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Index
SR.
NO CONTENTS
PAGE
NO.
1 Introduction 19-27
2

Recent Government Policies and Targets



28-31
3 Telephone Statistics 32
4 Findings and analysis

36-37
5 Conclusion

38-40
6 Annexure 41
7 Bibliography 42







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Abstract
My research related to growth and rise in Indian Telecom Sector outlines or focuses on these key
aspects:
The telecom industry has been divided into two major segments, that is, fixed and wireless
cellular services for this report. Besides, internet services, VAS, PMRTS and VSAT also have
been discussed in brief in the report.
In todays information age, the telecommunication industry has a vital role to play. Considered
as the backbone of industrial and economic development, the industry has been aiding delivery
of voice and data services at rapidly increasing speeds, and thus, has been revolutionising
human communication.
Although the Indian telecom industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, the
current teledensity or telecom penetration is extremely low when compared with global
standards. Indias teledensity of 36.98% in FY09 is amongst the lowest in the world. Further,
the urban teledensity is over 80%, while rural teledensity is less than 20%, and this gap is
increasing. As majority of the population resides in rural areas, it is important that the
government takes steps to improve rural teledensity. No doubt the government has taken certain
policy initiatives, which include the creation of the Universal Service Obligation Fund, for
improving rural telephony. These measures are expected to improve the rural tele-density and
bridge the rural-urban gap in tele-density.




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Background - Evolution
Indian telecom sector is more than 165 years old. Telecommunications was first introduced in
India in 1851 when the first operational land lines were laid by the government near Kolkata
(then Calcutta), although telephone services were formally introduced in India much later in
1881. Further, in 1883, telephone services were merged with the postal system. In 1947, after
India attained independence, all foreign telecommunication companies were nationalised to
form the Posts, Telephone and Telegraph (PTT), a body that was governed by the Ministry of
Communication. The Indian telecom sector was entirely under government ownership until
1984, when the private sector was allowed in telecommunication equipment manufacturing
only. The government concretised its earlier efforts towards developing R&D in the sector by
setting up an autonomous body Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) in 1984 to
develop state-of-the-art telecommunication technology to meet the growing needs of the Indian
telecommunication network. The actual evolution of the industry started after the Government
separated the Department of Post and Telegraph in 1985 by setting up the Department of Posts
and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
The entire evolution of the telecom industry can be classified into three distinct phases.
Phase I- Pre-Libralisation Era (1980-89)
Phase II- Post Libralisation Era (1990-99)
Phase III- Post 2000
Until the late 90s the Government of India held a monopoly on all types of communications as
a result of the Telegraph Act of 1885. As mentioned earlier in the chapter, until the industry was
liberalised in the early nineties, it was a heavily government-controlled and small-sized market,
Government policies have played a key role in shaping the structure and size of the Telecom
industry in India. As a result, the Indian telecom market is one of the most liberalised market in
the world with private participation in almost all of its segments. The New Telecom Policy
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(NTP-99) provided the much needed impetus to the growth of this industry and set the trend for
libralisation in the industry.






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Brief Introduction
India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world based on the total
number of telephone users (both fixed and mobile phone). It has one of the lowest call tariffs
in the world enabled by the mega telephone networks and hyper-competition among them. It
has the world's third-largest Internet user-base with over 137 million as of June 2012. Major
sectors of the Indian telecommunication industry are telephony, internet and television
broadcasting.
The total revenue of the Indian telecom sector grew by 7% to 283207 crore (US$43 billion)
for 201011 financial year, while revenues from telecom equipment segment stood at
117039 crore (US$18 billion).
Telecommunication has supported the socioeconomic development of India and has played a
significant role to narrow down the rural-urban digital divide to some extent. It also has
helped to increase the transparency of governance with the introduction of e-governance in
India. The government has pragmatically used modern telecommunication facilities to
deliver mass education programmes for the rural folk of India.
Telephone Industry in the country which is in an ongoing process of transforming into next
generation network, employs an extensive system of modern network elements such as
digital telephone, mobile switching centers, media gateways and signaling gateways at the
core, interconnected by a wide variety of transmission systems using fiber-optics or
Microwave radio relay networks. The access network, which connects the subscriber to the
core, is highly diversified with different copper-pair, optic-fiber and wireless
technologies. DTH, a relatively new broadcasting technology has attained significant
popularity in the Television segment. The introduction of private FM has given a fillip to
the radio broadcasting in India. Telecommunication in India has greatly been supported by
the INSAT system of the country, one of the largest domestic satellite systems in the world.
India possesses a diversified communications system, which links all parts of the country by
telephone, Internet, radio, television and satellite.
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OBJECTIVE
Research is on Formulation of certain strategies and execution of the same, which is done
by me to focus on growth of telecom companies in India. At the base of this strategy
formulation lie various processes and the effectiveness of the former lies in the
meticulous design of these processes.
Formulation of strategies for the industry
Employment
The Indian telecommunication industry employs over 400,000 direct employees and about
85% of these employees are from government-owned companies. The ratio of number of
subscribers to employees, an indication of efficiency and profitability, is much higher for
private companies than for government companies.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Foreign direct investment has been one of the major contributors in the growth of the Indian
economy, and therefore, the need for higher FDI is felt across sectors in the Indian economy.
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The telecom sector has played a crucial role in attracting FDI in India. The share of telecom
sector in the total FDI inflows in India has gone up to 10% in FY09 as compared with just
3% in FY05.
1. The telecom sector requires huge investments for its expansion as it is capital-intensive
and FDI plays a vital role in meeting the fund requirements for expansion of the telecom
sector. Telecom accounts for almost 10% of the total FDI inflows in the country and has
been the third-largest sector to attract FDI in India in the post-liberalisation era

