-13 players in a circle. (TRAI) recommendations with the cases of below 35 per cent market share (and) spectrum not exceeding 25 per cent of the total spectrum are cleared and above that we will be requesting TRAI to suggest some guidelines for considering cases where the market share may be 35 per cent, Telecom Secretary, Mr R. Chandrasekhar, said. TRAI had recommended that if an entity, post a merger or acquisition, has up to 35 per cent market share, it would be considered in green line' or safe harbour. We have taken the note of the TRAI recommendations that it can be up to 60 per cent, the commission has not taken any specific view on a upper cap but we will be asking TRAI to work out some suitable guidelines so that there is a transparency in the process, Mr Chandrasekhar said. Above 35 per cent but less than 60 per cent would be referred to TRAI, which will carry out detailed examination to ensure that there is no market dominance abuse, TRAI had recommended. On spectrum sharing too the telecom commission has accepted TRAI's recommendations which says that spectrum sharing would be permitted between any two licensees holding spectrum subject to the condition that the total bandwidth would not cross the permissible limit under mergers. The permission would be for a period of five years, subject to renewal for one more term of five years, TRAI had said. Now the government has to take a decision on telecom commission's recommendations, Mr Chandrasekhar added. Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal unveiled new norms for the telecom sector. India will allow mergers and acquisitions in the telecoms sector that create combined market share of up to 35%, under a quick and simple process. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, JS Sarma, chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is glad that there is a greater clarity and decisions have been taken. According to him, the road ahead is clear. "I think that should augur well for the telecom sector," he adds. Below is the edited transcript of his interview on CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying videos. Q: What is your first response to the announcement by the Department of Telecom? What do you make of the final decision on the recommendations that you had made?

A: I am happy that the Department of Telecommunications has taken these decision. These recommendations were originally made in May 2010. Thereafter, we clarified various issues in February and November 2011. So, I am glad that there is a greater clarity and decisions have been taken. So, the road ahead is clear. I think that should augur well for the telecom sector. Q: The initial reactions, atleast in some reports, post the original recommendations in May 2010, were dictated perhaps by the feeling that this was not going to be good for industry. Today, if you do a quick recap of all the decisions that have been taken, there isn't a wide variation on several of the key recommendations, whether it be spectrum, whether it be the licensing framework. Would you really tell industry at this stage that this is perhaps the best way to proceed ahead in the manner in which the government had decided? A: These recommendations have been subjected to a very detailed examination at various levels in the department itself. Subsequently, I recall last year the round table discussions were held. I am sure several rounds of discussions were held formally and informally by the government. Thereafter, the Telecom Commissioner itself has considered these in great detail. So, the fact that these recommendations hold good has been proven by now overtime. I am happy that these decisions virtually coincide with recommendations of the TRAI. So, to that extent, I am happy. More importantly, I am happy that whatever we have stated has been found to be acceptable by the government as such in this policymaking. Q: Spectrum cap at 8 MHz across India barring Delhi and Mumbai which is 10 MHz on GSM as well as the linkage that exists post merger and amalgamation in a particular circle, the 25% cap. The response that we are picking up initially at this stage is that industry feels disappointed that this cap is far lower than the global average of 18-20 MHz that's supposed to exists. Do you think this in some ways is not a very good move? Does it signal that there won't be long-term consolidation in this sector? A: Item 11 of the press release says, the licensee can acquire additional spectrum beyond prescribed limits in the open market, should there be an auction of spectrum. The auction is now more or less the directed policy. We are working towards designing of auctions. So, I don't anticipate any particular problems. Our recommendation of 8 MHz and 10 MHz was in the context of government assigning the spectrum to the operators. So, now anybody can acquire any amount of spectrum. So, 8 and 10 MHz is not the maximum limit that anybody can hold at any point of time The ailing Indian telecom industry is still recuperating from the intense price war witnessed between over-crowded 12-13 service carriers within the sector. Moreover, in what could be the first major hike in three years with major telecom operators hiking their tariff rates by 20% in July 2011, telecom analysts have pegged the development as the dawn of new era in Indian telecom landscape. However, for the Indian telecom sector to bolster its prospects, it needs not only hike in cellular tariff rates but also consolidation in the sector led by conducive regulatory environment for mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

