Tag: Bharti Airtel Limited

Amazon, Smithkline odd ones in FMCG top 10 TV ads

BENGALURU: The first week of 2017 saw an all FMCG hold over the top 10 television advertisers list in terms of ad insertions as per BARC data. The total number of television ad insertions by the top 10 brands in week 1 of 2017 (Saturday, 31 December 2016 to Friday 6 January 2017) was 268,323 as per Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data for top 10 advertisers Across Genre: All India (U+R): 4+ Individuals

Spoiling that perfect 10 score in week two of 2017 were online retail player Amazon Online India Pvt Ltd at eighth place with 17,512 ad insertions and Indian music major Super Cassettes Industries placed at ninth spot with 17,250 ad insertions. The rest of the players among the top ten advertisers in terms of ad insertions in week 2 were all FMCG players.

While music company Super Cassettes exited the list, Amazon Online India Pvt Ltd (Amazon) climbed to fifth place from eighth place in the top 10 TV advertisers in terms of ad insertions in BARC week 3 (Saturday 14 January 2017 to Friday 20 January 2017). Amazon’s ad insertions in week 3 of 2017 to promote its Great Indian Sale between 20 and 22 January 2017 increased a phenomenal 54.69 percent in week 3 to 27,089 from 17,512 in week 2. Pharmaceutical major Smithkline Beecham joined the top 10 list with 18,786 insertions(5.40 percent of total of top 10 advertisers list) in week 3 at eighth place.

The total number of television ads by the top 10 companies in terms of insertions increased 19.98 percent to 321,923 in week 2 of 2017 as compared to week 1 of 2017. In week 3 of 2017 when compared to week 2 of 2017, the total increased by 8 percent to 347,695 TV ad insertions.

Despite higher number of television ad insertions (5.02 percent more) in week 3 (17,444 insertions) ITC Ltd continued at tenth place. In week 2, ITC Ltd had 14,438 TV ad insertions.

Please refer to Fig A below for relative positions of the top 10 TV advertising companies in terms of ad insertions.

While the first four ranks in terms of TV ad insertions in weeks 2 and 3 of 2017 remained the same, there were changes in terms of number insertions, percentage insertions with respect to total ad insertions and changes among the other ranks between weeks 2 and 3. The top four advertisers in weeks 2 and 3 were Hindustan Lever Limited (Lever), Reckitt Benckiser (India) Ltd (Reckitt Benckiser), PatanjaliAyurved Ltd (Patanjali) and Cadbury’s India Limited.

January 28, 2017
Q3-17: Jio affects Airtel revenue; Digital TV segment numbers up

BENGALURU: Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) reported 3 percent decline in total revenue for the quarter ended 31 December 2016 (Q3-17, current quarter) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter. The drop was partially affected by a drop in revenue due to divestments of its Africa operating units, tower assets sale and merger of Bangladesh operations. However, like in the previous quarter, Reliance Jio’s entry has resulted in a drop in the company’s India mobile revenues which contribute a lion’s share to overall revenue.

Airtel MD and CEO of India and South Asia regions Gopal Vittal said, “The quarter has seen turbulence due to the continued predatory pricing by a new operator. The present termination costs at 14 paise which are well below cost has resulted in a tsunami of minutes terminating into our network. This has led to an unprecedented year on year revenue decline for the industry, pressure on margins and a serious impact on the financial health of the sector. At the same time our commitment to provide a superior experience to our customers has led to revenue market share crossing a lifetime high of 33 percent. Airtel revenues grew by 1.8 percent Y-o-Y and our non-mobile businesses continue to grow at a healthy clip and now contribute a sizable 24 percent of our total revenues.”

In consonance with Vittal statement, Airtel’s Digital TV Services segment (DTH segment) reported 17.7 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in operating revenues for the quarter ended 31 December 2016 (Q3-17, current quarter). Also, Operating Profit (Earnings Before interest and Tax – EBIT) of the DTH segment in the current quarter increased 27.1 percent year-over-year (y-o-y).

Airtel DTH reported revenues of Rs 873.5 crore in Q3-17 and Rs 742.2 crore in Q3-16. EBIT for the corresponding periods was Rs 68.4 crore (7.8 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue) and Rs 53.8 crore (7.2 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue), respectively.