2. The Indian telecom industry has been an attractive avenue for foreign investors over the
years. As per DIPP figures, the cumulative FDI inflow during August 1991 to June 2009
period, in the telecommunication sector amounted to US$ 113 bn. FDI calculation takes
into account radio paging, cellular mobile and basic telephone services in the
telecommunication sector.
3. In the 2004-05 Budget, the government raised the FDI limit from 49% to 74% in the
telecom services segment subject to retention of local management control. According to
the new norms, 26% share out of the 74% should be held by an Indian company or an
Indian citizen with Indian management. Further, 100% FDI is permitted in telecom
manufacturing, category I infrastructure providers, ISPs without gateway, call centres
and IT-enabled services. Further, direct or indirect FDI up to 74% is permitted subject to
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licensing and security requirements for ISPs with gateways, radio paging operators and
category II infrastructure providers.

4. The relaxation in FDI norms has attracted many foreign telecom majors to the sector.
The presence of foreign players has not only encouraged faster infrastructure
development and upgradation but also has opened up the domestic industry to foreign
competition. Since 2004, there has been a large inflow of FDI in the sector. During 2004-
05 and 2005-06, a period during which the FDI norms were relaxed, the FDI inflow grew
by an astounding 300% to US$ 624 mn in 2005-06 from merely US$ 125 mn in 2004-05.
The inflow of FDI has provided tremendous impetus to the sector in the past few years
and the attractiveness of the sector has kept the FDI inflows growing steadily. During
FY09 the FDI in the telecom sector at US$ 2,558 mn was 103% higher than that seen in
FY08 at US$ 1,261 mn. Further, the FDI in the sector has already reached US$ 2010 mn
for a six month period of FY10 (Apr-Sep 09) and is expected to surpass the total FDI for
FY09.
5. The governments liberalised FDI policies have resulted in several foreign companies
entering into the Indian markets. The influx of foreign players in the Indian telecom
industry has led to capacity creation, and better infrastructure, which in turn has bettered
the network quality. The rise in FDI has also enabled technology transfer, market access
and has improved organisational skills; going forward, FDI could be used for providing
telecom services to rural areas, where teledensity is still very low.
6. The change in FDI policy that has raised the FDI limit from 49% to 74% for the sector
has made it more attractive for foreign players. In the long run the growth prospects of
telecom players that have foreign partners will improve and other players will get new
avenues to raise capital.
2. To view the future of industry
India has entered the league of countries with the most-advanced telecommunication
infrastructure after the industry was deregulated. Furthermore, deregulation has stimulated
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Indias economic growth through industry growth and through rise in investments. It is evident
that a well-developed communication sector improves access to social networks, lowers
transaction costs, increases economic opportunities, widens markets, and provides better access
to information, healthcare and educational services. The growth in Indian telecom sector has
been concomitant with overall growth in GDP, government revenue, employment et al. Besides,
telecommunication has increased efficiency, reduced transaction costs, attracted investments
and has created new opportunities for business and employment.
The NTP-99 was particularly helpful for the ITeS-BPO industry as it ended the government
monopoly in international calling by introducing IP telephony. After the introduction of IP
telephony, there was rapid growth in the number of data processing centres and
inbound/outbound call centres, which ultimately led to the outsourcing revolution in India.
The telecom sector has been instrumental in creating jobs for a vast pool of talented and
knowledge professionals in the IT and ITeS-BPO industry, which thrives on reliable
telecommunication infrastructure. India has become an important outsourcing destination for the
world and the boom in this sector also has transformed Indias economic dynamics. The
evolution of telecom sector has brought about a revolutionary change in the way some
businesses operate.
Another beneficiary of the telecom revolution is the financial services industry, which has been
on a growth trajectory. The progress and quality of the financial sector has been a key factor that
has driven the pace and diversity of the real economy. India has an extensive and well-
developed financial sector with wide and sophisticated banking network. Banking in India has
become service-oriented, and has matured greatly from the days of walk-in customers to the
present situation when banks have migrated to a 24-hour banking platform to attract customers;
however, this disintermediation in the business has led banks to be extremely prudent in terms
of their internal operations and has led them to adopt newer products and delivery channels.
Further, with introduction of internet & mobile banking the long ques at the banks are slowly
becoming a thing of the past.
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Both the financial and the IT-ITeS segments rely on good domestic as well as international
network connectivity; therefore, there is a need for a sound telecommunication network.