The new proposal from the telecom regulator TRAI is a step in right direction that would allow a liberal norm of up to 35% market share as safe harbour for M&A landscape in the Indian telecom sector. Earlier, the M&A threshold limit for the resultant entity was capped at 30%. Further, the telecom regulator has also set a limit of 25% for spectrum holding for any combined entity, in any given circle. This proposal could prove to be a bit restrictive, in case the merged entity boasts of substantially large percentage of subscribers. On the other hand, mergers that result in more than 60% market share will be disallowed for regulatory approval. But, then, the new proposal does away with the old rule that a minimum of 6 operators should be left in a circle post merger.
/w EPDw UJMTA3

TRAI GETS GOVERNMENT NOD TO ACT AS CIVIL COURT

March 2012

TRAI

gets

government

nod

to

act

as

Civil

Court

The Communications Ministry has cleared the proposal to grant more powers to TRAI and enable it to act like a civil court, like Securities Exchange Board of India and Competition Commission of India. This will empower TRAI to summon persons, examine them on oath, demand documents and evidence on affidavits and even call for expert assistance for conducting enquiries. It is expected that the new powers of TRAI will be clearly provided in the National Telecom Policy 2012. The decision on the power to penalize operators is still not clear. TRAI has been recently entrusted with the task of managing spectrum the radio frequencies on which the mobile communication signal travel. PSA view This is a smart move to further empower TRAI. TRAI has been demanding

additional powers since 2006 and it is high time that it gets some kind of autonomy so to govern the telecom and growing mobile sphere effectively and efficiently without much interference from other departments. Telecom department seeks exemption from the Competition Act

TRAI has proposed allowing M&A in the telecommunications sector under the automatic route if the combined market share was less than 35% and on a case by case basis where the market share is between 35% to 60%. This proposal was approved in principle by the Telecom Commission, the highest body under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT); however, it has faced opposition from the CCI. The DoT now seeks to make a case before the cabinet that the telecommunications sector already has a regulator, namely the TRAI, and considering the fact that the industry deals with highly specialized and complex issues such as spectrum management, licensing and M&As, it is different from other sectors. This is in tandem with the DoTs recent endeavors to empower the TRAI with additional powers to act as a civil court and, therefore, puts it at par with the securities market regulator in India. The DoT will thus seek an exemption from the application of the CCI guidelines, considering the fact that this is a specialized industry and already has a regulator. PSA view TRAI is completely justified in seeking an industry specific exemption from the applicability of the CCI guidelines. There is a much needed consolidation in the 14 player telecom market, and the TRAI is competent to propose schemes for restricting entry into the telecom sector. That being said, it needs to be seen that the CCI is the regulator for anticompetitive practices. The CCI is well versed with complex competition issues and is adequately equipped to assess whether an arrangement is detrimental to competition in India, and such information and resources may not be freely available with the TRAI. There needs to be a certain level of co-ordination between the two regulatory bodies; however, effective regulation of a sector should remain with the sector regulator. Direction given by TRAI on cancellation/withdrawal of MNP request by Donor Operators TRAI on February 21, 2012 has given direction to the effect that as a donor operator some of the service providers are rejecting the porting request by accepting cancellation request in the form of written request, SMS or voice call from the subscriber. TRAI taking this into account and has clearly stated that there is no provision in the regulations permitting the donor operators to accept withdrawal or cancellation of porting requests received from the subscribers. TRAI, in order to ensure compliance of terms and conditions of license and to protect the interest of consumers, directed all Cellular Mobile Telephone Service Providers and Unified Access Service Providers who are acting as Donor Operators not to entertain any request from the subscriber for cancellation or withdrawal of porting request and not to reject a porting request except on the grounds mentioned under the regulations. PSA view This direction of TRAI will reduce the confusion among the consumers with regard to MNP. TRAI has also asked the service providers to submit a compliance report to them. This is a welcome step on the MNP services to the consumers. TRAI on start up kit and activation of new plan for the consumers

