Tag: Atria Convergence Technoligies Limited

Jio juggernaut rolls on, wired segment wobbles

BENGALURU: In November 2016, the MukeshAmbani run ‘world’s biggest startup’ – Reliance Jio or simply Jio, became the largest private broadband internet services provider (ISP) in the country as per data revealed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for month of November 2016 (Nov-16) with 5.223 crore subscribers. Jio’s subscriber base is wireless. Over the next 31 days until the end of calendar year 2016 (CY-16) and the month December 2016 (Dec-16), Jio juggernaut added another 1.993 crore subscribers to reach a base of 7.216 crore subscribers.In the press release announcing Reliance Industries numbers for the quarter ended 31 December 2016 (Q3-17), Ambani said, “I delighted by our country’s eagerness to adopt to a digital life as witnessed by the recordbreakinglaunch of Jio. Its comprehensive ecosystem has enabled millions of Indians to lead a richerlife through its offerings.”

Jio is now far ahead of the number two player Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) which saw further erosion of its wireless subscriber base to 4.153 crore from 4.190 crore in Nov-16. Among the other three players in the top five private wireless ISP’s list, Idea Cellular saw its subscriber decline in Dec-16 to 2.704 crore from 2.84 crore in Nov-16. Vodafone, the third largest wireless ISP saw a small growth in its subscriber base in Dec-16 to 3.501 crore from 3.487 crore in Nov-16, while Reliance Communications reported a steady 1.608 crore subscribers in both Nov-16 and Dec-16. The government run Bharat Sanchar Limited (BSNL), which is actually the fourth largest wireless ISP in terms of subscribers saw its base erode to 2.036 crore in Dec-16 from 2.039 crore.The top five service providers constituted 83.93 percent market share of the totalbroadband subscribers at the end of Dec-16.

Wireline Broadband Internet

Besides wireless broadband, a number of players also offer wired or wireline broadband services. Among the wireline ISP’s BSNL is the biggest player by far with 99.5 lakh subscribers. BSNL’s combined wireless and wireline subscribers is 3.301 crore, which would make it the third largest ISP in terms of subscribers. The second largest wireline ISP in India is Airtel which closed 2016 with 20.4 lakh wireline subscribers, after adding just 10,000 subscribers to its wireline internet subscriber base. Airtel’s combined wireless and wireline subscriber base was 4.357 crore as on 31 December 2016. The third largest wireline broadband internet services provider was regional private player ACT Broadband lost 20,000 subscribers in Dec-16 to reach a subscriber base of 11.2 lakh. The government run Mahanagar Sanchar Nigam Limited (MTNL) also lost 10,000 subscribers in Dec-16 to a lowered subscriber base of 10.4 lakh. The fifth player in the list of top five wireline broadband internet service providers in the country is another regional player – You Broadband or You BB. There was no change in the minnow’s subscriber base of 6 lakh in Dec-16 vis-à-vis Nov-16.

Overall, the internet subscriber base in the country grew 8.89 percent (by 1.882 crore) month-on-month (m-o-m) to 23.609 crore in Dec-16 with from 21.827 crore Nov-16. Wireline broadband subscriber base grew 0.48 percent (by 80,000) m-o-m to 1.814 crore in Dec-16 from 1.806 crore in Nov-16 and grew by 16.3 lakh from 1.651 crore as on 31 December 2016 or 1 January 2016. Please refer to figure A below.

Leading the growth in subscriber additions in CY-16 (Jan-16 until Dec-16)were private wired broadband players Bharti Airtel , and regional player ACT with additions of 3.7 lakh and 2.6 lakh subscriber additions respectively in CY-16. Airtel’s wired broadband subscriber base grew 22.16 percent, while ACT’s base grew by 30.23 percent during the same period (CY-16 until Dec-16). In CY-15 (1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015), Airtel had added 2.6 lakh wired broadband subscribers and grown by 18.44 percent, while ACT had added 2.5 lakh subscribers and had grown at a blazing 40.98 percent. By Sep-16, Airtel had already exceeded the number of subscribers it had added in CY-15, while ACT had crossed its CY-15 performance in Oct-16.

Figure B below indicates the m-o-m subscriber growth in CY-16. As is obvious, though the wireline subscriber base grew 0.48 percent, the combined subscriber base of the top five wireline ISP’s shrank by 0.14 percent (reduced by 20,000) in Dec-16 as compared to Nov-16.

The top five players have had a slower rate of growth as compared to the all India growth in CY-16 until Dec-16. The share of the top five players among all India wired broadband subscriber additions has fallen in CY-16 until Dec-16 from 85.28 percent as on 1 January 2016 to 81.31 percent as on 31 December 2016. The share of these players was 88.45 percent as on 1 January 2015.

Other wireline broadband players in India

MSOs’ in India have started providing internet services on the back of their television cable networks using DOCSIS technology. In general, they have started reporting double and triple digit year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in internet subscribers and revenue. The television cable players see broadband services improving their Average Revenue per User (ARPU) numbers. Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO – Hathway, Siti Networks Limited, Den Networks Limited , Ortel Communications Limited respectivelywhose results are available in the public domain have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters.

TRAI’s definition of broadband is internet download speeds greater than or equal to 512 Kpbs.

Notes:(1) The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR).The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:
(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.
(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

(2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers up to 2 decimal places. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.51 million (5.1 lakh) subscribers for You BB for Dec-2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages have been mentioned up to two decimal places, the accuracy may vary, depending upon the exact number.
(3) MSOs’ have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger. Hathway is a case in point.

February 20, 2017
BSNL leader in wireline b’band subs addition in Oct-16; Jio joins top five wireless list

BENGALURU: In a change from the norm, the public sector telecom giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) added 40,000 wireline broadband internet subscribers in the month of September 2016 (Sep-16). Continuing the new trend, the pub sector player added another 60,000 subscribers in the month of October 2016 (Oct-16).

Earlier, BSNL had been consistently losing subscribers in the calendar year 2016 (CY-16) until 31 August 2016 (Aug-16). Its gain in Sep-16 was just half the 80,000 subscribers it has lost in CY-16 until Sep-16.With the Oct-16 growth in subscribers, BSNL has shown growth by 20,000 in subscribers for calendar year CY-16 until 31 October 2016.

Reliance JioInfocom Limited with 35.94 million (3.594 crore) joined the top 5 broadband services subscribers list in Oct-16.

At the same time, the other public sector telecom operator – Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL) has also been bleeding wireline broadband internet subscribers in CY-16 until Oct-16. MTNL has seen a reduction of 60,000 subscribers in CY-16.Overall, the two public sector players have lost subscribers during CY-16 until Oct-16 and hence dampened the subscriber growth rate among the top five wired broadband internet players.

The wireline broadband internet (broadband) subscriber base in the country grew by 9.09 percent (by 15 lakh or 1.5 million) in the period between 31 December 2015 (Dec-15) or1 January 2016 until 31 October 2016 (Oct-16), from 165.1 lakh to 180.1 lakh. Telecom subscription data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for Oct-16 reveals that the contribution by the top five players’ was just 5.8 lakh new subscribers or 16.77 percent growth in the current calendar year until Oct-16 (CY-16).

Overall, wired broadband subscribers grew 0.95 percent month-on-month (MoM) in Oct-16. The All India wired broadband base grew from 178.4 lakh to 180.1 lakh, while the five top players grew by 0.55 percent in Oct-16 as compared to 0.69 percent in Sep-16.

