India - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Last updated: 27 Jul 2020 Update History

Report Pages: 168

Analyst: Sebastien De Rosbo

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Summary
Table Of Contents

India’s stressed mobile sector gains investor interest

The mobile market continues to be the main focus of India’s telecom sector, securing the bulk of operator capex. There is also considerable government investment in national infrastructure, including the BharatNet project which aims to connect 250,000 villages to broadband networks, of which 100,000 are expected to be connected with FttP services by the end of 2020.

Although there is continuing major expansion of operator network infrastructure, the main MNOs have been under financial stress caused by competitive pressure on pricing as well as the high Adjusted Gross Revenue charges. This has obliged the operators to raise revenue from outside investors, while Vodafone Idea has had to be bailed out by its two main shareholders to avoid bankruptcy. By mid-2020 the huge investments made by a number of private equity funds, as well as global operators including Facebook and Google, had dramatically demonstrated confidence in the world’s second largest market.

The recent financial difficulties of the main MNOs caused the government to delay the multi-spectrum auction, which is now expected to be held by late 2020. This will have knock-on effects on the availability and reach of 5G services in coming years. Compounding difficulties for the MNOs is government disapproval of the MNOs relying too heavily on Chinese vendors, a result of recent political disagreements exacerbated by border disputes in the far north.

India’s fixed-line and fixed broadband sectors remain highly under-developed, largely due to the dominance of the mobile platform and the relatively limited extent of fixed infrastructure.

BuddeComm notes that the outbreak of the Coronavirus in 2020 is having a significant impact on production and supply chains globally. During the coming year the telecoms sector to various degrees is likely to experience a downturn in mobile device production, while it may also be difficult for network operators to manage workflows when maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructure. Overall progress towards 5G may be postponed or slowed down in some countries.

On the consumer side, spending on telecoms services and devices is under pressure from the financial effect of large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes. However, the crucial nature of telecom services, both for general communication as well as a tool for home-working, will offset such pressures. In many markets the net effect should be a steady though reduced increased in subscriber growth.

Although it is challenging to predict and interpret the long-term impacts of the crisis as it develops, these have been acknowledged in the industry forecasts contained in this report.

The report also covers the responses of the telecom operators as well as government agencies and regulators as they react to the crisis to ensure that citizens can continue to make optimum use of telecom services. This can be reflected in subsidy schemes and the promotion of tele-health and tele-education, among other solutions.

Key Developments

India takes additional steps towards the delayed 5G spectrum auction;
BSNL partners with Ciena to trial 5G;
Submarine cable linking mainland to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands expected to be completed by end-2020;
Report update includes the regulator’s market data to March 2020, telcos’ operating and financial results to Q1 2020, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of COVID-19 on the telecoms sector, recent market developments.

Key companies mentioned in this report:

Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Loop Mobile (BPL Mobile), Vodafone Idea, Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, Videocon, S Tel, Bharti Telenet, Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices, Sistema (Shyam Telelink), Swan Telecom, Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL), Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), Spectra, Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJI), Sistema

Key statistics
Regional Asian Market Comparison
COVID-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Economic considerations and responses
Mobile devices
Subscribers
Infrastructure

Telecommunications market

Market analysis

Regulatory environment

Historical overview
Regulatory authorities

Ministry for Communications (MoC)
Department of Telecommunications (DoT)
Telecom Commission
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
Telecom Dispute Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT)
Communications Commission of India (CCI)
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)

Fixed-line developments

Licensing circles
Licensing – VNOs
Net Neutrality
Fibre access
Interconnect

Mobile network developments

Spectrum
Mobile subscriber verification
Interconnection
Roaming
Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

Mobile market

Geographic segments
Rural expansion

Mobile statistics
Mobile infrastructure

5G
4G/LTE
CDMA
Other infrastructure developments
Mobile broadband

Major mobile operators

Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL)
Bharti Airtel
Vodafone Idea
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL)
Quadrant
Reliance Communications (RCOM)
Aircel
Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio)
Tata Teleservices
Reach Mobile
MVNOs

Mobile content and applications

M-Commerce

Fixed-line broadband market

Market analysis
Broadband statistics

National Broadband Plan

Fixed broadband ISPs

Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL)
Bharti Airtel
Hughes Telecom
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL)
Atria Convergence Technologies (ACT)
Vodafone Idea
Reliance Jio

Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) networks
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks
Other fixed broadband services

WiMAX
Wi-Fi
Project Loon

Digital economy

Overview
e-Payments
e-Education
Smart meters

Fixed network operators

BSNL
Bharti Airtel
MTNL
Quadrant
Reliance Communications

SSTL (Sistema)

TATA Teleservices
Videocon
Vodafone Idea

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network
Rural and regional networks

Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF)
Public Call Offices (PCOs)

BharatNet / National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN)
Next Generation Networks (NGN)
International infrastructure

Submarine cable networks
Satellite networks

Data Centres

Major providers

Smart infrastructure

IoT
Smart cities
Artificial Intelligence

Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – India – 2020 (e)
Table 2 – Cumulative mobile number portings – 2012 - 2020
Table 3 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2010 – 2025
Table 4 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers in urban and rural areas – 2011 – 2020
Table 5 – Change in mobile penetration in urban and rural areas – 2010 – 2020
Table 6 – Decline in mobile ARPU (contract, prepaid, blended) – 2017 – 2019
Table 7 – Change in mobile ARPU (GSM and CDMA) – 2014 – 2018
Table 8 – Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers, penetration – 2011 - 2025
Table 9 – Change in the mobile market share of subscribers (major MNOs) – 2010 - 2020
Table 10 – Growth in the number of BSNL’s mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Table 11 – Growth in the number of Bharti Airtel’s mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Table 12 – Change in Bharti Airtel’s mobile ARPU – 2009 – 2020
Table 13 – Growth in the number of Vodafone Idea’s mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Table 14 – Change in Vodafone Idea mobile ARPU – 2007 – 2011; 2013 – 2020
Table 15 – Change in the number of MTNL’s mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Table 16 – Change in the number of RCOM’s mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Table 17 – Growth in the number of Reliance Jio’s mobile subscribers – 2016 – 2020
Table 18 – Reliance mobile ARPU – 2017 - 2019
Table 19 – Decline in the number of Tata Teleservices’ mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2018
Table 20 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2010 – 2025
Table 21 – Development of internet penetration – 2008 – 2020
Table 22 – Growth in the number of cable modem subscribers – 2010 – 2017
Table 23 – Change in the number of DSL subscribers – 2010 – 2017
Table 24 – Growth in the number of fibre broadband subscribers – 2010 – 2017
Table 25 – Fixed-line subscribers (millions) by operator – 2012 – 2014; 2016 – 2020
Table 26 – Market share of fixed-lines in service by main provider – 2013 - 2020
Table 27 – Decline in the number of BSNL’s fixed-line subscribers – 2012 – 2020
Table 28 – Growth in the number of Bharti Airtel’s fixed-line subscribers – 2008 – 2020
Table 29 – Decline in the number of MTNL’s fixed-line subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Table 30 – Change in the number of Quadrant’s fixed-line subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Table 31 – Decline in the number of Reliance’s fixed-line subscribers – 2010 - 2020
Table 32 – Growth in the number of Tata’s fixed-line subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Table 33 – Growth in the number of Vodafone Idea’s fixed-line subscribers – 2011 – 2020
Table 34 – Development of Vodafone Idea’s financial data – 2018 – 2020
Table 35 – Change in the number of fixed-line subscribers and penetration – 2010 – 2025
Table 36 – Decline in the number of PCOs in operation – 2008 – 2019
Table 37 –- Growth in international internet bandwidth – 2010 – 2018
Table 38 – Historic - Mobile subscribers (GSM and CDMA) – 2002 – 2018
Table 39 – Historic - Vodafone Idea - mobile subscribers – 2002 – 2009
Table 40 – Historic - Vodafone - mobile ARPU – 2008 – 2018
Table 41 – Historic - Vodafone mobile subscribers – 2002 – 2018
Table 42 – Historic - Reliance mobile subscribers – 2002 – 2009
Table 43 – Historic - MTNL mobile subscribers – 2002 – 2009
Table 44 – Historic - Bharti Airtel mobile subscribers – 2002 – 2009
Table 45 – Historic - Tata Teleservices mobile subscribers – 2002 – 2009
Table 46 – Historic - BSNL mobile subscribers – 2002 – 2009
Table 47 – Historic - MTNL mobile subscribers – 2002 – 2009
Table 48 – Historic - Vodafone mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2017
Table 49 – Bharti Airtel mobile ARPU – 2005 – 2009
Table 50 – Historic - Quadrant mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2017
Table 51 – Historic - Sistema mobile subscribers – 2008 – 2017
Table 52 – Historic - Telenor mobile subscribers – 2009 - 2017
Table 53 – Historic - Aircel mobile subscribers – 2004 – 2018
Table 54 – Historic - Reliance mobile ARPU – 2007 – 2017
Table 55 – Historic - Mobile ARPU (GSM and CDMA) – 2005 – 2013
Table 56 – Historic - Fixed broadband subscribers - market share by access type – 2014
Table 57 – Historic - Dial-up internet subscribers – 2007 – 2012
Table 58 –- Historic - International internet bandwidth – 2000 – 2009
Table 59 – Historic - Number of licensed ISPs – 2002 – 2003; 2005; 2008 – 2013
Table 60 – Historic - Cable modem subscribers – 2001 – 2009
Table 61 – Historic - DSL subscribers – 2001 – 2009
Table 62 – Historic - Reliance fixed-line subscribers – 2005 - 2009
Table 63 – Historic - Sistema fixed-line subscribers – 2010 – 2017
Table 64 – Historic - Videocon mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2015
Table 65 – Historic - Fixed-line subscribers and teledensity – 1995 – 2005