TRAI on March 07, 2012 has published a notification stating that tariff plan may be included

as part of the start-up-kit since inclusion of a base plan will not affect transparency in tariff offering by the service providers. However, it has also stated that such plan will cease to apply to a customer upon activating the plan voucher. In the same notification it has also accepted the request of service providers that USSD may be allowed after every call for providing information to the consumers without sending the same as a SMS. PSA view This move will provide more transparency to the customers in knowing their tariff offerings by their service providers. Accepting the USSD service by the service providers to the consumers is much advanced step. This provides information relating to the amount deducted or any other information that service provider needs to inform to its customers. By: Neeraj Ashutosh S. Aravindan Galleries Dubey Chandola

Indian Telecom Operators add 9.88 million users in January

Posted by Manas on March 7th, 2012

Indian telecom operators have added 9.88 million mobile subscribers in January. With this the total mobile subscriber base in India jumped by nearly 1.11% to 903.73 million in January, as per the latest data published by the telecom regulator TRAI. The overall teledensity (telephones per 100 people) in India also reached to 77.57%. The telecom sector has been saturated in recent times with nearly 1% monthly growth rate. Uninor has added 2.49 million users to take its total user base to 38.79 million. Ideal Cellular has added 1.74 million which took its total user base to 108.12 million. Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Communication have added 1.3 million, 0.85 million and 0.94 million to take their total user base to 176.95 million, 148.60 million and 151.02 million respectively. With this, Reliance Communication now stood as the second biggest telecom operator in India. Wire line subscriber base declined by 0.3 million to 32.39 million in January due to more usage of mobile phones. Broadband subscriber base increased by 0.12 million to 13.42 million in January which is considerably lower compared to other developed nations and China. There is a huge growth potential in the broadband sector due to lower penetration and huge population

TRAI recommended Easier M&A norms for Indian Telecom sector

Posted by Manas on December 27th, 2011

Indias Telecom Commission has accepted norms of up to 35% market share for merger and acquisitions in the Indian telecom sector, which will make it easier for the Telecom companies to merge with other small players and acquire other companies satisfying the criteria. Indias telecom sector has now been completely saturated with nearly 12/13 players. As per the Telecom Secretary Mr. R. Chandrasekhar, TRAI recommendation will help the telecom operators to go for merger and acquisition easily if the market share of the combined entity falls below 35% of the total market share. This will definitely be a good news for Indian telecom sector as it will provide some lifeline to the highly saturated sector.

Indian telecom sector adds 7.79 million Mobile subscribers in October

Posted by Manas on December 9th, 2011

Indian telecom operators have added 7.79 million mobile subscribers in October, as per the latest data published by the Telecom Regulator TRAI. With this new additionIndias total mobile subscriber increased to 881.4 million by October end from 873.61 million in the previous month. The growth was 0.89% for the same month which indicates saturation in one of the most important sector of India. The Tele-density reached to 76.03% in India with the latest additions. Uninor has added the maximum number of 2.66 million new subscribers in the month followed by Idea Cellular which has added 1.63 million.Indias largest Mobile service provider Bharti Airtel has added 0.94 million in October to take its user base to 145.91 million. Indian Telecom sector has saturated now with very low monthly growth. It has also become very much competitive large number of key players. Now all the telecom companies are looking forward for new telecom policy to get fresh air in the sector

