MANU/TRAI/0019/2016

Department/Board : Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

Press Release No. : 14/2016

Date : 16.02.2016

"Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report" for the Quarter ending September, 2015

TRAI today released the "Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report" for the Quarter ending September, 2015. This Report provides a broad perspective of the Telecom Services and presents the key parameters and growth trends for the Telecom Services as well as Cable TV, DTH & Radio Broadcasting services in India for the period covering 1st July to 30th September, 2015 and is compiled on the basis of information furnished by the Service Providers.

Executive Summary of the Report is enclosed. The complete Report is available on TRAI's website.

Contact details in case of any clarification:

Ms. Vinod Kotwal
Advisor (F&EA), TRAI
Mahanagar Doorsanchar Bhawan
Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg,
New Delhi-110 002
Ph: 011-23230752
Fax: 011-23236650

E-mail: advfea1@trai.gov.in

Authorized to issue

(Vinod Kotwal)
Advisor(F&EA)

The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators

July-September, 2015

Executive Summary

1. The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,006.96 million at the end of Jun-15 to 1,022.61 million at the end of Sep-15, registering a growth of 1.55% over the previous quarter. This reflects year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth of 5.83% over the same quarter of last year. The overall Teledensity in India increased from 79.98 as on 30th June, 2015 to 80.98 as on 30th September, 2015.

Trends in Telephone subscribers and Teledensity in India

2. Subscription in Urban Areas increased from 584.21 million at the end of Jun-15 to 599.01 million at the end of Sep-15, and Urban Teledensity increased from 149.70 to 153.49. Rural subscription increased from 422.75 million to 423.61 million, and Rural Teledensity also increased from 48.66 to 48.76 during the same period.

3. Out of the total subscription, the share of the Rural subscription declined from 41.98% at the end of Jun-15 to 41.42% at the end of Sep-15.

Composition of Telephone Subscribers

4. With a net addition of 15.85 million subscribers during the quarter, total wireless (GSM+CDMA) subscriber base increased from 980.81 million at the end of Jun-15 to 996.66 million at the end of Sep-15, registering a growth rate of 1.62% over the previous quarter. The year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth rate of wireless subscribers for Sep-15 is 7.14%.

5. Wireless Tele-density increased from 77.90 at the end of Jun-15 to 78.93 at the end of Sep-15.

6. Wireline subscriber base further declined from 26.15 million at the end of Jun-15 to 25.95 million at the end of Sep-15, registering a decline of 0.76%. The year-on-year (Y-O-Y) decline in wireline subscribers for Sep-15 is 5.30%.

7. Wireline Teledensity declined from 2.08 at the end of Jun-15 to 2.06 at the end of Sep-15.

8. Total number of Internet subscribers has increased from 319.42 million at the end of Jun-15 to 324.95 million at the end of Sep-15, registering a quarterly growth rate of 1.73%. Out of 324.95 million, Wired Internet subscribers are 19.60 million and Wireless Internet subscribers are 304.85 million.

Composition of internet subscription

9. The Internet subscriber base is 324.95 million at the end of Sep-15 is comprised of Broadband Internet subscribers base of 120.88 million and Narrowband Internet subscriber base of 204.07 million.

10. The broadband Internet subscriber base grew by 11.05% from 108.85 million at the end of Jun-15 to 120.88 million at the end of Sep-15. On the other hand, the narrowband Internet subscriber base declined by 3.09% from 210.57 million at the end of Jun-15 to 204.07 million at the end of Sep-15.

11. Monthly Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for GSM service declined by 2.98%, from ` 126 in QE Jun-15 to ` 122 in QE Sep-15. However, monthly ARPU for GSM service grew by 5.58% on Y-O-Y in this quarter.

12. Prepaid ARPU for GSM service per month declined from ` 109 in QE Jun-15 to ` 105 in QE Sep-15, and Postpaid ARPU per month declined from ` 501 in QE Jun-15 to ` 490 in QE Sep-15.

13. On an all India average, the overall MOU per subscriber per month for GSM service declined by 3.60% from 388 for QE Jun-15 to 374 in QE Sep-15.

14. Prepaid MOU per subscriber for GSM service declined from 363 in QE Jun-15 to 349 in QE Sep-15, and postpaid MOUs declined from 937 in QE Jun-15 to 917 in QE Sep-15.

15. Monthly ARPU for CDMA full mobility service decreased by 0.76%, from ` 107 in QE Jun-15 to ` 106 in QE Sep-15. Monthly ARPU for CDMA full mobility service declined by 3.67% on Y-O-Y basis in this quarter.

16. The total MOU per subscriber per month for CDMA full mobility service declined by 2.50%, from 263 in QE Jun-15 to 256 in QE Sep-15. The outgoing MOUs declined from 145 in QE Jun-15 to 144 in QE Sep-15, and incoming MOUs declined from 118 in QE Jun-15 to 112 in QE Sep-15.

