Indian Wireless / Mobile Subscriber Base – 646 Mn

The Indian telecom sector added 17 mn subscribers in July 2010, taking the total mobile subscriber [Read SIM Cards, due to Multiplicity of SIMs] base to 646.4 mn.

• Bharti Airtel – Addition of 2.6 mn (3.0 mn last month), total base at 139.2 mn
• Reliance Communications – Addition of 2.5 mn (2.8 mn last month), total base at 113.3 mn
• Vodafone Essar India: Addition of 2.4 mn (2.7 mn last month), total base at 111.5 mn
• Idea Cellular: Addition of 1.9 mn (2.2 mn last month), total base at 70.8 mn
• Tata Teleservices (including Tata Tele (Maharashtra) Ltd): addition of 2.3 mn (2.3 mn last month), total base at 74.8 mn
• BSNL: Addition of 1.2 mn (1.1 mn last month), total base at 68.1 mn
• Aircel: Addition of 1.6 mn (1.6 mn last month), total base at 43.3 mn
• Uninor: Addition 0.9 mn (1 mn last month), total base at 6.9 mn [New Operator]
• STel: Addition of 96,537 (93,259 last month) total base at 1.4 mn [New Operator]
• Videocon: Addition of 835,032 mn, total base at 2.8 mn [New Operator]
• Etisalat DB: Addition of 11,837 total base at 30,023 –  Subscriber addition remained sluggish and we do not see the company making genuine efforts to create brand and service awareness. Market rumours suggest that Etisalat is surrendering its telecom license and intends to acquire a significant stake in RCOM. We do not see Etisalat as a serious player and expect its subscriber addition to remain low.