Indian telecom sector saturates with lower than 1% growth in August

Posted by Manas on October 20th, 2011

Indias total mobile subscriber base grew by just 0.86% in August which is a clear indication of saturation of Indian telecom sector. All the mobile operators have added only 7.34 million new subscribers to touch the overall mobile subscriber count to 865.71 million, as per the data shared by Indian telecom regulator TRAI. India is having the second largest mobile subscriber base in the world, just after China. Total telecom subscriber base including fixed lines touched 899.78 million at the end of August with overall teledensity at 74.96. Among all the mobile operators, Idea Cellular has added maximum number of 2.33 million new subscribers while Indias biggest telecom operator Bharti Airtel has added 1.15 million new subscribers. Reliance Communication and Vodafone have added 1.27 million and 1.12 million new mobile subscribers respectively. These data show that Indian telecom sector is saturating slowly and the sector needs some huge changes to get the growth momentum back. Government has recently unveiled the new telecom policy to revive the sector.

TRAI proposes high reserve price for 2G spectrum auction; Government to gain Rs 7 lakh crore
Posted by Manas on April 24th, 2012

Indias Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has proposed a very high reserve price for 2G telecom spectrum to be auctioned again after recent cancellation of 2G spectrums by the Supreme Court. It has fixed the price of 3,622 crore per MHz in the 1800-MHz band and Rs 7,244.36 cr for 1 MHz in the 900 MHz band to be used by the GSM operators and Rs 7,244 cr for 1 MHz in the 800-MHz bands to be used by the CDMA operators. This price is nearly 10 times higher than the previous 2G spectrum price issued in 2008 during the tenure of former telecom minister A. Raja and it is nearly 5 times higher than the 3G spectrum price issued in 2010. With this higher price, the operators can use the spectrum for any services and can pay the full price in 10 years. With this price, Indian government can earn up to Rs 7 lakh crore or nearly USD 140 billion for the next 10 years including expected Rs 36,000 to 50,000 crore in the current financial year 2012-13. This will come as a big blow to the telecom operators whose licenses were cancelled by the Supreme Court and were looking forward to participate in the new auction of the 2G spectrum. Those companies may decide not to participate in the new action following this steep rise in the base price. All the other major Indian telecom operators like Bharti, Vodafone, Idea and Reliance may need to pay the new price to continue using their 2G spectrums which were allocated to them before. This high price may kill the sector which is already struggling with high competition and low growth and may lead to higher tariffs. But the companies will have option to use the 2G spectrum for any kind of services and pay the full price in 10 years.
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Idea Cellular
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

Idea Cellular Ltd.

Public Type BSE: 532822 NSE: IDEA

Industry

Telecommunications

Founded

1995 Santacruz East, Mumbai, India[1]

Headquarters

Key people

Kumar Mangalam Birla

(Chairman)

Products

Mobile telephony, Wireless broadband

Revenue

15,389.00 crore (US$3.07 billion) (2011)[2]

Operating income

2,879.33 crore (US$574.43 million) (2011)

Net income

844.60 crore (US$168.5 million) (2011)

Total assets

US$5.334 billion (2010)

Owner(s)

Aditya Birla Group

Employees

6,481 (2010)

Aditya Birla Group (49.05%) Parent Axiata Group Berhad (15%) Providence Equity (10.6%)

Website

www.ideacellular.com

Idea Cellular, usually referred to as Idea, is an Indian mobile network operators based in Mumbai, India. Idea is the 4th largest wireless carrier in Indian market with over 100 million customers and also provides broadband Internet to its customers.

Contents
[hide]

1 Inception and growth o 1.1 Customer service 2 Holding 3 3G 4 Idea 3G Smartphone 5 Pan India 3G Coverage o 5.1 3G Coverage 6 Subscriber base 7 Competitors 8 Video Calling ISD Booth 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Inception and growth