Leading the growth in subscriber additions in CY-16 until Oct-16 are private wired broadband players Bharti Airtel (Airtel, 10,000 additions in Oct-16) and regional player Atria Convergence Technologies Pvt Ltd (ACT, 10,000 additions in Oct-16) with additions of 2.8 lakh and 2.6 lakh subscriber additions respectively in CY-16 until Oct-16. Airtel’s wired broadband subscriber base grew 16.77 percent, while ACT’s base grew by 30.23 percent during the same period (CY-16 until Oct-16). In CY-15 (1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015), Airtel had added 2.6 lakh wired broadband subscribers and grown by 18.44 percent, while ACT added 2.5 lakh subscribers and had grown at a blazing 40.98 percent. By Sep-16, Airtel had already exceeded the number of subscribers it had added in CY-15, while ACT has equalled its CY-15 performance.Hence, by the end of 2016, with reports for two more months to be published as yet, the two players should add a lot more subscribers than they did in CY-15.

While Airtel is a national level player, ACT is a regional player with operations in South India, hence probably making ACT the largest private wireline broadband player in South India. ACT has replaced the public sector MTNL at third place, pushing the latter to fourth spot in Aug-16 in terms of number of subscribers.Another private player among the top five – You Broadband (You BB) has added 80,000 subscribers (15.69 percent growth) in the current year until Oct-16.

Among the 5 top wireline broadband internet players in India, the public sector telecom player Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) leads by far with 99.4 lakh total number of wireline broadband subscribers as on Oct-16. However, as mentioned above, BSNL had seen its broadband subscriber base shrink by 80,000 in CY-16 until Aug-16. The largest private sector wireline broadband internet services player Airtel had 19.5 lakh subscribers as on 31 October 2016, ACT with 11.2 lakh subscribers was next and was followed by the other public sector player –MTNL with 10.6 lakh subscribers. You Broadband (You BB) with 5.9 lakh subscribers was the fifth.

Please refer to Fig 1 below for wireline subscriber data in CY-16 until Oct-16.

The top five players have had a slower rate of growth as compared to the all India growth in CY-16 until Oct-16. The share of the top five players among all India wired broadband subscriber addition has fallen in CY-16 until Oct-16 from 85.28 percent as on 1 January 2016 to 81.40 percent as on 31 October 2016. The share of these players was 88.45 percent as on 1 January 2015.

Month-on-month (m-o-m), the all India wired broadband subscriber base witnessed the second highest growth in CY-16 until Sep-16 in Aug-16 at 1.03 percent, while the top 5 players had a growth of 0.28 percent in that month. Please refer to figure 2 below:

Other wireline broadband players in India

MSOs’ in India have started providing internet services on the back of their television cable networks using DOCSIS technology. In general, they have started reporting double and triple digit year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in internet subscribers and revenue. The television cable players see broadband services improving their Average Revenue per User (ARPU) numbers. Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO – Hathway, Siti Networks Limited, Den Networks Limited , Ortel Communications Limited respectively whose results are available in the public domain have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters.

Overall broadband subscriber numbers for October 2016 including wireless and mobile

Overall, as per the reports received by TRAI from the service providers, the number ofbroadband subscribers (including wireless, mobile, dongles) grew by a massive 13.59 percent or 26.12 million (2.612 crore) to 218.42 crore (21.842 crore) from 192.30 million (19.23 crore).

The growth was led by wireless broadband subscriber numbers that use mobiles and dongles for internet access have increased m-o-m by14.97 percent by 26.03million or 260.3 lakh to 199.90 million (19.99 crore) in Oct-16 from 178.4 million (17.84 crore) in Sep-16.Fixed wireless subscribers that access the internet through Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Point-to-point radio and VSAT remained steady in Sep-16 and Oct-16 at 0.60 million (6 lakh).

The top five service providers constituted 80.36 percent market share of the totalbroadband subscribers at the end of Oct-16. These service providerswere Bharti Airtel (48.17 million or 4.817 crore), Vodafone (40.19 million or 4.019 crore), Reliance JioInfocom Limited with 35.94 million (3.594 crore),Idea Cellular which saw a decline in subscribers from30.72 million(3.072 crore) in Sep-16 to 29.76 million (2.976 crore) and, BSNL which also saw in a slight subscriber base decline from (21.60 million 2.16 crore) to 21.46 million or 2.146 crore. Reliance Communications Group which had (16.74 million 1.674 crore) in Sep-16 exited the top five list.

TRAI’s definition of broadband is internet download speeds greater than or equal to 512 Kpbs.

Notes:(1) The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR).The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:

(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.

(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

(2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers up to 2 decimal places. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.51 million (5.1 lakh) subscribers for You BB for Dec-2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages have been mentioned up to two decimal places, the accuracy may vary, depending upon the exact number.

(3) MSOs’ have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger. Hathway is a case in point.

January 10, 2017
BSNL leader in wireline b’band subs addition in Oct-16; Jio joins top five wireless list

BENGALURU: In a change from the norm, the public sector telecom giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) added 40,000 wireline broadband internet subscribers in the month of September 2016 (Sep-16). Continuing the new trend, the pub sector player added another 60,000 subscribers in the month of October 2016 (Oct-16).

Earlier, BSNL had been consistently losing subscribers in the calendar year 2016 (CY-16) until 31 August 2016 (Aug-16). Its gain in Sep-16 was just half the 80,000 subscribers it has lost in CY-16 until Sep-16.With the Oct-16 growth in subscribers, BSNL has shown growth by 20,000 in subscribers for calendar year CY-16 until 31 October 2016.

Reliance JioInfocom Limited with 35.94 million (3.594 crore) joined the top 5 broadband services subscribers list in Oct-16.

At the same time, the other public sector telecom operator – Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL) has also been bleeding wireline broadband internet subscribers in CY-16 until Oct-16. MTNL has seen a reduction of 60,000 subscribers in CY-16.Overall, the two public sector players have lost subscribers during CY-16 until Oct-16 and hence dampened the subscriber growth rate among the top five wired broadband internet players.

The wireline broadband internet (broadband) subscriber base in the country grew by 9.09 percent (by 15 lakh or 1.5 million) in the period between 31 December 2015 (Dec-15) or1 January 2016 until 31 October 2016 (Oct-16), from 165.1 lakh to 180.1 lakh. Telecom subscription data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for Oct-16 reveals that the contribution by the top five players’ was just 5.8 lakh new subscribers or 16.77 percent growth in the current calendar year until Oct-16 (CY-16).

Overall, wired broadband subscribers grew 0.95 percent month-on-month (MoM) in Oct-16. The All India wired broadband base grew from 178.4 lakh to 180.1 lakh, while the five top players grew by 0.55 percent in Oct-16 as compared to 0.69 percent in Sep-16.

Leading the growth in subscriber additions in CY-16 until Oct-16 are private wired broadband players Bharti Airtel (Airtel, 10,000 additions in Oct-16) and regional player Atria Convergence Technologies Pvt Ltd (ACT, 10,000 additions in Oct-16) with additions of 2.8 lakh and 2.6 lakh subscriber additions respectively in CY-16 until Oct-16. Airtel’s wired broadband subscriber base grew 16.77 percent, while ACT’s base grew by 30.23 percent during the same period (CY-16 until Oct-16). In CY-15 (1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015), Airtel had added 2.6 lakh wired broadband subscribers and grown by 18.44 percent, while ACT added 2.5 lakh subscribers and had grown at a blazing 40.98 percent. By Sep-16, Airtel had already exceeded the number of subscribers it had added in CY-15, while ACT has equalled its CY-15 performance.Hence, by the end of 2016, with reports for two more months to be published as yet, the two players should add a lot more subscribers than they did in CY-15.

While Airtel is a national level player, ACT is a regional player with operations in South India, hence probably making ACT the largest private wireline broadband player in South India. ACT has replaced the public sector MTNL at third place, pushing the latter to fourth spot in Aug-16 in terms of number of subscribers.Another private player among the top five – You Broadband (You BB) has added 80,000 subscribers (15.69 percent growth) in the current year until Oct-16.