Increasing Affordability of Handsets
The phenomenal growth in the Indian telecom industry was predominantly aided by the
meteoric rise in wireless subscribers, which encouraged mobile handset manufacturers to enter
the market and to cater to the growing demand. Further, the manufacturers introduced lower-
priced handsets with add-on facilities to cater to the increasing number of subscribers from
different strata of the society. Now even entry-level handsets come with features like coloured
display and FM radio. Thus, the falling handset prices and the add-on features have triggered
growth of the Indian telecom industry.
Prepaid Cards Bring in More Subscribers
In the late nineties, India was introduced to prepaid cards, which was yet another milestone for
the wireless sector. Prepaid cards lured more subscribers into the industry besides lowering the
credit risk of service providers due to its upfront payment concept. Prepaid cards were quite a
phenomenon among first-time users who wanted to control their bills and students who had
limited resources but greater need to be connected. Pre-paid cards greatly helped the cellular
market to grow rapidly and cater to the untapped market. Further, the introduction of innovative
schemes like recharge coupons of smaller denominations and life time incoming free cards has
led to an exponential growth in the subscriber base.
3. To provide the solutions for various problems of industry
The CPP regime was introduced in India in 2003 and under this regime, the calling party who
initiated the call was to bear the entire cost of the call. This regime came to be applicable for
mobile to mobile calls as well as fixed line to mobile calls. So far India had followed the
Receiving Party Pays (RPP) system where the subscriber used to pay for incoming calls from
both mobile as well as fixedline networks. Shifting to the CPP system has greatly fuelled the
subscriber growth in the sector.
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Changing Demographic Profile
The changing demographic profile of India has also played an important role in subscriber
growth. The changed profile is characterised by a large young population, a burgeoning middle
class with growing disposable income, urbanisation, increasing literacy levels and higher
adaptability to technology. These new features have multiplied the need to be connected always
and to own a wireless phone and therefore, in present times mobiles are perceived as a utility
rather than a luxury. Liberalisation of the telecom industry has fuelled intense competition,
especially in the cellular segment. The ever-increasing competition has led to high growth of
subscribers and has put pressure on tariffs, which have seen a sharp drop over the years. When
the cellular phones were introduced, call rates were at a peak of Rs 16 per minute and there
were charges for incoming calls too. Today, however, incoming calls are no longer charged and
outgoing calls are charged at less than a rupee per minute. Thus, the tariff war has come a long
way indeed. Increased competition and the subsequent tariff war has acted as a major catalyst
for attracting more subscribers. Apart from these major growth drivers, an improved network
coverage, entry of CDMA players, growth of value-added services (VAS), advancement in
technology, and growing data services have also driven the growth of the industry
4. To evaluate the efficacy of the application of strategies:
The telecom industry in India has experienced exponential growth over the past few years and
has been an important contributor to economic growth; however, the cut-throat competition and
intense tariff wars have had a negative impact on the revenue of players. Despite the challenges,
the Indian telecom industry will thrive because of the immense potential in terms of new users.
India is one of the most-attractive telecom markets because it is still one of the lowest
penetrated markets. The government is keen on developing rural telecom infrastructure and is
also set to roll out next generation or 3G services in the country. Operators are on an expansion
mode and are investing heavily on telecom infrastructure. Foreign telecom companies are
acquiring considerable stakes in Indian companies. Burgeoning middle class and increasing
spending power, the governments thrust on increasing rural telecom coverage; favorable
investment climate and positive reforms will ensure that Indias high potential is indeed
realized.
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Methodology
For this project, I have used primary data. My target audience has been mainly youngsters of
college. I selected my target audience due to their active involvement with mobile phones.
Mainly private players like Airtel, Idea, and Vodafone attract a lot of youngsters by introducing
convenient offer packs, survey method is useful because:
Survey methodology as a scientific field seeks to identify principles about the sample design,
data collection instruments, statistical adjustment of data, and data processing, and final data
analysis that can create systematic and random survey errors. Survey errors are sometimes
analyzed in connection with survey cost. Cost constraints are sometimes framed as improving
quality within cost constraints, or alternatively, reducing costs for a fixed level of quality. Survey
methodology is both a scientific field and a profession, meaning that some professionals in the
field focus on survey errors empirically and others design surveys to reduce them.
I have enclosed my survey in the Annexure.