In 2000, Tata Cellular was a company providing mobile services in Andhra Pradesh. When Birla-AT&T brought Maharashtra and Gujarat to the table, the merger of these two entities was a reality. Thus Birla-Tata-AT&T, popularly known as Batata, was born and was later rebranded as IDEA. Then Idea set sights on RPGs operations in Madhya Pradesh which was successfully acquired, helping Batata have a million subscribers, and the licence to be the fourth operator in Delhi was clinched. In 2004, Idea (the company had by then been rechristened) bought over the Escorts groups Escotel gaining Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (West) and Kerala and licences for three more UP (East), Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. By the end of that year, four million Indians were on the companys network. In 2005, AT&T sold its investment in Idea, and the year after Tatas also bid good bye to pursue an independent telecom business. And Idea was left only with one promoter, the AV Birla group. Rs 2,700 crore adding Punjab and Karnataka circles. Modis joint venture partner, Telekom Malaysia, invested Rs 7,000 crore for a 14.99% stake in Idea. Just around then, Ideas subsidiary, Aditya Birla Telecom sold a 20% stake to US-based Providence Equity Partners for over Rs 2,0000 crore.
[edit] Customer service

The company has its retail outlets under the "My Idea" banner. The company has also been the first to offer flexible tariff plans for prepaid customers[citation needed]. It also offers GPRS services in urban areas.

Idea Cellular won the GSM Association Award for "Best Billing and Customer Care Solution" for 2 consecutive years[citation needed]. IDEA Cellular has been recognized as the 'Most Customer Responsive Company' in the Telecom sector, at the prestigious Avaya GlobalConnect Customer Responsiveness Awards 2010[citation needed].

[edit] Holding
Initially the Birlas, the Tatas and AT&T Wireless each held one-third equity in the company. But following AT&T Wireless' merger with Cingular Wireless in 2004, Cingular decided to sell its 32.9% stake in Idea. This stake was bought by both the Tatas and Birlas at 16.45% each. Tata's foray into the cellular market with its own subsidiary, Tata Indicom, a CDMA-based mobile provider, cropped differences between the Tatas and the Birlas. This dual holding by the Tatas also became a major reason for the delay in Idea being granted a license to operate in Mumbai. This was because as per Department of Telecommunications (DOT) license norms, one promoter could not have more than 10% stake in two companies operating in the same circle and Tata Indicom was already operating in Mumbai when Idea filed for its licence. The Birlas thus approached the DOT and sought its intervention, and the Tatas replied by saying that they would exit Idea but only for a good price. On 10 April 2006, the Aditya Birla Group announced its acquisition of the 48.18% stake held by the Tatas at Rs. 40.51 a share amounting to Rs. 44.06 billion. While 15% of the 48.14% stake was acquired by Aditya Birla Nuvo, a company in-charge of the Birlas' new business initiatives, the remaining stake was acquired by Birla TMT holdings Private Ltd., an AV Birla family-owned company. Currently, Aditya Birla Group holds 49.1% of the total shares of the company. Malaysia based Axiata controls a 14.99% stake in the company.[3]

[edit] 3G
On 19 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction in India ended. Idea paid 5768.59 crores for spectrum in 11 circles. The circles it will provide 3G in are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra & Goa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh (East) and Uttar Pradesh (West).[4] On 28 March 2011, Idea launched 3G services in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.[5] The launch cities were Ahmedabad, Shimla and Indore. This makes Idea the sixth private operator (eighth overall) to launch its 3G services in the country following Tata Docomo, Reliance Communications, Airtel, Aircel and Vodafone. Idea currently supports up to 21.1 Mbit/s over 2G speeds of 256 kbit/s. However, different handsets support different speeds, from 384 kbit/s, 3.6 Mbit/s, 7.2 Mbit/s or 21.1 Mbit/s. Speeds also depend on the 3G plan/recharge that users opt for.[6]

The operator announced that IDEA 3G services will be available in 200 towns of 11 3G circles by mid-April 2011, progressively growing at the rate of ten towns per day to cover 750 towns by mid-2011 and 4000 towns by the end of 2012.