17. Gross Revenue (GR) and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of Telecom Service Sector for the QE Sep-15 has been ` 64,996 Crore and ` 46,257 Crore respectively. GR declined by 0.05%, and AGR declined by 1.86% in QE Sep-15 as compared to previous quarter.

18. The year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth in GR and AGR over the same quarter in last year has been 4.08% and 7.00% respectively.

19. Pass-through charges accounted for 28.83% of the GR for the quarter ending Sep-15. The quarterly and the year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth rates of pass-through charges for QE Sep-15 are 4.71% and -2.49% respectively.

20. The License Fee declineded from Rs. 3783 Crore for the QE Jun-15 to Rs. 3701 Crore for the QE Sep-15. The quarterly and the year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth rates of license fee are -2.18% and 6.98% respectively in this quarter.

21. Access services contributed 81.90% of the total Adjusted Gross Revenue of telecom services. In Access services, Gross Revenue (GR), Adjusted Gross Revenue(AGR), License Fee and Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) declined by 1.36%, 1.80%, 1.74% and 1.99% respectively whereas Pass Through Charges increased by 0.18% in QE Sep-15.

22. Monthly Average Revenue per User (ARPU) for Access Services based on AGR declined from ` 128.45 in QE Jun-15 to ` 124.68 in QE Sep-15.

Composition of Adjusted Gross Revenue

23. The performance of 2G wireless service providers in terms of QoS during the quarter vis-a-vis that in the previous quarter is given as below:

Parameters showing improvement in QoS

Parameters showing deterioration in QoS

  • Worst affected BTSs due to downtime

  • Point of Interconnection (POI) Congestion (No. of POIs not meeting benchmark) (averaged over a period of quarter)

  • Call Set-up Success Rate (within licensee's own network)

  • Call Drop Rate

  • Worst affected cells having more than 3% TCH drop (call drop) rate

  • Metering and billing credibility - Postpaid

  • Metering and billing credibility - Prepaid

  • Resolution of billing/charging/credit & validity complaints (98% within 4 weeks)

  • Resolution of billing/charging/credit & validity complaints (100% within 6 weeks)

  • Period of applying credit/waiver/adjustment to customer's account from the date of resolution of complaints

  • %age of calls answered by the operators (voice to voice) within 90 sec

  • % age requests for Termination/Closure of service complied within 7 days

  • Time taken for refund of deposits after closures

24. The performance of 3G wireless service providers in terms of QoS during the quarter vis-a-vis that in the previous quarter is given below:

Parameters showing improvement in QoS

Parameters showing deterioration in QoS

  • Worst affected BTSs and Node-B's due to downtime (% age)

  • Call Set-up Success Rate (within licensee's own network)

  • SDCCH/Paging Channel and RRC Congestion (% age)

  • TCH and Circuit Switched RAB Congestion (% age)

  • Call Drop and Circuit Switched Voice Drop Rate (% age)

  • Connections with good voice quality and Circuit Switch Voice Quality (CSV quality)

  • Point of Interconnection (POI) Congestion

  • Worst affected cells having more than 3% TCH drop (call drop) rate and Circuit Switched Voice Drop Rate:-CBBH

25. The performance of wireline service providers in terms of QoS during the quarter vis-a-vis that in the previous quarter is given below:

Parameters showing improvement in QoS

Parameters showing deterioration in QoS

  • Accessibility of call centre/ customer care

  • % age of calls answered by the operators (voice to voice) within 90 sec

  • Termination/Closure of service 100% within 7 days

  • Fault incident per 100 subscribers/month

  • % Fault repaired by next working days (for urban areas)

  • Resolution of billing/ charging/ credit & validity complaints (98% within 4 weeks & 100% within 6 weeks

26. A total of 819 private satellite TV channels have been permitted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for uplinking only/downlinking/uplinking, as on 30.09.2015.

27. There were a total of 252 Pay channels as reported by the broadcasters as on 30.06.2015. During the quarter ending September, 2015, three new pay channels i.e. (i) Colors Infinity HD, (ii) Colors Infinity and (iii) Zee Caf HD were launched. During the quarter one channel namely 'The MGM' was temporary suspended. Further, during the quarter, the transmission mode of two channels namely (i) VH 1 and (ii) comedy Central, were changed from SD to HD. Now, there are 254 pay TV Channels at the quarter ending September, 2015.

28. In areas served by non-addressable systems, the maximum number of TV channels carried in digital form, as reported by a cable operator (M/s Hathway Cable & Datacom Limited), amongst those who have reported, is 458. The maximum number of TV channels carried in analog form, as reported by a cable operator (M/s Ortel Communications Ltd), amongst those who have reported, is 100.