Among the 5 top wireline broadband internet players in India, the public sector telecom player Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) leads by far with 99.4 lakh total number of wireline broadband subscribers as on Oct-16. However, as mentioned above, BSNL had seen its broadband subscriber base shrink by 80,000 in CY-16 until Aug-16. The largest private sector wireline broadband internet services player Airtel had 19.5 lakh subscribers as on 31 October 2016, ACT with 11.2 lakh subscribers was next and was followed by the other public sector player –MTNL with 10.6 lakh subscribers. You Broadband (You BB) with 5.9 lakh subscribers was the fifth.

Please refer to Fig 1 below for wireline subscriber data in CY-16 until Oct-16.

The top five players have had a slower rate of growth as compared to the all India growth in CY-16 until Oct-16. The share of the top five players among all India wired broadband subscriber addition has fallen in CY-16 until Oct-16 from 85.28 percent as on 1 January 2016 to 81.40 percent as on 31 October 2016. The share of these players was 88.45 percent as on 1 January 2015.

Month-on-month (m-o-m), the all India wired broadband subscriber base witnessed the second highest growth in CY-16 until Sep-16 in Aug-16 at 1.03 percent, while the top 5 players had a growth of 0.28 percent in that month. Please refer to figure 2 below:

Other wireline broadband players in India

MSOs’ in India have started providing internet services on the back of their television cable networks using DOCSIS technology. In general, they have started reporting double and triple digit year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in internet subscribers and revenue. The television cable players see broadband services improving their Average Revenue per User (ARPU) numbers. Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO – Hathway, Siti Networks Limited, Den Networks Limited , Ortel Communications Limited respectively whose results are available in the public domain have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters.

Overall broadband subscriber numbers for October 2016 including wireless and mobile

Overall, as per the reports received by TRAI from the service providers, the number ofbroadband subscribers (including wireless, mobile, dongles) grew by a massive 13.59 percent or 26.12 million (2.612 crore) to 218.42 crore (21.842 crore) from 192.30 million (19.23 crore).

The growth was led by wireless broadband subscriber numbers that use mobiles and dongles for internet access have increased m-o-m by14.97 percent by 26.03million or 260.3 lakh to 199.90 million (19.99 crore) in Oct-16 from 178.4 million (17.84 crore) in Sep-16.Fixed wireless subscribers that access the internet through Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Point-to-point radio and VSAT remained steady in Sep-16 and Oct-16 at 0.60 million (6 lakh).

The top five service providers constituted 80.36 percent market share of the totalbroadband subscribers at the end of Oct-16. These service providerswere Bharti Airtel (48.17 million or 4.817 crore), Vodafone (40.19 million or 4.019 crore), Reliance JioInfocom Limited with 35.94 million (3.594 crore),Idea Cellular which saw a decline in subscribers from30.72 million(3.072 crore) in Sep-16 to 29.76 million (2.976 crore) and, BSNL which also saw in a slight subscriber base decline from (21.60 million 2.16 crore) to 21.46 million or 2.146 crore. Reliance Communications Group which had (16.74 million 1.674 crore) in Sep-16 exited the top five list.

TRAI’s definition of broadband is internet download speeds greater than or equal to 512 Kpbs.

Notes:(1) The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR).The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:

(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.

(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

(2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers up to 2 decimal places. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.51 million (5.1 lakh) subscribers for You BB for Dec-2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages have been mentioned up to two decimal places, the accuracy may vary, depending upon the exact number.

(3) MSOs’ have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger. Hathway is a case in point.

January 10, 2017
BSNL leads in wireline broadband internet subs addition in Sep-16

BENGALURU: In a change from the norm, the public sector telecom giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) added 40,000 wireline broadband internet subscribers in the month of September 2016 (Sep-16). BSNL had been consistently losing subscribers in the calendar year 2016 (CY-16) until 31 August 2016 (Aug-16). Its gain in Sep-16 was just half the 80,000 subscribers it has lost in CY-16 until Sep-16. At the same time, the other public sector telecom operator – Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL) has also been bleeding wireline broadband internet subscribers in CY-16 until Sep-16. MTNL has also seen a reduction of 50,000 subscribers in CY-16.Overall, the two public sector players have lost subscribers during CY-16 until Sep-16 and hence dampened the subscriber growth rate among the top five wired broadband internet players.

The wireline broadband internet (broadband) subscriber base in the country grew by 8.06 percent (by 13.3 lakh or 1.33 million) in the period between 31 December 2015 (Dec-15) or1 January 2016 until 30 September 2016 (Sep-16), from 165.1 lakh to 178.4 lakh. Telecom subscription data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for Sep-16 reveals that the contribution by the top five players’ was just 5 lakh new subscribers or 3.55 percent growth in the current calendar year until Sep-16 (CY-16).Overall, wired broadband subscribers grew 0.96 percent month-on-month (MoM) in Sep-16. The All India wired broadband base grew from 176.7 lakh to 178.4 lakh, while the five top players grew by 0.69 percent in Sep-16 as compared to Aug-16.

Leading the growth in subscriber additions in CY-16 until Sep-16 are private wired broadband players Bharti Airtel (Airtel, 30,000 additions in Sep-16) and regional player Atria Convergence Technologies Pvt Ltd (ACT, 20,000 additions in Sep-16) with additions of 2.7 lakh and 2.5 lakh subscriber additions respectively in CY-16 until Sep-16. Airtel’s wired broadband subscriber base grew 16.17 percent, while ACT’s base grew by 29.07 percent during the same period (CY-16 until Sep-16). In CY-15 (1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015), Airtel had added 2.6 lakh wired broadband subscribers and grown by 18.44 percent, while ACT added 2.5 lakh subscribers and had grown at a blazing 40.98 percent. By Sep-16, Airtel has already exceeded the number of subscribers it had added in CY-15, while ACT has equalled its CY-15 performance Hence, by the end of 2016, with reports for a quarter of year to be published as yet, the two players should add a lot more subscribers than they did in CY-15.

While Airtel is a national level player, ACT is a regional player with operations in South India, hence probably making ACT the largest private wireline broadband player in South India. ACT has replaced the public sector MTNL at third place, pushing the latter to fourth spot in Aug-16 in terms of number of subscribers.Another private player among the top five – You Broadband (You BB) has added 70,000 subscribers (13.73 percent growth) in the current year until Sep-16.

Among the 5 top wireline broadband internet players in India, the public sector telecom player Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) leads by far with 98.8 lakh total number of wireline broadband subscribers as on Sep-16. However, as mentioned above, BSNL had seen its broadband subscriber base shrink by 80,000 in CY-16 until Aug-16. The largest private sector wireline broadband internet services player Airtel had 19.1 lakh subscribers as on 30 September 2016, ACT with 11.1 lakh subscribers was next and was followed by the other public sector player –MTNL with 10.7 lakh subscribers. You Broadband (You BB) with 5.8 lakh subscribers was the fifth.

Please refer to Fig 1 below for wireline subscriber data in CY-16 until Sep-16.

The top five players have had a slower rate of growth as compared to the all India growth in CY-16 until Sep-16. The share of the top five players among all India wired broadband subscriber addition has fallen in CY-16 until Sep-16 from 85.28 percent as on 1 January 2016 to 81.73 percent as on 30 September 2016. The share of these players was 88.45 percent as on 1 January 2015.

Month-on-month (m-o-m), the all India wired broadband subscriber base witnessed the second highest growth in CY-16 until Sep-16 in Aug-16 at 1.03 percent, while the top 5 players had a growth of 0.28 percent in that month. Please refer to figure 2 below:

Other wireline broadband players in India

MSOs’ in India have started providing internet services on the back of their television cable networks using DOCSIS technology. In general, they have started reporting double and triple digit year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in internet subscribers and revenue. The television cable players see broadband services improving their Average Revenue per User (ARPU) numbers. Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO – Hathway, Siti Networks Limited, Den Networks Limited , Ortel Communications Limited respectively whose results are available in the public domain have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters.