[edit] Idea 3G Smartphone

On 23 November 2011 Idea Cellular launched two affordable 3G handsets in India: Idea 3G Smartphone Blade priced at 7,992 and Idea 3G Smartphone priced at 5,850. Both handsets are based on Android 2.2 Froyo.[7]

[edit] Pan India 3G Coverage

Airtel, Vodafone and Idea have begun collaborating to provide 3G coverage to their customers pan India. The agreement aims to provides for these companies to offer 3G services to their customers in circles where they have not won any spectrum. It is expected that the 3 companies will be able to provide 3G services in all circles in India except orissa where the three have not won any spectrum.[8]
[edit] 3G Coverage

Ideas 3G service is currently available in the following cities in 11 telecom circles:

Source: [3]

Telecom Circle

State/Region

No. of Towns

Cities/Towns Akiveedu, Amalapuram, Choutuppal, Hyderabad, Jaggaiahpet, Kamareddy, Machilipatnam, Narsapur, Palakol, Tadepalligudem, Vizag, Vizianagaram, Vijayawada, Yanam, Siddipet, Warangal, Ahmedabad, Daman Ambala, Bhiwani, Hansi, Hisar, Jhajjar, Panipat, Rewari, Rohtak,Adampur, Agroha, Asandh, Asauda, Badli, Baljattan, Barsi Barwala-His, Bawal, Beri, Bhadra, Bhalgarh, BilaspurNh8, Bolni, Charkhidadri, Dabwali, Dharuhera, Dighal, Farookhnagar, Fatehabad, Gannaur, Gar-Shahjanpur, Garhiharsu, Gharaunda, Gohana, Hailymandi, Hodal, Ismaila, Ismailabad, Jakhoda, Jamalpur-Ggn, Jhansa, Jind, Julana, Kahanaur, Kaithal, Kalanaur, Kalka, Kaninakhas, Karnal, Kassan, Khatiwas, Kohand, Kori Kalan, Kosli, Kundli, Kurukshetra, Ladwa, Madhuban, Mahendergarh, Manesar, Meham, Naraingarh, Narnaund, Narwana, Nilokheri, Nuh, Palwal, Panchgaon, Pinjore, Pundri, Punhana, Radaur, Rania, Rohad, Samalakha, Sampla, Shahbad, Silkho, Sirsa, Sohna, Sonipat, Tatarpur, Tauru, Tohana, Tosham, Uchana, Uklana,

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

13

Gujarat

Gujarat

Haryana

Haryana

87

Yamunanagar. Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh 8 5 Shimla, Baddi, Mandi, Sundernagar, Dharamshala

Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur Raipur, Durg & Bhilai, Bilaspur, Champa & Jhangir, Korba, Ambikapur, Raigad, Rajnandgaon, Baloda Bazar, Dhamtari, kanker, jagdalpur Nagpur, Nashik, Pune, Solapur Ponda, Panaji, Margao

Maharashtra and Goa Punjab

Maharashtra Goa Punjab

3 3 0

Kerala

Kerala

10

Trivandrum, Kochi, Kozhikkode, Alleppey, Aluva, Thrissur, Punalur, Adoor, Thalassery, Koyilandy, Cherthala, Kannur, Kottayam, Malappuram, Manjeri, Parappanagadi, Munnar Delhi Kolkata Kanpur Allahabad, Azamgarh, Jhansi, Lucknow, Sitapur, Faizabad, Raibarelli, Gorakhpur, Vanarasi, Jaunpur -

Delhi Kolkata Kanpur

Delhi Kolkata Kanpur

1 1 1 6

Uttar Pradesh Eastern Uttar (East) Pradesh

Ideas 3G service recently launched in Mumbai with 3G network sharing agreement with Airtel. [Idea has launched 3G services in Chennai network sharing with Vodafone]

[edit] Subscriber base

Idea's subscriber base as at the end of August 2011 according to the [4] is totalling to 98,441,714 or 16.09% (Approx.) of the total[9] mobile connections in India. Idea leads all other telecom operators in India in the MNP (Mobile Number Portability) race, with a net gain of 10,31,380 subscribers as on 31 August 2011.[10] Idea also leads all other competitors in having the most active subscriber base, scoring highly on the VLR statistics. Visitor Location Register (VLR) is basically a temporary database of

the subscribers who have roamed into the particular area, which it serves. Each base station in the network is served by exactly one VLR; hence a subscriber cannot be present in more than one VLR at a time.[11]

[edit] Competitors
Idea competes with 14 other mobile operators throughout India. They are Aircel, Airtel, BSNL, Loop Mobile, MTNL, MTS, Ping Mobile, Reliance Communications, S Tel, Tata DoCoMo, Tata Indicom, Uninor, Videocon, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone.