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Limitations
1) Vague answers:
Since, the target audience was mainly youngsters the answers given by some people were vague.
2) Less reliable
Majority of sample focused on schemes of their service provider and not the customer service.
3) Constructive feedback
Majority of people did not help by providing constructive feedback which would have helped to
provide constructive analysis.
4) Time constraints
Since the samples were mostly in hurry to attend their respective classes, majority filled the
survey in a haste.
5) Government rules
In the month of Feb. 2013, Uninor Mumbai circle license were cancelled as a result the
subscribers had to face a lot of issues in MNP. The government or the telecom companies neither
bothered to refund customer money nor did they serve any kind of notification.
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This issue has certainly raised questions on governments ability to regulate telecom and adding
to common mans plight.



INTRODUCTION
Telephone Industry in the country which is in an ongoing process of transforming into next
generation network, employs an extensive system of modern network elements such as digital
telephone, mobile switching centers, media gateways and signaling gateways at the core,
interconnected by a wide variety of transmission systems using fiber-optics or Microwave radio
relay networks. The access network, which connects the subscriber to the core, is highly
diversified with different copper-pair, optic-fiber and wireless technologies. DTH, a relatively
new broadcasting technology has attained significant popularity in the Television segment. The
introduction of private FM has given a fillip to the radio broadcasting in India.
Telecommunication in India has greatly been supported by the INSAT system of the country,
one of the largest domestic satellite systems in the world. India possesses a diversified
communications system, which links all parts of the country by telephone, Internet, radio,
television and satellite.

Indian telecom industry underwent a high pace of market liberalization and growth since 1990s
and now has become the world's most competitive and one of the fastest growing telecom
markets. The Industry has grown over twenty times in just ten years, from under 37 million
subscribers in the year 2001 to over 846 million subscribers in the year 2011. India has
the world's second-largest mobile phone user base with over 929.37 million users as of May
2012. It has the world's third-largest Internet user-base with over 137 million as of June 2012.
The history of Indian telecom can be started with the introduction of telegraph. The Indian postal
and telecom sectors are one of the worlds oldest. In 1850, the first experimental electric
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telegraph line was started between Calcutta and Diamond Harbor. In 1851, it was opened for the
use of the British East India Company. The Posts and Telegraphs department occupied a small
corner of the Public Works Department, at that time.
Subsequently, the construction of 4,000 miles (6,400 km) of telegraph lines connecting Kolkata
(then Calcutta) and Peshawar in the north along with Agra, Mumbai (then Bombay) through
Sindwa Ghats, and Chennai (then Madras) in the south, as well
as Ootacamund and Bangalore was started in November 1853. William O'Shaughnessy, who
pioneered the telegraph and telephone in India, belonged to the Public Works Department, and
worked towards the development of telecom throughout this period. A separate department was
opened in 1854 when telegraph facilities were opened to the public.
In 1890, two telephone companies namely The Oriental Telephone Company Ltd. and The
Anglo-Indian Telephone Company Ltd. approached the Government of India to
establish telephone exchanges in India. The permission was refused on the grounds that the
establishment of telephones was a Government monopoly and that the Government itself would
undertake the work. In 1891, the Government later reversed its earlier decision and a licence was
granted to the Oriental Telephone Company Limited of England for opening telephone
exchanges at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Ahmadabad and the first formal telephone service
was established in the country. On 28 January 1892, Major E. Baring, Member of the Governor
General of India's Council declared open the Telephone Exchanges in Calcutta, Bombay and
Madras. The exchange in Calcutta named the "Central Exchange" had a total of 93 subscribers in
its early stage. Later that year, Bombay also witnessed the opening of a telephone exchange.
The telephone segment is dominated by private-sector and two state-run businesses. Most
companies were formed by a recent revolution and restructuring launched within a decade,
directed by Ministry of Communications and IT, Department of
Telecommunications and Minister of Finance. Since then, most companies
gained 2G, 3G and 4G licences and engaged fixed-line, mobile and internet business in India. On
landlines, intra-circle calls are considered local calls while inter-circle are considered long
distance calls. Foreign Direct Investment policy which increased the foreign ownership cap from
49% to 74%. Currently Government is working to integrate the whole country in one telecom
circle. For long distance calls, the area code prefixed with a zero is dialled first which is then
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followed by the number (i.e. To call Delhi, 011 would be dialled first followed by the phone
number). For international calls, "00" must be dialled first followed by thecountry code, area
code and local phone number. The country code for India is 91. Several international fibre-optic
links include those to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany. Some major
telecom operators in India include Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Aircel, BSNL, MTNL, Reliance
Communications, TATA Teleservices, Infotel, MTS, Uninor, TATA DoCoMo, Videocon,
Augere, Tikona Digital.
What led to the path of the rise of telecom sector?
The demand for telephones was ever increasing and in 1990s Indian government was under
increasing pressure to open up the telecom sector for private investment as a part
of Liberalization -Privatisation-Globalisation policies that the government had to accept to
overcome the severe fiscal crisis and resultant balance of payments issue in 1991. Consequently,
private investment in the sector of Value Added Services (VAS) was allowed and cellular
telecom sector were opened up for competition from private investments. It was during this
period that the Narsimha Rao-led government introduced the National Telecommunications
policy (NTP) in 1994 which brought changes in the following areas: ownership, service and
regulation of telecommunications infrastructure. The policy introduced the concept
of telecommunication for all and its vision was to expand the telecommunication facilities to all
the villages in India. Liberalisation in the basic telecom sector was also envisaged in this
policy. They were also successful in establishing joint ventures between state owned telecom
companies and international players. Foreign firms were eligible to 49% of the total stake. The
multi-nationals were just involved in technology transfer, and not policy makers.
Fixed Telephony
Until the New Telecom Policy was announced in 1999, only the Government-
owned BSNL and MTNL were allowed to provide land-line phone services through copper
wire in India with MTNLoperating in Delhi and Mumbai and BSNL servicing all other areas of
the country. Due to the rapid growth of the cellular phone industry in India, landlines are facing
stiff competition from cellular operators. This has forced land-line service providers to become
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more efficient and improve their quality of service. Land-line connexions are now also available
on demand, even in high density urban areas. India has over 31 million main line customers..