Overall broadband subscriber numbers for September 2016 including wireless and mobile

Overall, as per the reports received by TRAI from the service providers, the number ofbroadband subscribers (including wireless, mobile, dongles) grew by a massive 11.99 percent by 20.59million or 205.9 lakh to 192.30 million (19.32 crore) in Sep-16 from 171.71 million (17.171 crore) in Aug-16. The growth was led by Wireless broadband subscriber numbers that use mobiles and dongles for internet access have increased m-o-m by 13.31 percent in Sep-16 to 173.87 million (17.387 crore) from 153.45 million (15.345 crore) in Aug-16. Fixed wireless subscribers that access the internet through Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Point-to-point radio and VSAT have increased 1.27 percent in Sep-16 to to 0.60 million (6 lakh) from 0.59 million (5.9 lakh) in Aug-16.

The top five service providers constituted 78.62 percent market share of the totalbroadband subscribers at the end of Aug-16. These service providerswere Bharti Airtel (46.19 million or 4.619 crore), Vodafone (35.94 million or 3.594 crore), Idea Cellular(30.72 million 3.072 crore), BSNL (21.60 million 2.16 crore) and Reliance Communications Group (16.74 million 1.674 crore).

As on 30 September, 2016, the top five Wireless Broadband Serviceproviders were Bharti Airtel (44.25 million, 4.425 crore), Vodafone (35.93 million, 3.593 crore),Idea Cellular (30.72 million, 3.072 crore), Reliance Communications (16.62 million, 1.662 crore) and Reliance Jio (16.00 million, 1.6 crore).

TRAI’s definition of broadband is internet download speeds greater than or equal to 512 Kpbs.

Notes:(1) The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR).The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:

(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.

(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

(2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers up to 2 decimal places. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.51 million (5.1 lakh) subscribers for You BB for Dec-2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages have been mentioned up to two decimal places, the accuracy may vary, depending upon the exact number.

(3) MSOs’ have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger. Hathway is a case in point.

December 10, 2016
BSNL leads in wireline broadband internet subs addition in Sep-16

BENGALURU: In a change from the norm, the public sector telecom giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) added 40,000 wireline broadband internet subscribers in the month of September 2016 (Sep-16). BSNL had been consistently losing subscribers in the calendar year 2016 (CY-16) until 31 August 2016 (Aug-16). Its gain in Sep-16 was just half the 80,000 subscribers it has lost in CY-16 until Sep-16. At the same time, the other public sector telecom operator – Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL) has also been bleeding wireline broadband internet subscribers in CY-16 until Sep-16. MTNL has also seen a reduction of 50,000 subscribers in CY-16.Overall, the two public sector players have lost subscribers during CY-16 until Sep-16 and hence dampened the subscriber growth rate among the top five wired broadband internet players.

The wireline broadband internet (broadband) subscriber base in the country grew by 8.06 percent (by 13.3 lakh or 1.33 million) in the period between 31 December 2015 (Dec-15) or1 January 2016 until 30 September 2016 (Sep-16), from 165.1 lakh to 178.4 lakh. Telecom subscription data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for Sep-16 reveals that the contribution by the top five players’ was just 5 lakh new subscribers or 3.55 percent growth in the current calendar year until Sep-16 (CY-16).Overall, wired broadband subscribers grew 0.96 percent month-on-month (MoM) in Sep-16. The All India wired broadband base grew from 176.7 lakh to 178.4 lakh, while the five top players grew by 0.69 percent in Sep-16 as compared to Aug-16.

Leading the growth in subscriber additions in CY-16 until Sep-16 are private wired broadband players Bharti Airtel (Airtel, 30,000 additions in Sep-16) and regional player Atria Convergence Technologies Pvt Ltd (ACT, 20,000 additions in Sep-16) with additions of 2.7 lakh and 2.5 lakh subscriber additions respectively in CY-16 until Sep-16. Airtel’s wired broadband subscriber base grew 16.17 percent, while ACT’s base grew by 29.07 percent during the same period (CY-16 until Sep-16). In CY-15 (1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015), Airtel had added 2.6 lakh wired broadband subscribers and grown by 18.44 percent, while ACT added 2.5 lakh subscribers and had grown at a blazing 40.98 percent. By Sep-16, Airtel has already exceeded the number of subscribers it had added in CY-15, while ACT has equalled its CY-15 performance Hence, by the end of 2016, with reports for a quarter of year to be published as yet, the two players should add a lot more subscribers than they did in CY-15.

While Airtel is a national level player, ACT is a regional player with operations in South India, hence probably making ACT the largest private wireline broadband player in South India. ACT has replaced the public sector MTNL at third place, pushing the latter to fourth spot in Aug-16 in terms of number of subscribers.Another private player among the top five – You Broadband (You BB) has added 70,000 subscribers (13.73 percent growth) in the current year until Sep-16.

Among the 5 top wireline broadband internet players in India, the public sector telecom player Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) leads by far with 98.8 lakh total number of wireline broadband subscribers as on Sep-16. However, as mentioned above, BSNL had seen its broadband subscriber base shrink by 80,000 in CY-16 until Aug-16. The largest private sector wireline broadband internet services player Airtel had 19.1 lakh subscribers as on 30 September 2016, ACT with 11.1 lakh subscribers was next and was followed by the other public sector player –MTNL with 10.7 lakh subscribers. You Broadband (You BB) with 5.8 lakh subscribers was the fifth.

Please refer to Fig 1 below for wireline subscriber data in CY-16 until Sep-16.

The top five players have had a slower rate of growth as compared to the all India growth in CY-16 until Sep-16. The share of the top five players among all India wired broadband subscriber addition has fallen in CY-16 until Sep-16 from 85.28 percent as on 1 January 2016 to 81.73 percent as on 30 September 2016. The share of these players was 88.45 percent as on 1 January 2015.

Month-on-month (m-o-m), the all India wired broadband subscriber base witnessed the second highest growth in CY-16 until Sep-16 in Aug-16 at 1.03 percent, while the top 5 players had a growth of 0.28 percent in that month. Please refer to figure 2 below:

Other wireline broadband players in India

MSOs’ in India have started providing internet services on the back of their television cable networks using DOCSIS technology. In general, they have started reporting double and triple digit year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in internet subscribers and revenue. The television cable players see broadband services improving their Average Revenue per User (ARPU) numbers. Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO – Hathway, Siti Networks Limited, Den Networks Limited , Ortel Communications Limited respectively whose results are available in the public domain have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters.

Overall broadband subscriber numbers for September 2016 including wireless and mobile

Overall, as per the reports received by TRAI from the service providers, the number ofbroadband subscribers (including wireless, mobile, dongles) grew by a massive 11.99 percent by 20.59million or 205.9 lakh to 192.30 million (19.32 crore) in Sep-16 from 171.71 million (17.171 crore) in Aug-16. The growth was led by Wireless broadband subscriber numbers that use mobiles and dongles for internet access have increased m-o-m by 13.31 percent in Sep-16 to 173.87 million (17.387 crore) from 153.45 million (15.345 crore) in Aug-16. Fixed wireless subscribers that access the internet through Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Point-to-point radio and VSAT have increased 1.27 percent in Sep-16 to to 0.60 million (6 lakh) from 0.59 million (5.9 lakh) in Aug-16.

The top five service providers constituted 78.62 percent market share of the totalbroadband subscribers at the end of Aug-16. These service providerswere Bharti Airtel (46.19 million or 4.619 crore), Vodafone (35.94 million or 3.594 crore), Idea Cellular(30.72 million 3.072 crore), BSNL (21.60 million 2.16 crore) and Reliance Communications Group (16.74 million 1.674 crore).

As on 30 September, 2016, the top five Wireless Broadband Serviceproviders were Bharti Airtel (44.25 million, 4.425 crore), Vodafone (35.93 million, 3.593 crore),Idea Cellular (30.72 million, 3.072 crore), Reliance Communications (16.62 million, 1.662 crore) and Reliance Jio (16.00 million, 1.6 crore).

TRAI’s definition of broadband is internet download speeds greater than or equal to 512 Kpbs.

