India - Major Telecommunications Operators

The dynamic Indian telecommunications market has one particularly compelling feature – the very large number of significant operators. As the market constantly adjusts to the changing pressures and demands, takeovers and mergers ensure that some level of equilibrium is maintained. In the meantime, we see significant shifts in market share among the players. Of course it is the country’s booming mobile segment in which the major battles are being fought. Three major private players – Bharti, Reliance and Vodafone, with a formidable 54% share of the market between them, lead a field of 14 mobile operators. State-owned enterprises –BSNL and MTNL – have also been making their presence felt with a combined market share of 12%. Although the fixed-line telephony market in India has seen little growth of late (and is in fact shrinking), it remains an important segment of the overall market. It is the two state-owned operators that deliver the overwhelming majority of fixed-line services. This report provides details of the many players in India’s telecommunications market. The information offered includes comprehensive set of statistics covering the key areas in which the various telcos operate.

Key developments:

In a strong growth market the leading mobile operators have managed to hold market share and rankings; at in the meantime, the 2G scandal was continuing to cause a series of problems for operators; Batelco became the first foreign operator to exit the Indian market in the wake of the scandal; a number of other operators are considering whether to rebid in the re-auction of 2G licences; the regulators were aiming to hold the re-auction before the end of 2012, but further delays could occur; Uninor partners, Telenor and Unitech, were continuing to battle of the future of their the joint venture, with the issue becoming very heated; efforts of the government to increase participation of private operators in rolling out fixed lines have met with little success.

Companies covered in this report include:

Aircel/Dishnet, Bharti Airtel, Loop Mobile (BPL Mobile), Quadrant (HFCL), Idea/Spice, Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, Vodafone Essar, Uninor (Unitech), Videocon, S Tel, Bharti Telenet, Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices, Sistema (Shyam Telelink), Swan Telecom, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), Data Access, Hughes Telecom, Videocon, AT&T, France Telecom, Tulip Telecom, SingTel, Hathway Cable, Datacom.