Mobile Telephony

Cellular phone tower atop the roof of a building.

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AIR Radio Tower
In August 1995, Chief Minister of West Bengal, Shri Jyoti Basu ushered in the cell phone
revolution in India by making the first call to Union Telecom Minister Sukhram.Sixteen years
later 4th generation services were launched in Kolkata.
With a subscriber base of more than 929 million, the Mobile telecommunications system in India
is the second largest in the world and it was thrown open to private players in the 1990s. GSM
was comfortably maintaining its position as the dominant mobile technology with 80% of the
mobile subscriber market, but CDMA seemed to have stabilised its market share at 20% for the
time being. By May 2012 the country had 929 million mobile subscribers, up from 350 million
just 40 months earlier. The mobile market was continuing to expand at an annual rate in excess
of 40% coming into 2010.
According to data provided by Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora, as of
30 November 2012, India has 736,654 base transceiver stations (2G GSM & CDMA, and 3G).
Of those, 96,212 base transceiver stations provide 3G mobile and data services. Out of India's
640 districts, 610 districts are covered by 3G services as of 30 November 2012.
The country is divided into multiple zones, called circles (roughly along state boundaries).
Government and several private players run local and long distance telephone services.
Competition has caused prices to drop and calls across India are one of the cheapest in the
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world. The rates are supposed to go down further with new measures to be taken by the
Information Ministry. In September 2004, the number of mobile phone connexions crossed the
number of fixed-line conations and presently dwarfs the wireline segment by a ratio of around
20:1. The mobile subscriber base has grown by a factor of over a hundred and thirty, from 5
million subscribers in 2001 to over 929 million subscribers as of May 2012. India primarily
follows the GSMmobile system, in the 900 MHz band. Recent operators also operate in the
1800 MHz bands.
The dominant players are Airtel, Reliance Infocomm, Vodafone, Idea cellular and BSNL/MTNL.
There are many smaller players, with operations in only a few states.
International roaming agreements exist between most operators and many foreign carriers. The
government allowed Mobile number portability (MNP) which enables mobile telephone users to
retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to
another. India is divided into 22 telecom circles.
Rise and growth of Internet
The history of the Internet in India started with launch of services by VSNL on 15 August 1995.
They were able to add about 10,000 Internet users within 6 months. However, for the next 10
years the Internet experience in the country remained less attractive with narrow-band
connections having speeds less than 56 kbit/s (dial-up). In 2004, the government formulated its
broadband policy which defined broadband as "an always-on Internet connection with download
speed of 256 kbit/s or above." From 2005 onward the growth of the broadband sector in the
country accelerated, but remained below the growth estimates of the government and related
agencies due to resource issues in last-mile access which were predominantly wired-line
technologies. This bottleneck was removed in 2010 when the government
auctioned 3G spectrum followed by an equally high profile auction of 4G spectrum that set the
scene for a competitive and invigorated wireless broadband market.
Now Internet access in India is provided by both public and private companies using a variety of
technologies and media including dial-up (PSTN), xDSL, coaxial cable, Ethernet, FTTH, ISDN,
HSDPA (3G), WiFi, WiMAX, etc. at a wide range of speeds and costs. The country has
the world's third largest number of Internet users with over 121 million users (59% of whom
only access the Internet via mobile devices) in December 2011.
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As of December 2011, total Internet connections stood at 22.39 million, with estimated users
exceeding 121 million. The number of broadband subscribers at the end of May 2013 was 15.13
million. Cumulative Annual Growth rate (CAGR) of broadband during the five-year period
between 2005 and 2010 was about 117 per cent. DSL, while holding slightly more than 75% of
the local broadband market, was steadily losing market share to other non-DSL broadband
platforms, especially to wireless broadband.
There were 161 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offering broadband services in India as of 31
May 2013. The top five ISPs in terms subscriber base were BSNL (9.96 million), Bharti Airtel
(1.40 million), MTNL (1.09 million), Hathway (0.36 million) and You Broadband (0.31
million). Cyber cafes remain the major source of Internet access. In 2009, about 37 per cent of
the users access the Internet from cyber cafes, 30 per cent from an office, and 23 per cent from
home. However, the number of mobile Internet users increased rapidly from 2009 on and there
were about 274 million mobile users at the end of September 2010, with a majority using 2G
mobile networks. Mobile Internet subscriptions as reported by the Telecom Regulatory Authority
of India(TRAI) in March 2011 increased to 381 million.
One of the major issues facing the Internet segment in India is the lower average bandwidth of
broadband connections compared to that of developed countries. According to 2007 statistics, the
average download speed in India hovered at about 40 KB per second (256 kbit/s), the minimum
speed set by TRAI, whereas the international average was 5.6 Mbit/s during the same period. In
order to attend this infrastructure issue the government declared 2007 as "the year of
broadband". To compete with international standards of defining broadband speed the Indian