Notes:(1) The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR).The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:

(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.

(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

(2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers up to 2 decimal places. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.51 million (5.1 lakh) subscribers for You BB for Dec-2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages have been mentioned up to two decimal places, the accuracy may vary, depending upon the exact number.

(3) MSOs’ have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger. Hathway is a case in point.

December 10, 2016
Aug-16: ACT largest private wireline broadband player in South India?

BENGALURU: The wireline broadband internet (broadband) subscriber base in the country grew by 7.03 percent (by 11.6 lakh or 1.6 million) in the period between 31 December 2015 (Dec-15) or 1 January 2016 until 31 August 2016 (Aug-16), from 165.1 lakh to 176.7 lakh. In calendar year 2015, the growth rate had been higher at 7.77 percent. Telecom subscription data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for Aug-16 reveals that the top five players’ growth was just 4 lakh new subscribers or 2.84 percent growth in the current calendar year until Aug-16 (CY-16).

Leading the growth were private wired broadband players Bharti Airtel (Airtel) and regional player Atria Convergence Technologies Pvt Ltd (ACT) with additions of 2.4 lakh and 2.3 lakh subscriber additions respectively in CY-16 until Aug-16.Airtel’s wired broadband subscriber base grew 14.37 percent, while ACT’s base grew by 26.74 percent during the same period (CY-16 until Aug-16). In CY-15 (1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015), Airtel had added 2.6 lakh wired broadband subscribers and grown by 18.44 percent, while ACT added 2.5 lakh subscribers and had grown at a blazing 40.98 percent. Hence, by the end of 2016, the two players should add a lot more subscribers than they did in CY-15.

While Airtel is a national level player, ACT is a regional player with operations in South India, hence probably making ACT the largest private wireline broadband player in South India. ACT has replaced the public sector Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL) at third place, pushing the latter to fourth spot in Aug-16 in terms of number of subscribers.

Another private player among the top five – You Broadband (You BB) has added 60,000 subscribers (11.76 percent growth) in the current year until Aug-16. The two public sector players have lost subscribers during the same period and hence dampened the subscriber growth rate among the top five wired broadband internet players.

Among the 5 top wireline broadband internet players in India, the public sector telecom player Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) leads by far with 98.4 lakh total number of wireline broadband subscribers as on Aug-16. However, BSNL has seen its broadband subscriber base shrink by 80,000 in CY-16 until Aug-16. The largest private sector wireline broadband internet services player Airtel had 19.1 lakh subscribers as on 31 August 2016, ACT with 10.9 lakh subscribers was next and was followed by another public sector player – Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) with 10.7 lakh subscribers. You Broadband (You BB) with 5.6 lakh subscribers was the fifth. MTNL has also seen a reduction of 50,000 subscribers in CY-16. Please refer to Fig 1 below for wireline subscriber data in CY-16 until Aug-16.

As mentioned above, the top five players have had a slower rate of growth as compared to the all India growth in CY-16 until Aug-16. The share of the top five players among all India wired broadband subscriber addition has fallen in CY-16 from 85.28 percent as on 1 January 2016 to 81.95 percent as on 31 August 2016. The share of these players was 88.45 percent as on 1 January 2015.

Among these 5, only BSNL and Airtel could be termed as national players at present. BSNL, Airtel and MTNL also provide wireline telephony voice and data and mobile services while Airtel also has a direct to home (DTH) segment. ACT started off as an MSO with operations concentrated in a few major cities and towns located mainly in South India. It started internet services (ACT Broadband) a little later and has grown its broadband internet subscriber base over time through organic as well as acquisition growth, to the extent that it is quite likely the biggest private wireline broadband player in South India. You BB offers broadband operations in a few cities in Maharashtra, Gujarat, the NCR region Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Month-on-month (m-o-m), the all India wired broadband subscriber base witnessed the second highest growth in CY-16 until Aug-16 at 1.03 percent. The top 5 players had a growth of 0.28 percent during the same period. Please refer to figure 2 below.

Other wireline broadband players in India

MSOs’ in India have started providing internet services on the back of their television cable networks using DOCSIS technology. In general, they have started reporting double and triple digit year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in internet subscribers and revenue. The television cable players see broadband services improving their Average Revenue per User (ARPU) numbers. Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO – Hathway, Siti Networks Limited, Den Networks Limited , Ortel CommunicationsLimited respectively whose results are available in the public domain have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters.

Among the MSOs’ (besides ACT), Hathway has shown the highest subscriber additions in the year. Its consolidated broadband subscription revenue as per IND AS for the quarter ended 31 September 2016 (Q2-17) at Rs 120.3 crore (37.5 percent of Total Income from Operations or TIO) was higher than its consolidated CATV subscription revenue of Rs110.4 crore (34.4 percent of TIO). Its consolidated broadband revenue in Q2-17 quarter as per IND AS increased 67 percent y-o-y.

Hathway’sconsolidated broadband subscriber base increased to 8 lakh in Q2-17 from 7 lakh in the immediate trailing quarter (Q1-17). Broadband ARPU in the current quarter increased to Rs 643 from Rs 616 in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, but declined from Rs 670 in the immediate trailing quarter.

Siti Networks broadband revenue increased 167.7 percent y-o-y (more than doubled) to Rs 24.9 crore (8.6 percent of TIO) in Q2-17 from Rs 9.3 crore (4 percent of TIO) in Q2-16.Siti has added about 28,000 subscribers in Q2-17 taking its subscriber base to 195,000 from 167,000 subscribers in Q1-17. It had a broadband subscriber base of 91,450 in Q2-16.

Overall broadband subscriber numbers for August 2016 including wireless and mobile

Overall, as per the reports received by TRAI from the service providers, the number ofbroadband subscribers (including wireless, mobile, dongles) grew 4.75million or 47.5 lakh to 17.171 million (17.171 crore) in Aug-16 from 166.96 million (16.696 crore) inJul-16. Wireless broadband subscriber numbers that use mobiles and dongles for internet access have increased m-o-m by 3.01 percent in Aug-16 to 153.45 million (15.345 crore) from 148.93 million (14.893 crore) in Jul-16. Fixed wireless subscribers that access the internet through Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Point-to-point radio and VSAT have increased 8.65 percent in Aug-16 to to0.59 million (5.4 lkh) from 0.54 million in Jul-16.

The top five service providers constituted 85.16 percent (84.83 percent in Jul-16)market share of the totalbroadband subscribers at the end of Aug-16. These service providerswere Bharti Airtel (45.35 million or 4.535 crore), Vodafone (35.01 million or 3.501 crore), Idea Cellular(29.58 million 2.958 crore), BSNL (21.04 million 2.104 crore) and Reliance Communications Group (15.24 million 1.524 crore).

Decline in telephone subscribers in August 2016

It must however be noted that the total wireless subscriber basedeclined from 1,034.23 million (103.423 crore) at the endof Jul-16 to 1,028.88 million (102.888 crore) at the end ofAug-16, thereby registering a monthlydecline rate of 0.52 percent. Wireless subscription in urban areas declinedfrom 589.61 million (58.961 crore) at the end of Jul-16to 585.89 million (58.589 crore) at the end of Aug-16,and wireless subscription in rural areasdeclined from 444.63 million (44.463 crore) to 442.99million (44.299 crore) during the same period. Themonthly decline rates of urban and ruralwireless subscription were 0.63 percent and0.37 percent respectively.

The overall wireless tele-density in Indiadeclined from 81.11 at the end of Jul-16to 80.62 at the end of Aug-16. The urban wireless tele-density declinedfrom 148.00 at the end of Jul-16 to146.84 at the end of Aug-16, and rural wireless tele-density also declined from 50.72 to 50.50 during the same period.The share of urban and rural wirelesssubscribers in total number of wirelesssubscribers was 56.94 percent and 43.06 percent respectively at the end of Aug-16.