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Asian Telecoms Maturity Index by Market Category
Chart 2 – Asian Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita
Chart 3 – Telecoms Maturity Index – Central Asia
Chart 4 – Cumulative mobile number portings – 2012 - 2020
Chart 5 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2010 – 2025
Chart 6 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers in urban and rural areas – 2011 – 2020
Chart 7 – Change in mobile penetration in urban and rural areas – 2010 – 2020
Chart 8 – Decline in mobile penetration in urban and rural areas – 2017 – 2019
Chart 9 – Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 - 2025
Chart 10 – Change in the mobile market share of subscribers (major MNOs) – 2010 - 2020
Chart 11 – Growth in the number of BSNL’s mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Chart 12 – Growth in the number of Bharti Airtel’s mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Chart 13 – Growth in the number of Vodafone Idea’s mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Chart 14 – Change in Vodafone Idea mobile ARPU – 2007 – 2011; 2013 – 2020
Chart 15 – Growth in the number of MTNL’s mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Chart 16 – Change in the number of RCOM’s mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Chart 17 – Growth in the number of Reliance Jio’s mobile subscribers – 2016 – 2020
Chart 18 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2010 – 2025
Chart 19 – Development of internet penetration – 2008 – 2020
Chart 20 – Decline in the number of BSNL’s fixed-line subscribers – 2012 – 2020
Chart 21 – Growth in the number of Bharti Airtel’s fixed-line subscribers – 2008 – 2020
Chart 22 – Decline in the number of MTNL’s fixed-line subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Chart 23 – Change in the number of Quadrant’s fixed-line subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Chart 24 – Decline in the number of Reliance’s fixed-line subscribers – 2010 - 2020
Chart 25 – Growth in the number of Tata’s fixed-line subscribers – 2010 – 2020
Chart 26 – Growth in the number of Vodafone Idea’s fixed-line subscribers – 2011 – 2020
Chart 27 - Change in the number of fixed-line subscribers and penetration – 2010 – 2025
Chart 28 - Decline in the number of PCOs in operation – 2008 – 2018

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Key Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 3 – Spectrum auction results - 2016
Exhibit 4 – CDMA 3G commercial deployments in India
Exhibit 5 – Major shareholders in Bharti Airtel
Exhibit 6 – International submarine cable systems with landing points in India
Exhibit 7 – ISRO satellite network

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India - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

India’s stressed mobile sector gains investor interest

Key Developments

Key companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Regional Asian Market Comparison

COVID-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-line broadband market

Digital economy

Fixed network operators

Telecommunications infrastructure

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

Purchase with Confidence

Research Methodology

Sample Reports

Hot Topics

News & Views