Government has taken the aggressive step of proposing a $13 billion national broadband network
to connect all cities, towns and villages with a population of more than 500 in two phases
targeted for completion by 2012 and 2013. The network was supposed to provide speeds up to 10
Mbit/s in 63 metropolitan areas and 4 Mbit/s in an additional 352 cities. Also, the Internet
penetration rate in India is one of the lowest in the world and only accounts for 8.4% of the
population compared to the rate in OECD counties, where the average is over 50%. Another
issue is the digital divide where growth is biased in favour of urban areas; according to 2010
statistics, more than 75 per cent of the broadband connections in the country are in the top 30
cities. Regulators have tried to boost the growth of broadband in rural areas by promoting higher
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investment in rural infrastructure and establishing subsidized tariffs for rural subscribers under
the Universal service obligation scheme of the Indian government.
Broadcasting
Television broadcasting began in India in 1959 by Doordarshan, a state run medium of
communication, and had slow expansion for more than two decades. The policy reforms of the
government in 1990s attracted private initiatives in this sector, and since then, satellite television
has increasingly shaped popular culture and Indian society. However, still, only the government
owned Doordarshan has the licence for terrestrial television broadcast. Private companies reach
the public using satellite channels; both cable television as well as DTH has obtained a wide
subscriber base in India. In 2012, India had about 148 million TV homes of which 126 million
has access to cable and satellite services.
Following the economic reforms in 1990s, satellite television channels from around the world
BBC, CNN, CNBC, and other private television channels gained a foothold in the country. There
are no regulations to control the ownership of satellite dish antennas and also for operating cable
television systems in India, which in turn has helped for an impressive growth in the viewership.
The growth in the number of satellite channels was triggered by corporate business houses such
as Star TV group and Zee TV. Initially restricted to music and entertainment channels,
viewership grew, giving rise to several channels in regional languages, especially Hindi. The
main news channels available were CNN and BBC World. In the late 1990s, many current affairs
and news channels sprouted, becoming immensely popular because of the alternative viewpoint
they offered compared to Doordarshan. Some of the notable ones are Aaj Tak (run by the India
Todaygroup) and STAR News, CNN-IBN, Times Now, initially run by the NDTV group and
their lead anchor, Prannoy Roy (NDTV now has its own channels, NDTV 24x7, NDTV Profit
and NDTV India). Over the years, Doordarshan services also have grown from a single national
channel to six national and eleven regional channels. Nonetheless, it has lost the leadership in
market, though it underwent many phases of modernization in order to contain tough competition
from private channels.
Today, television is the most penetrative media in India with industry estimates indicating that
there are over 554 million TV consumers, 462 million with satellite connexions, compared to
other forms of mass media such as radio or internet. Government of India has used the popularity
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of TV and radio among rural people for the implementation of many social-programmes
including that of mass-education. On 16 November 2006, the Government of India released the
community radio policy which allowed agricultural centres, educational institutions and civil
society organisations to apply for community based FM broadcasting licence. Community Radio
is allowed 100 Watt Effective Radiated Power (ERP) with a maximum tower height of 30
metres. The licence is valid for five years and one organisation can only get one licence, which is
non-transferable and to be used for community development purposes.
Next-generation networks (NGN)
Historically, the role of telecommunication has evolved from that of plain information exchange
to a multi-service field, with Value Added Services (VAS) integrated with various discrete
networks like PSTN, PLMN, Internet Backbone etc. However, with decreasing ARPU and
increasing demand for VAS has become a compelling reason for the service providers to think of
the convergence of these parallel networks into a single core network with service layers
separated from network layer. Next-generation networking is such a convergence concept which
according to ITU-T is:
A next-generation network (NGN) is a packet-based network which can provide services
including Telecommunication Services and able to make use of multiple broadband, quality of
Service-enabled transport technologies and in which service-related functions are independent
from underlying transport-related technologies. It offers unrestricted access by users to different
service providers. It supports generalized mobility which will allow consistent and ubiquitous
provision of services to users.
Access network: The user can connect to the IP-core of NGN in various ways, most of which use
the standard Internet Protocol (IP). User terminals such as mobile phones, personal digital
assistants (PDAs) and computers can register directly on NGN-core, even when they
are roaming in another network or country. The only requirement is that they can use IP
and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Fixed access (e.g., Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), cable
modems,Ethernet), mobile access (e.g. W-CDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, GPRS) and wireless
access (e.g.WLAN, WiMAX) are all supported. Other phone systems like plain old telephone
service and non-compatible VoIP systems, are supported through gateways. With the