TRAI’s definition of broadband is internet download speeds greater than or equal to 512 Kpbs.

Notes:(1) The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR).The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:
(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.
(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

(2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers up to 2 decimal places. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.51 million (5.1 lakh) subscribers for You BB for Dec-2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages have been mentioned up to two decimal places, the accuracy may vary, depending upon the exact number.
(3) MSOs’ have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger. Hathway is a case in point.

November 30, 2016
Aug-16: ACT largest private wireline broadband player in South India?

BENGALURU: The wireline broadband internet (broadband) subscriber base in the country grew by 7.03 percent (by 11.6 lakh or 1.6 million) in the period between 31 December 2015 (Dec-15) or 1 January 2016 until 31 August 2016 (Aug-16), from 165.1 lakh to 176.7 lakh. In calendar year 2015, the growth rate had been higher at 7.77 percent. Telecom subscription data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for Aug-16 reveals that the top five players’ growth was just 4 lakh new subscribers or 2.84 percent growth in the current calendar year until Aug-16 (CY-16).

Leading the growth were private wired broadband players Bharti Airtel (Airtel) and regional player Atria Convergence Technologies Pvt Ltd (ACT) with additions of 2.4 lakh and 2.3 lakh subscriber additions respectively in CY-16 until Aug-16.Airtel’s wired broadband subscriber base grew 14.37 percent, while ACT’s base grew by 26.74 percent during the same period (CY-16 until Aug-16). In CY-15 (1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015), Airtel had added 2.6 lakh wired broadband subscribers and grown by 18.44 percent, while ACT added 2.5 lakh subscribers and had grown at a blazing 40.98 percent. Hence, by the end of 2016, the two players should add a lot more subscribers than they did in CY-15.

While Airtel is a national level player, ACT is a regional player with operations in South India, hence probably making ACT the largest private wireline broadband player in South India. ACT has replaced the public sector Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL) at third place, pushing the latter to fourth spot in Aug-16 in terms of number of subscribers.

Another private player among the top five – You Broadband (You BB) has added 60,000 subscribers (11.76 percent growth) in the current year until Aug-16. The two public sector players have lost subscribers during the same period and hence dampened the subscriber growth rate among the top five wired broadband internet players.

Among the 5 top wireline broadband internet players in India, the public sector telecom player Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) leads by far with 98.4 lakh total number of wireline broadband subscribers as on Aug-16. However, BSNL has seen its broadband subscriber base shrink by 80,000 in CY-16 until Aug-16. The largest private sector wireline broadband internet services player Airtel had 19.1 lakh subscribers as on 31 August 2016, ACT with 10.9 lakh subscribers was next and was followed by another public sector player – Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) with 10.7 lakh subscribers. You Broadband (You BB) with 5.6 lakh subscribers was the fifth. MTNL has also seen a reduction of 50,000 subscribers in CY-16. Please refer to Fig 1 below for wireline subscriber data in CY-16 until Aug-16.

As mentioned above, the top five players have had a slower rate of growth as compared to the all India growth in CY-16 until Aug-16. The share of the top five players among all India wired broadband subscriber addition has fallen in CY-16 from 85.28 percent as on 1 January 2016 to 81.95 percent as on 31 August 2016. The share of these players was 88.45 percent as on 1 January 2015.

Among these 5, only BSNL and Airtel could be termed as national players at present. BSNL, Airtel and MTNL also provide wireline telephony voice and data and mobile services while Airtel also has a direct to home (DTH) segment. ACT started off as an MSO with operations concentrated in a few major cities and towns located mainly in South India. It started internet services (ACT Broadband) a little later and has grown its broadband internet subscriber base over time through organic as well as acquisition growth, to the extent that it is quite likely the biggest private wireline broadband player in South India. You BB offers broadband operations in a few cities in Maharashtra, Gujarat, the NCR region Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Month-on-month (m-o-m), the all India wired broadband subscriber base witnessed the second highest growth in CY-16 until Aug-16 at 1.03 percent. The top 5 players had a growth of 0.28 percent during the same period. Please refer to figure 2 below.

Other wireline broadband players in India

MSOs’ in India have started providing internet services on the back of their television cable networks using DOCSIS technology. In general, they have started reporting double and triple digit year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in internet subscribers and revenue. The television cable players see broadband services improving their Average Revenue per User (ARPU) numbers. Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO – Hathway, Siti Networks Limited, Den Networks Limited , Ortel CommunicationsLimited respectively whose results are available in the public domain have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters.

Among the MSOs’ (besides ACT), Hathway has shown the highest subscriber additions in the year. Its consolidated broadband subscription revenue as per IND AS for the quarter ended 31 September 2016 (Q2-17) at Rs 120.3 crore (37.5 percent of Total Income from Operations or TIO) was higher than its consolidated CATV subscription revenue of Rs110.4 crore (34.4 percent of TIO). Its consolidated broadband revenue in Q2-17 quarter as per IND AS increased 67 percent y-o-y.

Hathway’sconsolidated broadband subscriber base increased to 8 lakh in Q2-17 from 7 lakh in the immediate trailing quarter (Q1-17). Broadband ARPU in the current quarter increased to Rs 643 from Rs 616 in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, but declined from Rs 670 in the immediate trailing quarter.

Siti Networks broadband revenue increased 167.7 percent y-o-y (more than doubled) to Rs 24.9 crore (8.6 percent of TIO) in Q2-17 from Rs 9.3 crore (4 percent of TIO) in Q2-16.Siti has added about 28,000 subscribers in Q2-17 taking its subscriber base to 195,000 from 167,000 subscribers in Q1-17. It had a broadband subscriber base of 91,450 in Q2-16.

Overall broadband subscriber numbers for August 2016 including wireless and mobile

Overall, as per the reports received by TRAI from the service providers, the number ofbroadband subscribers (including wireless, mobile, dongles) grew 4.75million or 47.5 lakh to 17.171 million (17.171 crore) in Aug-16 from 166.96 million (16.696 crore) inJul-16. Wireless broadband subscriber numbers that use mobiles and dongles for internet access have increased m-o-m by 3.01 percent in Aug-16 to 153.45 million (15.345 crore) from 148.93 million (14.893 crore) in Jul-16. Fixed wireless subscribers that access the internet through Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Point-to-point radio and VSAT have increased 8.65 percent in Aug-16 to to0.59 million (5.4 lkh) from 0.54 million in Jul-16.

The top five service providers constituted 85.16 percent (84.83 percent in Jul-16)market share of the totalbroadband subscribers at the end of Aug-16. These service providerswere Bharti Airtel (45.35 million or 4.535 crore), Vodafone (35.01 million or 3.501 crore), Idea Cellular(29.58 million 2.958 crore), BSNL (21.04 million 2.104 crore) and Reliance Communications Group (15.24 million 1.524 crore).

Decline in telephone subscribers in August 2016

It must however be noted that the total wireless subscriber basedeclined from 1,034.23 million (103.423 crore) at the endof Jul-16 to 1,028.88 million (102.888 crore) at the end ofAug-16, thereby registering a monthlydecline rate of 0.52 percent. Wireless subscription in urban areas declinedfrom 589.61 million (58.961 crore) at the end of Jul-16to 585.89 million (58.589 crore) at the end of Aug-16,and wireless subscription in rural areasdeclined from 444.63 million (44.463 crore) to 442.99million (44.299 crore) during the same period. Themonthly decline rates of urban and ruralwireless subscription were 0.63 percent and0.37 percent respectively.

The overall wireless tele-density in Indiadeclined from 81.11 at the end of Jul-16to 80.62 at the end of Aug-16. The urban wireless tele-density declinedfrom 148.00 at the end of Jul-16 to146.84 at the end of Aug-16, and rural wireless tele-density also declined from 50.72 to 50.50 during the same period.The share of urban and rural wirelesssubscribers in total number of wirelesssubscribers was 56.94 percent and 43.06 percent respectively at the end of Aug-16.