[edit] Video Calling ISD Booth

On 21 September 2011, Idea inaugurated Keralas first Video Calling ISD booth in Kottakkal, Malappuram. Idea has come out with the idea of setting up ISD video calling booths wherein users can not only talk but see the person live in real-time. The person receiving the call should be using a 3G handset on a 3G connection.[12]

[edit] References
1. ^ | About US | iDEA CELLULAR 1. ^ "?". http://www.ideacellular.com/IDEA.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=IDEA_Page_IVContact. 2. ^ "?". http://www.bseindia.com/qresann/detailedresult_cons.asp?scrip_cd=532822&qtr=65.5&co mpname=IDEA%20CELLULAR%20LTD.&quarter=MC2009-2010&checkcons=55c. 3. ^ "Axiata sees long-term gains from India price war". Dow Jones Newswires (Total Telecom). 2009-10-14. http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=449794. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 4. ^ http://www.medianama.com/2010/05/223-3g-auction-india-ends-provisional-winners/ 5. ^ http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/Idea-Cellular-launches-3G-services-fromMP-and-Chhattisgarh/5116060565 6. ^ http://www.idea3g.co.in/faq.php 7. ^ "Idea launched 2 affordable Androids, rebrands ZTE Blade and Huawei Ideos X1 in India". TechIt.in. 23 November 2011. http://www.techit.in/2011/11/idea-launched-2-affordableandroids-rebrands-zte-blade-and-huawei-ideos-x1-in-india/. 8. ^ http://www.livemint.com/2011.07/14165126/Airtel-Vodafone-Idea-sign-3G.html 9. ^ Cellular Subscriber Statistics for August 2011 10. ^ [1] 11. ^ [2] 12. ^ http://telecomtalk.info/idea-cellular-video-calling-isd-booth/77281/

[edit] External links

Idea Cellular Official Site Idea Cellular Official Mail Aditya Birla Group Website [show]

v t e

Aditya Birla Group

[show]

v t e

Axiata Group

[show]

v t e

Members of the Asia Mobility Initiative

[show]

v t e

Telecommunication companies in India

[show]

Telecom
Aircel Airtel BSNL Cheers Mobile Service Idea Cellular Loop Mobile (Formerly BPL) MTNL Reliance Spice Telecom Tata DoCoMo Vodafone Uninor Videocon Mobile Service S Tel Virgin Mobile India (MVNO) BSNL MTNL MTS India Reliance Tata Indicom Virgin Mobile India (MVNO) BSNL Airtel MTNL Reliance Tata Indicom Shyam Telelink MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions Syniverse Technologies

GSM

CDMA Wireline MNP clearinghouse [show]

Internet

[show]

Television
DTH IPTV CAS, Cable, HITS Terrestrial TV Airtel digital TV BIG TV DD Direct+ Dish TV Sun Direct DTH Tata Sky Videocon D2H BSNL Bharti Airtel Reliance MTNL Hathway DEN Networks Digicable CTV.in Wire & Wireless India Doordarshan [show]

Radio
MW SW AIR AIR Radio_IIMT 90.4 Radio City 91.1 Radio Indigo 91.9 BIG FM 92.7 Red FM 93.5 Radio One 94.3 Hit FM 95 Radio Mirchi 98.3 AIR FM Rainbow 102.6 Fever 104 FM 104.0 Meow FM 104.8 Radio Hello 106.4 Gyan Bharti 105.6 Club FM 94.3 Club FM 104.8 Radio Mango 91.9 BEST FM 95 Red FM 93.5 Red FM 91.1 Big FM 92.7 Radio Mirchi