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deployment of the NGN, users may subscribe to many simultaneous access-providers providing
telephony, internet or entertainment services. This may provide end-users with virtually
unlimited options to choose between service providers for these services in NGN environment.
The hyper-competition in telecom market, which was effectively caused by the introduction
of Universal Access Service (UAS) licence in 2003 became much tougher after 3G and
4G competitive auction. About 670,000 route-kilometer (419,000 mile) of optical fibres has been
laid in India by the major operators, including in the financially nonviable rural areas and the
process continues.[citation needed] Keeping in mind the viability of providing services in rural
areas, the government of India also took a proactive role to promote the NGN implementation in
the country; an expert committee called NGN eCO was constituted in order to deliberate on the
licensing, interconnection and Quality of Service (QoS) issues related to NGN and it submitted
its report on 24 August 2007. Telecom operators found the NGN model advantageous, but huge
investment requirements have prompted them to adopt a multi-phase migration and they have
already started the migration process to NGN with the implementation of IP-based core-network.
Recent government policies and growth target
The International Long Distance Services (ILDS) have been opened to competition
The basic services are open to competition
In addition to the existing three, a fourth cellular operator, one each in four metros and
thirteen circles, has been permitted. Cellular operators have been permitted to provide all
types of mobile services including voice and non-voice messages, data services
and PCOs utilising any type of network equipment, including circuit and/or package switches
that meet certain required standards.
Policies allowing private participation have been announced as per the New Telecom Policy
(NTP), 1999 in several new services, which include Global Mobile Personal Communication
by Satellite (GMPCS) Service, digital Public Mobile Radio Trunked Service (PMRTS) and
Voice Mail/ Audiotex/ Unified Messaging Services.
Wireless Local Loop (WLL) has been introduced to provide telephone connections in urban,
semi-urban and rural areas promptly
Two telecom PSUs, VSNL and HTL have been disinvested
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Steps are being taken to fulfill Universal Service Obligation (USO), funding, and
administration
A decision to permit Community Phone Service has been announced.
Multiple Fixed Service Providers (FSPs) licensing guidelines were announced
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been allowed to set up International Internet
Gateways, both Satellite and Landing stations for submarine optical fibre cables.
Two categories of infrastructure providers have been allowed to provide end-to-end
bandwidth and dark fibre, right of way, towers, duct space etc
Guidelines have been issued by the Government to open up Internet telephony (IP).
National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN), a project aimed to ensure broadband connectivity
to over two lakh (200,000) gram panchayats of India by 2016.
Regulatory environment
LIRNEasia's Telecommunications Regulatory Environment (TRE) index, which summarises
stakeholders' perception on certain TRE dimensions, provides insight into how conducive the
environment is for further development and progress. The most recent survey was conducted in
July 2008 in eight Asian countries, including Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives,
Pakistan, Thailand, and the Philippines. The tool measured seven dimensions: i) market entry; ii)
access to scarce resources; iii) interconnection; iv) tariff regulation; v) anti-competitive practices;
and vi) universal services; vii) quality of service, for the fixed, mobile and broadband sectors.
The results for India, point out to the fact that the stakeholders perceive the TRE to be most
conducive for the mobile sector followed by fixed and then broadband. Other than for Access to
Scarce Resources the fixed sector lags behind the mobile sector. The fixed and mobile sectors
have the highest scores for Tariff Regulation. Market entry also scores well for the mobile sector
as competition is well entrenched with most of the circles with 45 mobile service providers. The
broadband sector has the lowest score in the aggregate. The low penetration of broadband of
mere 3.87 against the policy objective of 9 million at the end of 2007 clearly indicates that the
regulatory environment is not very conducive.
In 2013 the home ministry stated that legislation must ensure that law enforcement agencies are
empowered to intercept communications
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Revenue
The total revenue in the telecom service sector was 86720 crore (US$13.3 billion) in 200506
as against 71674 crore (US$11.0 billion) in 20042005, registering a growth of 21% with
estimated revenue of FY'2011 of 835 crore (US$130 million). The total investment in the
telecom services sector reached 200660 crore (US$30.7 billion) in 200506, up from
178831 crore (US$27.4 billion) in the previous fiscal Telecommunication is the lifeline of the
rapidly growing Information Technology industry. Internet subscriber base has risen to more
than a 121 million in 2011.Out of this 11.47 million were broadband connexions. More than a
billion people use the Internet globally. Under the Bharat Nirman Programme, the Government
of India will ensure that 66,822 revenue villages in the country, which have not yet been
provided with a Village Public Telephone (VPT), will be connected. However doubts have been
raised about what it would mean for the poor in the country.
It is difficult to ascertain fully the employment potential of the telecom sector but the enormity of
the opportunities can be gauged from the fact that there were 3.7 million Public Call Offices in
December 2005, up from 2.3 million in December 2004.