EBIDTA in Q3-17 also increased y-o-y – by 22.3 percent to Rs 302.6 crore (34.6 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue) in the current quarter from Rs 247.4 crore (33.3 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue).

Subscription numbers, ARPU

Airtel’s DTH segment added 14.82 lakh subscribers between Q3-16 and Q3-17, or a 17.3 percent y-o-y increase. It had 125.88 lakh subscribers as on 31 December 2016. Q-o-q, the segment witnessed a 1.5 percent growth (1.83 lakh adds) in subscribers from 124.05 lakh in Q2-17.

ARPU in Q3-17 increased to Rs 232 from Rs 229 in the corresponding year ago quarter, but remained flat q-o-q as compared to the immediate trailing quarter.

Airtel numbers

Bharti Airtel Limited saw a 3 percent decline in operating revenue to Rs 23335.7crore in Q3-17 as compared to Rs 24065.9 crore in Q3-16.. Profit after tax (PAT) in the current quarter declined to less than half (declined by 54.5 percent) y-o-y to Rs 504 crore (2.2 percent margin) from Rs 1,108 crore (4.6 percent margin). The company attributes decline in profits to net interest costs of Rs 1,810 crore that have risen from Rs 1,360 crore in the corresponding quarter last year largely due to increased spectrum related interest costs. Further, forex and derivative losses for the quarter came in at Rs 126 crore compared to Rs 57 crore in the corresponding quarter last year as well as exceptional items net losses of Rs 114 crore.

January 24, 2017
Q3-17: Jio affects Airtel revenue; Digital TV segment numbers up

BENGALURU: Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) reported 3 percent decline in total revenue for the quarter ended 31 December 2016 (Q3-17, current quarter) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter. The drop was partially affected by a drop in revenue due to divestments of its Africa operating units, tower assets sale and merger of Bangladesh operations. However, like in the previous quarter, Reliance Jio’s entry has resulted in a drop in the company’s India mobile revenues which contribute a lion’s share to overall revenue.

Airtel MD and CEO of India and South Asia regions Gopal Vittal said, “The quarter has seen turbulence due to the continued predatory pricing by a new operator. The present termination costs at 14 paise which are well below cost has resulted in a tsunami of minutes terminating into our network. This has led to an unprecedented year on year revenue decline for the industry, pressure on margins and a serious impact on the financial health of the sector. At the same time our commitment to provide a superior experience to our customers has led to revenue market share crossing a lifetime high of 33 percent. Airtel revenues grew by 1.8 percent Y-o-Y and our non-mobile businesses continue to grow at a healthy clip and now contribute a sizable 24 percent of our total revenues.”

In consonance with Vittal statement, Airtel’s Digital TV Services segment (DTH segment) reported 17.7 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in operating revenues for the quarter ended 31 December 2016 (Q3-17, current quarter). Also, Operating Profit (Earnings Before interest and Tax – EBIT) of the DTH segment in the current quarter increased 27.1 percent year-over-year (y-o-y).

Airtel DTH reported revenues of Rs 873.5 crore in Q3-17 and Rs 742.2 crore in Q3-16. EBIT for the corresponding periods was Rs 68.4 crore (7.8 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue) and Rs 53.8 crore (7.2 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue), respectively.

EBIDTA in Q3-17 also increased y-o-y – by 22.3 percent to Rs 302.6 crore (34.6 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue) in the current quarter from Rs 247.4 crore (33.3 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue).

Subscription numbers, ARPU

Airtel’s DTH segment added 14.82 lakh subscribers between Q3-16 and Q3-17, or a 17.3 percent y-o-y increase. It had 125.88 lakh subscribers as on 31 December 2016. Q-o-q, the segment witnessed a 1.5 percent growth (1.83 lakh adds) in subscribers from 124.05 lakh in Q2-17.

ARPU in Q3-17 increased to Rs 232 from Rs 229 in the corresponding year ago quarter, but remained flat q-o-q as compared to the immediate trailing quarter.