29. The digitization, with addressability of cable TV sector is in progress, in a phased manner. It is planned to be completed in four phases. The cut-off date for migration to "Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems" for the first phase, covering four metropolitan cities, was 31.10.2012 and for second phase, covering 38 cities having population more than 1 million, was 30.03.2013. The cut-off date for third phase was 30.09.2014 and for the fourth and final phase was 31.12.2014. However, the cut-off date for third phase & fourth phase was further extended up to 31.12.2015 & 31.12.2016 respectively.

30. As on 30.09.2015, there are a total of 226 Multi System Operators (MSOs), who have been granted Permanent Registration (for 10 years) by Ministry of I&B and there are a total of 173 Multi System Operators (MSOs), who have been granted Provisional Registration (for 10 years) by Ministry of I&B for providing Cable TV services through Digital Addressable Systems.

31. Apart from the Radio Stations operated by All India Radio, Prasar Bharati - a public broadcaster, there are 243 operational private FM Radio stations as on 30th September, 2015. The information therein is as received from MIB.

32. At present, apart from the free DTH service of Doordarshan, a public broadcaster, there are 6 private DTH Operators. All these private DTH operators are offering pay DTH services.

33. As per the information submitted by the DTH operator through quarterly PMR for DTH services, total number of registered subscribers and active subscribers being served by these six private DTH operators, as reported to TRAI, are 81.47 million & 41.05, million respectively as on 30th September, 2015.

34. As per data received from MIB, as on 30th September, 2015, out of the 232 community radio licenses issued so far, 187 stations are operational.

Snapshot

(Data As on 30th September, 2015)

Telecom Subscribers (Wireless +Wireline)

Total Subscribers

1,022.61 Million

% change over the previous quarter

1.55%

Urban Subscribers

599.01 Million

Rural Subscribers

423.61 Million

Market share of Private Operators

89.98%

Market share of PSU Operators

10.02%

Teledensity

80.98

Urban Teledensity

153.49

Rural Teledensity

48.76

Wireless Subscribers

Total Wireless Subscribers

996.66 Million

% change over the previous quarter

1.62%

Urban Subscribers

577.82 Million

Rural Subscribers

418.84 Million

GSM Subscribers

948.55 Million

CDMA Subscribers

48.11 Million

Market share of Private Operators

91.64%

Market share of PSU Operators

8.36%

Teledensity

78.93

Urban Teledensity

147.35

Rural Teledensity

48.11

Wireline Subscribers

Total Wireline Subscribers

25.95 Million

% change over the previous quarter

-0.76%

Urban Subscribers

21.18 Million

Rural Subscribers

4.77 Million

Market share of Private Operators

26.12%

Market share of PSU Operators

73.88%

Teledensity

2.06

Urban Teledensity

5.40

Rural Teledensity

0.55

No. of Village Public Telephones (VPT)

5,87,280

No. of Public Call Office (PCO)

6,58,115

Internet/Broadband Subscribers

Total Internet Subscribers

324.95 Million

Narrowband subscribers

204.07 Million

Broadband subscribers

120.88 Million

Wired Internet Subscribers

19.60 Million

Wireless Internet Subscribers

305.35 Million

Urban Internet Subscribers

213.44 Million

Rural Internet Subscribers

111.51 Million

Total Internet Subscribers per 100 population

25.73

Urban Internet Subscribers per 100 population

54.43

Rural Internet Subscribers per 100 population

12.81

Broadcasting & Cable Services

No. of private satellite TV channels registered with Ministry of I&B

819

Number of private FM Radio Stations

243

Registered DTH Subscribers

81.47 Million

Active DTH Subscribers

41.05 Million

Telecom Financial Data (QE Sep-15)

Gross Revenue (GR) during the quarter

` 64,996 Crore

% change in GR over the previous quarter

-0.05%

Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) during the quarter

` 46,257 Crore

% change in AGR over the previous quarter

-1.86%

Share of Public sector undertaking's in Access AGR

10.82%

Monthly Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for Access Services

` 125

Revenue & Usage Parameters (QE Sep-15)

Monthly ARPU GSM Full Mobility Service

` 122

Monthly ARPU CDMA Full Mobility Service

` 106

Minutes of Usage (MOU) per subscriber per month - GSM Full

Mobility Service

374 Minutes

Minutes of Usage (MOU) per subscriber per month - CDMA

Full Mobility Service

256 Minutes

Total Outgoing Minutes of Usage for Internet Telephony

294 Million

Data Usage of Mobile Users (for the QE Sep-15)

Data Usage per subscriber per month - GSM

109.89 MB

Data Usage per subscriber per month - CDMA

316.37 MB

Data Usage per subscriber per month - Total(GSM+CDMA)

120.11 MB