FM

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IDEA Cellular

IDEA Cellular is a publicly listed company, having listed on BSE & NSE in March 2007. It is the 3rd largest mobile services operator in India with wireless revenue market share at 13.9 % in Q1 FY2012. Idea has join the select global operators club servicing over 100 million subscribers, as of September 2011. Idea is a pan-India integrated GSM operator and has its own NLD and ILD operations, and ISP license. With traffic in excess of a billion minutes a day, Idea ranks among the Top 10 country operators in the world. Idea operates across all 22 service areas with 2G services, and 3G services are being progressively rolled out to cover over 3,000 towns by FY 2012. Idea has a network of over 70,000 cell sites covering the entire length and breadth of the country. Idea has over 3,000 Service Centres servicing Idea subscribers across the country, including 450 special Experience Zones for 3G promotion. Ideas service delivery platform is ISO 9001:2008 certified, making it the only operator in the country to have this standard certification for all 22 service areas and the corporate office. Ideas strong growth in the Indian telephony market comes from its deep penetration in nonurban & rural markets. It has the highest share of rural subscribers as a percentage of total subscribers, amongst other GSM players. In fact, 2 out of every 3 new Idea subscribers come from rural/ semi-urban India.

Idea is the winner of The Emerging Company of the Year Award at The Economic Times Corporate Excellence Awards 2009. IDEA Cellular also received the prestigious Avaya GlobalConnect Award for being the Most Customer Responsive Company in the Telecom sector in the year 2010. The company has received several other national and international recognitions for its path-breaking innovations in mobile telephony products & services. It won the GSM Association Award for Best Billing and Customer Care Solution for 2 consecutive years. It was awarded Mobile Operator of the Year Award India for 2007 and 2008 at the Annual Asian Mobile News Awards. IDEA Cellular is an Aditya Birla Group Company, Indias first truly multinational corporation. The group operates in 33 countries, and is anchored by more than 132,000 employees belonging to 42 nationalities.

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HomeMobile Airtel, Vodafone Gain Market Share In The Indian Telecom Sector

Airtel, Vodafone Gain Market Share In The Indian Telecom Sector

by Aatif Sumar | posted: July 19, 20111 comment

2011 has been an extremely eventful year in the Indian Telecom Sector. Two factors have come into play that have forced most operators to pull up their socks and innovate. Firstly, Mobile Number Portability or MNP has ensured that no provider can get away with exploitative plans because customers are free to switch without giving up their number.

Secondly, the launch of 3G in India had operators scrambling for key licenses to offer 3G services. They then had to successfully deploy the services over the areas. Then they had to sign agreements between themselves to share their 3G spectrum.

The efforts of the operators can be seen in this months Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Report on the state of the Indian Telecom Sector which can be downloaded from here.

[Compilation Courtsey: www.pluggd.in] As you can see, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone top the list with 28.26% and 23.63% Market Shares. Vodafone, however, grew at a faster rate, with an increase of 1.50% compared to Airtels increase of 1.27%. Idea Cellular seems to have an idea of what they are doing and they narrowly trump over state run BSNL for 3rd place. While every provider will have some hiccups, a general standard of superior network coverage, better plans and easy availability have ensured both Airtel and Vodafone have a comfortable lead, and no one seems close to catching up with them. What remains to be seen is if one of them becomes the obvious leader and grabs a significantly larger share of the pie than the other. With 598779674 customers up for grabs, it is anyones game!

What do you think will happen in the coming months? Will we see increased duopoly or will any one provider reign over the others?

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Tags: 3G, airtel, COAI, mnp, Vodafone

Aatif Sumar Passionate about all things tech. You can follow me on Twitter at @aatifsumar View all posts by Aatif Sumar Related Posts

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One Response to Airtel, Vodafone Gain Market Share In The Indian Telecom Sector

1. Reply Jagdish khatri July 20, 2011 at 2:27 pm#

Thank you..
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