Airtel numbers

Bharti Airtel Limited saw a 3 percent decline in operating revenue to Rs 23335.7crore in Q3-17 as compared to Rs 24065.9 crore in Q3-16.. Profit after tax (PAT) in the current quarter declined to less than half (declined by 54.5 percent) y-o-y to Rs 504 crore (2.2 percent margin) from Rs 1,108 crore (4.6 percent margin). The company attributes decline in profits to net interest costs of Rs 1,810 crore that have risen from Rs 1,360 crore in the corresponding quarter last year largely due to increased spectrum related interest costs. Further, forex and derivative losses for the quarter came in at Rs 126 crore compared to Rs 57 crore in the corresponding quarter last year as well as exceptional items net losses of Rs 114 crore.

January 24, 2017
It’s all FMCG brands among top 10 TV advertisers in week one of 2017

BENGALURU: Hindustan Lever Limited (Lever) brands led the FMCG brands with a massive 96,682 television advertisement insertions (36.03 percent of the total insertions by top 10 advertisers). The total number of television ad insertions by the top10 brands in week 1 of 2017 (Saturday, 31 December 2016 to Friday 6 January 2017) was 268,323 as Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data for top 10 advertisers Across Genre: All India (U+R): 4+ Individuals. All the companies among the top 10 television advertisers were FMCG players. The total number of insertions by the top 10 advertisers in week 1 was 3.22 percent more than the 259,961 insertions in week 52 of 2016. Lever’s ad insertions in week 1 increased 11.36 percent from 86,819 in the previous week.

Besides Lever being mentioned in the list of top 10 advertisers in terms of insertions, BARC has also mentioned some of its subsidiary/brands separately in the lists, including Brooke Bond Lipton India Ltd, Ponds India. Similarly, Godrej companies Godrej Consumer Products Ltd andGodrej Sara Lee Ltd find places at eighth and tenth spots with 11,792 (4.39 percent of total) and 11,471 (4.25 percent) insertions respectively.

At second place and trailing far behind was Reckitt Benckiser (India) Ltd with 29,538 (11.01 percent) of insertions. PatanjaliAyurved Limited (Payanjali), which had stood at number 2 for the last four weeks of 2016, was placed third in week 1 of 2017 with 29,538 (10.82 percent) insertions, 13.05 percent lower than the 33,381 insertions in week 52 of 2016.

Please refer to Fig A for BARC data on top 10 advertisers in terms of insertions Across Genre: All India (U+R): 4+ Individualsfor week 1 of 2017 below:

As mentioned above, in weeks 49 to 52 of 2016, Lever led the pack followed by Patanjali. Among mobile services, Bharti Airtel Ltd was also present in all the last four weeks of 2016. Please refer to Fig B below for Fig B – BARC: Top 10 Advertisers Across Genre: All India (U+R) : 4+ Individuals – weeks 49-52 of 2016:

January 13, 2017
It’s all FMCG brands among top 10 TV advertisers in week one of 2017

BENGALURU: Hindustan Lever Limited (Lever) brands led the FMCG brands with a massive 96,682 television advertisement insertions (36.03 percent of the total insertions by top 10 advertisers). The total number of television ad insertions by the top10 brands in week 1 of 2017 (Saturday, 31 December 2016 to Friday 6 January 2017) was 268,323 as Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data for top 10 advertisers Across Genre: All India (U+R): 4+ Individuals. All the companies among the top 10 television advertisers were FMCG players. The total number of insertions by the top 10 advertisers in week 1 was 3.22 percent more than the 259,961 insertions in week 52 of 2016. Lever’s ad insertions in week 1 increased 11.36 percent from 86,819 in the previous week.

Besides Lever being mentioned in the list of top 10 advertisers in terms of insertions, BARC has also mentioned some of its subsidiary/brands separately in the lists, including Brooke Bond Lipton India Ltd, Ponds India. Similarly, Godrej companies Godrej Consumer Products Ltd andGodrej Sara Lee Ltd find places at eighth and tenth spots with 11,792 (4.39 percent of total) and 11,471 (4.25 percent) insertions respectively.

At second place and trailing far behind was Reckitt Benckiser (India) Ltd with 29,538 (11.01 percent) of insertions. PatanjaliAyurved Limited (Payanjali), which had stood at number 2 for the last four weeks of 2016, was placed third in week 1 of 2017 with 29,538 (10.82 percent) insertions, 13.05 percent lower than the 33,381 insertions in week 52 of 2016.