TRAI’s definition of broadband is internet download speeds greater than or equal to 512 Kpbs.

Notes:(1) The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR).The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:
(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.
(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

(2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers up to 2 decimal places. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.51 million (5.1 lakh) subscribers for You BB for Dec-2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages have been mentioned up to two decimal places, the accuracy may vary, depending upon the exact number.
(3) MSOs’ have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger. Hathway is a case in point.

November 30, 2016
Jul-16: Airtel takes lead in wireline broadband subs additions in CY-16

BENGALURU: There’s action in the broadband space – both wireless and wired. Indian telecom major and DTH player Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) has been on a net add spree in July 2016, overaking MSO and wireline broadband services player Atria Convergence Technologies Pvt Ltd (ACT) in wireline subscriber additions in the calendar year 2016 (CY-16) up to now. This is according to telecom subscription data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the period ended 31 July 2016 (July-16).

The data, released on 7 October 2016, reveals that Airtel had added 2.1 lakh net broadband wireline subscribers as compared to 1.9 lakh net subscribers added by ACT since 31 December 2015 (Dec-15, or 1 January 2016). Until Jun-16, ACT lead in net subscriber additions in CY-16.

Among the five top wireline broadband internet players in India, the public sector telecom player Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) lead by far with 98.6 lakh total number of wireline broadband subscribers. However, BSNL has seen its broadband subscriber base shrink by 60,000 in CY-16.

The largest private sector wireline broadband internet services player Airtel had 18.8 lakh subscribers as on 31 July 2016, followed by another public sector player, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), with 10.8 lakh subscribers. Not far behind was ACT with 10.5 lakh subscribers, followed by You Broadband (You BB) with 5.6 lakh subscribers. MTNL has also seen a reduction of 40,000 subscribers in CY-16, while You BB has seen its wireline broadband subscriber base increase by 60,000 during the same period. Please refer to Fig 1 below for wireline subscriber data in CY-16.

Among these top five, only BSNL and Airtel could be termed as national players at present. BSNL, Airtel and MTNL also provide wireline telephony voice and data and mobile services while Airtel also has a direct to home (DTH) segment. ACT started off as an MSO with operations concentrated in a few major cities and towns located mainly in South India. It started internet services (ACT Broadband) a little later and has grown its broadband internet subscriber base over time thorough organic growth as well as through acquisitions to the extent that it is quite likely the biggest private wireline broadband player in South India. You BB offers broadband operations in a few cities in Maharashtra, Gujarat, the NCR region, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

In CY-16, the all-India wireline subscriber base has increased by 9.8 lakh, with the top five players contributing 3.6 lakh subscribers or a little more than a third at 36.73 percent. The subscriber share of the top five wireline broadband internet players has declined from 85.28 percent (142.8 lakh) as on Dec-15 to 82.56 percent (144.4 lakh) as on Jul-16. Please refer to Fig 2 for the month-on-month change in wired broadband internet subscribers during CY-16.

Other wireline broadband players in India

MSOs in India have started providing internet services on the back of their television cable networks using DOCSIS technology. In general, they have started reporting double digit year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in internet subscribers and revenue. The television cable players see broadband services improving their average revenue per user (ARPU) numbers.

Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO, Hathway, Siti Cable, Den Networks and Ortel Communications, respectively whose financial results are available in the public, domain have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters.

Overall broadband subscriber numbers for July 2016

Overall, as per the data received by TRAI from the service providers, the number of broadband subscribers (including wireless, mobile, dongles) remained stagnant at159.80 million (15.980 crore) at the end of both Jun-16 and Jul-16.

Wireless broadband subscriber numbers that use mobiles and dongles for internet access have increased month-on-month by 4.92 per cent to 148.93 million (14.893 crore) in July-16 from 141.94 million (14.194 crore) in June-16. Fixed wireless subscribers that access the internet through Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, point-to-point radio and VSAT have declined 1.06 percent in July-16 to to 0.54 million (5.4 lakh) from 0.55 million (5.5 lakh) June-16.

The top five service providers constituted 84.83 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of July-16. These service providers were Bharti Airtel (44.41 million or 4.441 crore), Vodafone (33.6 million or 3.36 crore), Idea Cellular (28.19 million 2.819 crore), BSNL (20.92 million 2.092 crore) and Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications (14.74 million 1.474 crore).

Decline in telephone subscribers in July 2016

It must, however, be noted that the number of telephone subscribers in India declined from 1,059.86 million (105.986 crore) at the end of June-16 to 1,058.85 million (105.885 crore) at the end of July-16, thereby showing a monthly decline rate of 0.10 percent.

The urban subscription increased from 609.45 million (60.945 crore) at the end of June-16 to 610.22 million (61.022 crore) at the end of July-16 whereas the rural subscription declined from 450.41 million (45.041 crore) to 448.63 million (44.863 crore) during the same period.

The monthly growth rates of urban and rural subscription were 0.13 percent and -0.40 per cent, respectively during the month of July-16.

The overall tele-density in India declined from 83.20 at the end of June- 16 to 83.04 at the end of Jul-16. The urban tele-density declined from 153.22 at the end of June-16 to 153.18 at the end of July-16, and the rural tele-density also declined from 51.41 during the same period. The share of urban subscribers and rural subscribers in total number of telephone subscribers at the end of July-16 was 57.63 per cent and 42.37 per cent, respectively.

TRAI’s definition of broadband is internet download speeds greater than or equal to 512 Kpbs.

October 8, 2016
Jul-16: Airtel takes lead in wireline broadband subs additions in CY-16

BENGALURU: There’s action in the broadband space – both wireless and wired. Indian telecom major and DTH player Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) has been on a net add spree in July 2016, overaking MSO and wireline broadband services player Atria Convergence Technologies Pvt Ltd (ACT) in wireline subscriber additions in the calendar year 2016 (CY-16) up to now. This is according to telecom subscription data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the period ended 31 July 2016 (July-16).

The data, released on 7 October 2016, reveals that Airtel had added 2.1 lakh net broadband wireline subscribers as compared to 1.9 lakh net subscribers added by ACT since 31 December 2015 (Dec-15, or 1 January 2016). Until Jun-16, ACT lead in net subscriber additions in CY-16.

Among the five top wireline broadband internet players in India, the public sector telecom player Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) lead by far with 98.6 lakh total number of wireline broadband subscribers. However, BSNL has seen its broadband subscriber base shrink by 60,000 in CY-16.

The largest private sector wireline broadband internet services player Airtel had 18.8 lakh subscribers as on 31 July 2016, followed by another public sector player, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), with 10.8 lakh subscribers. Not far behind was ACT with 10.5 lakh subscribers, followed by You Broadband (You BB) with 5.6 lakh subscribers. MTNL has also seen a reduction of 40,000 subscribers in CY-16, while You BB has seen its wireline broadband subscriber base increase by 60,000 during the same period. Please refer to Fig 1 below for wireline subscriber data in CY-16.

Among these top five, only BSNL and Airtel could be termed as national players at present. BSNL, Airtel and MTNL also provide wireline telephony voice and data and mobile services while Airtel also has a direct to home (DTH) segment. ACT started off as an MSO with operations concentrated in a few major cities and towns located mainly in South India. It started internet services (ACT Broadband) a little later and has grown its broadband internet subscriber base over time thorough organic growth as well as through acquisitions to the extent that it is quite likely the biggest private wireline broadband player in South India. You BB offers broadband operations in a few cities in Maharashtra, Gujarat, the NCR region, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

In CY-16, the all-India wireline subscriber base has increased by 9.8 lakh, with the top five players contributing 3.6 lakh subscribers or a little more than a third at 36.73 percent. The subscriber share of the top five wireline broadband internet players has declined from 85.28 percent (142.8 lakh) as on Dec-15 to 82.56 percent (144.4 lakh) as on Jul-16. Please refer to Fig 2 for the month-on-month change in wired broadband internet subscribers during CY-16.

