Telcos get revenue shock

Three leading incumbent mobile phone companies - Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and BSNL - have all lost revenue market share in FY11, an analysis of the data submitted to sector regulator TRAI by all telcos has revealed. These telcos recorded over 1% decline in their revenue market share, with BSNL showing the maximum dip, capping a series of dismal results for the state-owned telco in the last four years that saw the erstwhile monopoly being reduced to a bit player in the fast-growing market. But other incumbents have made significant strides over the last fiscal. Idea Cellular, Vodafone Essar, Aircel and Tata Teleservices have all increased their revenue market share by 60 to 80 basis points during the last 12 months. These operators also enjoyed significant gains in their overall revenues in FY11 – Aircel's revenues from mobile services for the 12-month ended March 2011 surged 36% to Rs 5,620 crore, while Tata Teleservices recorded a 22.2% jump to Rs 10,006 crore. Idea Cellular's sales were up by 19.4% and Vodafone by 15%, as per data released by TRAI. Bharti Airtel, albeit on a higher base, recorded a 7.2% increase in mobile services revenues in FY11 to Rs 37,534 crore. But the market grew at a faster rate at 12%, as per the telecom regulator. "This is an indicator that mid-cap mobile companies are gaining at the expense of some of the larger players. But the big picture in the telecom sector has not changed.

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