Please refer to Fig A for BARC data on top 10 advertisers in terms of insertions Across Genre: All India (U+R): 4+ Individualsfor week 1 of 2017 below:

As mentioned above, in weeks 49 to 52 of 2016, Lever led the pack followed by Patanjali. Among mobile services, Bharti Airtel Ltd was also present in all the last four weeks of 2016. Please refer to Fig B below for Fig B – BARC: Top 10 Advertisers Across Genre: All India (U+R) : 4+ Individuals – weeks 49-52 of 2016:

January 13, 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
Hindustan Lever, Patanjali had largest TV ad insertions

BENGALURU: Over the last four weeks of calendar year 2016, Hindustan Lever Limited (Lever) and Patanjali have been the top advertisers in terms of number of television ad insertions according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) data for weeks 49 (Saturday 3 December 2016) until week 52 (Friday 30 December 2016). The data covers Top 10 Advertiser’s Across Genre: All India (U+R) : 4+ Individuals.

Lever with 64,264 (36.19 percent), 62,655 (31.95 percent), 66,922 (29.44 percent) and 86,817 (33.40 percent) adinsertions in weeks 49, 50, 51 and 52 respectively of 2016 held numerouno position as top television advertiser in terms of ad insertions. Patanjali with 18,539 (10.44 percent), 23,430 (11.95 percent), 33,064 (14.55 percent), and 33,381 (12.84 percent)television ad insertions in weeks 49, 50, 51 and 52 respectively of 2016 stood second.

Bharti Airtel Limited, Ponds India and Brooke Bond Lipton India Limited were the other brands that were present across all the 4 weeks among the top 10 television advertisers in terms of ad insertions.Smithkline Beecham was amongst the top 10 advertisers in terms of television ad insertions for weeks 50, 51 and 52. Please refer to Figure A below for list of Top 10 Advertisers across genre: All India (Urban + Rural): 4+ individuals.

As is obvious from the charts above, the total number of insertions has increased steadily from week 49 from 177,582 to 259,961 (by 82,379 insertions 46.39 percent increase) in week 52. The increase in total number of ad insertions by the top 10 advertisers between weeks 49 and 50 was 18,533 (10.44 percent); between weeks 50 and 51 was 31,169 (15.89 percent); between weeks 51 and 52 was 32,677 (14.38 percent).

January 6, 2017
Hindustan Lever, Patanjali had largest TV ad insertions

BENGALURU: Over the last four weeks of calendar year 2016, Hindustan Lever Limited (Lever) and Patanjali have been the top advertisers in terms of number of television ad insertions according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) data for weeks 49 (Saturday 3 December 2016) until week 52 (Friday 30 December 2016). The data covers Top 10 Advertiser’s Across Genre: All India (U+R) : 4+ Individuals.

Lever with 64,264 (36.19 percent), 62,655 (31.95 percent), 66,922 (29.44 percent) and 86,817 (33.40 percent) adinsertions in weeks 49, 50, 51 and 52 respectively of 2016 held numerouno position as top television advertiser in terms of ad insertions. Patanjali with 18,539 (10.44 percent), 23,430 (11.95 percent), 33,064 (14.55 percent), and 33,381 (12.84 percent)television ad insertions in weeks 49, 50, 51 and 52 respectively of 2016 stood second.

Bharti Airtel Limited, Ponds India and Brooke Bond Lipton India Limited were the other brands that were present across all the 4 weeks among the top 10 television advertisers in terms of ad insertions.Smithkline Beecham was amongst the top 10 advertisers in terms of television ad insertions for weeks 50, 51 and 52. Please refer to Figure A below for list of Top 10 Advertisers across genre: All India (Urban + Rural): 4+ individuals.

As is obvious from the charts above, the total number of insertions has increased steadily from week 49 from 177,582 to 259,961 (by 82,379 insertions 46.39 percent increase) in week 52. The increase in total number of ad insertions by the top 10 advertisers between weeks 49 and 50 was 18,533 (10.44 percent); between weeks 50 and 51 was 31,169 (15.89 percent); between weeks 51 and 52 was 32,677 (14.38 percent).

January 6, 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