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India - Mobile Infrastructure, Broadband, Operators - Statistics and Analyses

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    Report

  • 73 Pages
  • May 2020
  • Region: India
  • Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd
  • ID: 2103400
India's mobile market dominates the local telecom sector, having a large subscriber base and revenue as well as huge capital investment by operators. It remains a highly competitive market though the number of players has fallen in recent years as a result of bankruptcies and merger activity. Four operators alone account for 9.6% of all subscribers.

The emergence of Reliance Jio in the market in 2016 was disruptive. The operator's strategy was to provide free voice and data initially in a bid to win customers, and then encourage churn from competitors through cut-priced packages. This resulted in a sharp fall in ARPU for most operators, and a sharp loss of subscribers by some, including RCOM which saw its subscriber base nearly wiped out.

Slower market growth is predicted over the next few years, with growth in 2020 partly affected by the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The market will also be constrained from higher growth as a result of local competition and the relatively high penetration.

Mobile broadband penetration has developed strongly over the past few years, driven by the greater number of mobile subscribers, the wider availability and LTE infrastructure and the greater adoption of data-based services.

Uptake of next generation technologies such as IoT, and evolving trends such as smart cities, and new devices offering virtual reality experiences will all enhance data usage going forward. Operators will increasingly focus on infrastructure investments such as optical fibre and small cells for expanding LTE coverage and capacity.

India has taken initial steps towards the rollout of 5G services and is developing a 5G corridor in New Delhi as part of technology trials. However, the government has postponed the auction of 5G suitable spectrum until 2021, and given the financial difficulties faced by operators having to pay high tax dues there will be little incentive to prioritise 5G until 2021 or 2022.

Key Developments:
  • Government delays multi-spectrum auction to late 2020 but delays 5G spectrum auction to 2021;
  • BSNL partners with Ciena to conduct field trials of 5G technology;
  • Bharti Airtel makes final AGR payment;
  • Vodafone Idea facing financial ruin caused by tax dues;

This report update includes the regulator's market data to January 2020, operator data to Q1 2020, recent market developments.

Companies covered in this report include:

Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Quadrant (HFCL), Vodafone Idea, Reliance Communications, Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJI), Tata Teleservices, Vodafone Essar, Videocon, Sistema, Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL), Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), Videocon

Table of Contents

1 Market overview and analysis
1.1 Geographic segments
1.2 Rural expansion
2 Mobile statistics
2.1 Mobile broadband statistics
3 Regulatory issues
3.1 Spectrum
3.2 Mobile subscriber Verification
3.3 Interconnection
3.4 Roaming
3.5 Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
4 Mobile infrastructure
4.1 5G
4.2 4G/LTE
4.3 CDMA
4.4 Other infrastructure developments
5 Major mobile operators
5.1 Subscribers by operator
5.2 Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL)
5.3 Bharti Airtel
5.4 Vodafone Idea
5.5 Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL)
5.6 Quadrant
5.7 Reliance Communications (RCOM)
5.8 Aircel
5.9 Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio)
5.10 Tata Teleservices
5.11 Reach Mobile
5.12 MVNOs
6 Mobile content and applications
6.1 M-Commerce
7 Appendix Historic data8 Related Reports
List of Tables
Table 1 Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration 2010 2025
Table 2 Growth in the number of mobile subscribers in urban and rural areas 2011 2020
Table 3 Change in mobile penetration in urban and rural areas 2010 2020
Table 4 Change in mobile ARPU (contract, prepaid, blended) 2017 2019
Table 5 Change in mobile ARPU (GSM and CDMA) 2014 2018
Table 6 Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration 2011 2025
Table 7 Cumulative mobile number portings 2011 - 2020
Table 8 Change in the mobile market share of subscribers (major MNOs) 2010 - 2020
Table 9 Growth in the number of BSNL's mobile subscribers 2010 2020
Table 10 Growth in the number of Bharti Airtel's mobile subscribers 2010 2020
Table 11 Change in Bharti Airtel's mobile ARPU 2009 2020
Table 12 Growth in the number of Vodafone Idea's mobile subscribers 2002 2020
Table 13 Change in Vodafone Idea mobile ARPU 2007 2011; 2013 2020
Table 14 Change in the number of MTNL's mobile subscribers 2010 2020
Table 15 Change in the number of RCOM's mobile subscribers 2002 2020
Table 16 Growth in the number of Reliance Jio's mobile subscribers 2016 2020
Table 17 Reliance mobile ARPU 2018 - 2019
Table 18 Decline in the number of Tata Teleservices' mobile subscribers 2010 2018
Table 19 Historic - Mobile subscribers (GSM and CDMA) 2002 2018
Table 20 Historic - Vodafone Idea - mobile subscribers 2002 2009
Table 21 Historic - Vodafone - mobile ARPU 2008 2018
Table 22 Historic - Vodafone mobile subscribers 2002 2018
Table 23 Historic - Reliance mobile subscribers 2002 2009
Table 24 Historic - MTNL mobile subscribers 2002 2009
Table 25 Historic - Bharti Airtel mobile subscribers 2002 2009
Table 26 Historic - Tata Teleservices mobile subscribers 2002 2009
Table 27 Historic - BSNL mobile subscribers 2002 2009
Table 28 Historic - MTNL mobile subscribers 2002 2009
Table 29 Historic - Vodafone mobile subscribers 2002 2017
Table 30 Bharti Airtel mobile ARPU 2005 2009
Table 31 Historic - Quadrant mobile subscribers 2012 2017
Table 32 Historic - Sistema mobile subscribers 2008 2017
Table 33 Historic - Telenor mobile subscribers 2009 - 2017
Table 34 Historic - Aircel mobile subscribers 2004 2018
Table 35 Historic - Reliance mobile ARPU 2007 2017
Table 36 Historic - Mobile ARPU (GSM and CDMA) 2005 2013
List of Charts
Chart 1 Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration (with Forecast) 2010 2025
Chart 2 Growth in the number of mobile subscribers in urban and rural areas 2011 2020
Chart 3 Change in mobile penetration in urban and rural areas 2010 2020
Chart 4 Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration 2011 2025
Chart 5 Cumulative mobile number portings 2011 - 2020
Chart 6 Change in the mobile market share of subscribers (major MNOs) 2010 - 2020
Chart 7 Growth in the number of BSNL's mobile subscribers 2010 2020
Chart 8 Growth in the number of Bharti Airtel's mobile subscribers 2010 2020
Chart 9 Growth in the number of Vodafone Idea's mobile subscribers 2010 2020
Chart 10 Change in Vodafone Idea mobile ARPU 2007 2011; 2013 2020
Chart 11 Growth in the number of MTNL's mobile subscribers 2010 2020
Chart 12 Change in the number of RCOM's mobile subscribers 2002 2020
Chart 13 Growth in the number of Reliance Jio's mobile subscribers 2016 2020
List of Exhibits
Exhibit 1 Spectrum auction results - 2016
Exhibit 2 CDMA 3G commercial deployment in India

Companies Mentioned

  • Aircel
  • Bharti Airtel
  • Quadrant (HFCL)
  • Vodafone Idea
  • Reliance Communications
  • Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJI)
  • Tata Teleservices
  • Vodafone Essar
  • Videocon
  • Sistema
  • Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL)
  • Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL)
  • Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL)
  • Videocon