Other wireline broadband players in India

MSOs in India have started providing internet services on the back of their television cable networks using DOCSIS technology. In general, they have started reporting double digit year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in internet subscribers and revenue. The television cable players see broadband services improving their average revenue per user (ARPU) numbers.

Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO, Hathway, Siti Cable, Den Networks and Ortel Communications, respectively whose financial results are available in the public, domain have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters.

Overall broadband subscriber numbers for July 2016

Overall, as per the data received by TRAI from the service providers, the number of broadband subscribers (including wireless, mobile, dongles) remained stagnant at159.80 million (15.980 crore) at the end of both Jun-16 and Jul-16.

Wireless broadband subscriber numbers that use mobiles and dongles for internet access have increased month-on-month by 4.92 per cent to 148.93 million (14.893 crore) in July-16 from 141.94 million (14.194 crore) in June-16. Fixed wireless subscribers that access the internet through Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, point-to-point radio and VSAT have declined 1.06 percent in July-16 to to 0.54 million (5.4 lakh) from 0.55 million (5.5 lakh) June-16.

The top five service providers constituted 84.83 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of July-16. These service providers were Bharti Airtel (44.41 million or 4.441 crore), Vodafone (33.6 million or 3.36 crore), Idea Cellular (28.19 million 2.819 crore), BSNL (20.92 million 2.092 crore) and Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications (14.74 million 1.474 crore).

Decline in telephone subscribers in July 2016

It must, however, be noted that the number of telephone subscribers in India declined from 1,059.86 million (105.986 crore) at the end of June-16 to 1,058.85 million (105.885 crore) at the end of July-16, thereby showing a monthly decline rate of 0.10 percent.

The urban subscription increased from 609.45 million (60.945 crore) at the end of June-16 to 610.22 million (61.022 crore) at the end of July-16 whereas the rural subscription declined from 450.41 million (45.041 crore) to 448.63 million (44.863 crore) during the same period.

The monthly growth rates of urban and rural subscription were 0.13 percent and -0.40 per cent, respectively during the month of July-16.

The overall tele-density in India declined from 83.20 at the end of June- 16 to 83.04 at the end of Jul-16. The urban tele-density declined from 153.22 at the end of June-16 to 153.18 at the end of July-16, and the rural tele-density also declined from 51.41 during the same period. The share of urban subscribers and rural subscribers in total number of telephone subscribers at the end of July-16 was 57.63 per cent and 42.37 per cent, respectively.

TRAI’s definition of broadband is internet download speeds greater than or equal to 512 Kpbs.

October 8, 2016
May-16: ACT leads wireline broadband subscriber additions

BENGALURU:Atria Convergence Technologies Private Limited (ACT, ACT Broadband) continued to lead wireline broadband internet (wireline broadband) subscribers in calendar year 2016 with 1.3 lakh subscribers added since 1 January 2016 until 31 May 2016. As per TRAI data, ACT had 8.6 lakh subscribers as on 31 December 2015 (Dec-15, or 1 January 2016), and it closed with 9.9 lakh subscribers on 31 May 2016 (May-16). At the time of writing this paper, ACT’s subscriber base should have crossed the 10 lakh (1 million) mark.

As per The Telecom regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data, the top five players in India in the wireline broadband internet space in pecking order are the public sector Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel), public sector Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Atria Convergence Technologies Private Limited (ACT, ACT Broadband) and You Broadband (You BB).

Among these 5, only BSNL and Airtel could be termed as national players at present. BSNL, Airtel and MTNL also provide wireline telephony voice and data and mobile services while Airtel also has a direct to home (DTH) segment. ACT started off as an MSO with operations concentrated in a few major cities and towns located mainly in South India. It started internet services (ACT Broadband) a little later and has grown its broadband internet subscriber base over time, to the extent that it is quite likely the biggest private wireline broadband player in South India. You BB offers broadband operations in a few cities in Maharashtra, Gujarat the NCR region Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

ACT was followed by Bharati Airtel Limited (Airtel) which added 1.2 lakh subscribers in calendar year 2016 until May-16. Airtel had 16.7 lakh wireline broadband subscribers on 1 January 2016. In May-16, it had 17.9 lakh subscribers. Among the top 5 wireline broadband players in India, You Broadband (You BB) was next with 40 thousand subscriber adds during the same period. The other two players among the top five wireline broadband internet subscribers in the country – the public sector telecom companies –reported decline in subscribers between the same period.

You BB began the year with 5.1 lakh subscribers and as on 31 May 2016 it had 5.5 lakh subscribers. BSNL, the largest wireline broadband player in the country, opened 2016 with 99.2 lakh subscribers, lost 30,000 subscribers until 31 May 2016. MTNL lost 20,000 wireline broadband subscribers and had a tally of 11 lakh subscribers until 31 May 2016.
Please refer to figure 1 below for wireline broadband subscriber data of the top five players:

Overall, the top 5 wired broadband players have added 2.4 lakh subscribers (36.92 percent of total wireline broadband subscriber additions) between 1 January 2016 and 31May 2016 as opposed to the overall growth of 6.5 lakh subscribers in the country during the same period. Please refer to Fig 2 below:

In Mar-16, the largest ever number of wired broadband subscribers were added – in absolute numbers as well as in month-over-month (m-o-m) percentage terms. 2.3 lakh wired broadband subscribers were added, with m-o-m growth of 1.37 percent in Mar-16. The combined subscription numbers of the top 5 wired broadband players also had the largest ever subscriber additions in terms of absolute numbers at 1 lakh and at 0.71 percent in terms of m-o-m growth in Mar-16.

Thesubscriber numbers share of the top five wired broadband players in the country has reduced from 87.62 percent in Mar-15 to 83.45 percent as on May-16. During the same period the all India wireline internet subscriber base has grown 10.57 percent from 155.2 lakh to 171.6 lakh. The combined numbers of the top five players have increased by less than half of that in percentage terms – by 4.99 per cent from 136.4 lakh to 143.2 lakh. The top five players have added 6.8lakh subscribers during these 15 months, with ACT and Bharti Airtel contributing a major chunk to the growth.

Other wireline broadband players in India

MSOs’ in India have started providing internet services on the back of their television cable networks using Docsis technology. In general, they have started reporting double digit YoY increase in internet subscribers and revenue. The television cable players see broadband services improving their Average Revenue per User (ARPU) numbers. Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO – Hathway, Siti Cable, Den Networks, Ortel Communications respectively whose results are available in the public domain have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters. All the four have been reporting growth in average revenue per user (ARPU).

Overall broadband subscriber numbers for May 2016 including wireless and mobile

Overall, as per the reports received by TRAI from the service providers, the number ofbroadband subscribers (including wireless, mobile, dongles) increased from 151.09 million (15.109 crore) at the end of Apr-16 to 159.76 million (15.976 crore) at the end of May-16 with a monthly growth rate of 0.89 percent. The top five service providers constituted 84.32 percent market share of the totalbroadband subscribers at the end of May-16. These service providers were Airtel (40.80 million or 4.08 crore), Vodafone (31.55 million or 3.155 crore), Idea Cellular (25.70 million or 2.57 crore), BSNL (20.76 million 2.076 crore) and Reliance Communications Group (15.91 million or 1.591 crore).TRAI’s definition of broadband is internet download speeds greater than or equal to 512 Kpbs.

Notes:(1) The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR).The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:
(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.
(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

(2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers up to 2 decimal places. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.47 million (4.7 lakh) subscribers for You BB for July-2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages have been mentioned up to two decimal places, the accuracy may vary, depending upon the exact number.
(3) Industry sources say that TRAI numbers in the case of ACT for May-2015 are incorrect at 0.66 million and the correct number would be 0.693 million. This paper considers the number as 6.93 lakh or 0.693 million.
(4) MSOs’ have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger. Hathway is a case in point.

August 2, 2016