The Total Revenue of Indian Telecom Services company is likely to exceed
200000 crore (US$31 billion) ( US$ 44 Bn approx) for FY 1112 based on FY 1011 nos and
latest quarterly results. These are consolidated numbers including foreign operation of Bharti
Airtel. The major contributions to this revenue are as follows:
Airtel 65060 (US$1,000)
Reliance Communications 31468 (US$480)
Idea 16936 (US$260)
Tata Communications 11931 (US$180)
MTNL 4380 (US$67)
TTML 2248 (US$34)
BSNL 32045 (US$490)
Vodafone India 18376 (US$280)
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TataTeleservice 9200 (US$140)
Aircel 7968 (US$120)
SSTL 600 (US$9.20)
Uninor 660 (US$10)
Loop 560 (US$8.60)
Stel 60 (92 US)
HFCL 204 (US$3.10)
Videocon Telecom 254 (US$3.90)
DB Etisalat/ Allianz 47 (72 US)
Grand Total 201997 crore (US$31 billion)

TRAI(Telecom Regulatory Authority of India)
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the independent regulator of
the telecommunications business in India.
The policy of liberalisation that was embarked by Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao in the
1990s helped the Indian Telecom sector to grow rapidly. The government gradually allowed the
entry of the private sectors into telecom equipment manufacturing, value added services, radio
paging and cellular mobile services. In 1994, the government formed the National Telecom
Policy (NTP) which helped to attract Foreign direct investments and domestic investments. The
entry of private and international players resulted in need of independent regulatory body. As a
result, The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India was established on 20 February 1997 by an
act of parliament called "Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act 1997".
The mission of TRAI is to create and nurture an environment which will enable the quick growth
of the telecommunication sector in the country. One of the major objectives of TRAI is to
provide a transparent policy environment. TRAI has regularly issued orders and directions on
various subjects like tariff, interconnections, Direct To Home (DTH) services and mobile
number portability.
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In 2000, the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) was constituted through
an amendment of the 1997 act, through an ordinance. The primary objective of TDSAT's
establishment was to release TRAI from adjudicatory and dispute settlement functions in order to
strengthen the regulatory framework. Any dispute involving parties like licensor, licensee,
service provider and consumers are resolved by TDSAT. Also, any direction, order or decision
of TRAI can be challenged by appealing in TDSA.
TRAI functions through a Secretariat headed by a Secretary. All proposals for considerations are
processed via Secretary, which organizes the agenda for Authority meetings (consulting with the
Chairman), organizes preparation of minutes and issues regulations etc. in accordance to the
meetings. The secretary is assisted by Advisors, namely Mobile Network, Interconnection &
Fixed Network, BroadBand and Policy Analysis, Quality of Service, Broadcasting & Cable
Services, Economic Regulation, Financial Analysis & IFA, Legal, Consumer Affairs &
International Relation and RE & Administration & Personnel.Officers are selected from the
premier Indian Administrative Service and Indian Revenue Service and also from the Indian
Telecom Service.
Telephone statistics
Telephone subscribers (wireless and landline): 995.9 million (May 2012)
Land lines: 31.53 million (May 2012)
Cell phones: 929.37 million (May 2012)
Monthly cell phone addition: 8.35 million (May 2012)
Teledensity: 79.28% (May 2012)
Annual cell phone addition: 227.27 million (March 2010 - 2011)
Projected teledensity: 1.159 billion, 97% of population by 2013.
Telephone system: The telecommunications system in India is the 2nd largest in the world.
The country is divided into several zones, called circles (roughly along state boundaries).
Government and several private operators run local and long distance telephone services. It
was thrown open to private operators in the 1990s. Competition has caused prices to drop
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and calls across India are one of the cheapest in the world. The rates are supposed to go
down further with new measures to be taken by the Information Ministry.
Landlines: In India landline service is firstly run by BSNL/MTNL and after there are several
other private players too, such as Airtel, Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices and
Touchtel. Landlines are facing stiff competition from mobile telephones. The competition
has forced the landline services to become more efficient. The landline network quality has
improved and landline connections are now usually available on demand, even in high
density urban areas.
Mobile cellular: The mobile telephone network has aggrandized greatly since 2000. The
number of mobile phone connections crossed fixed-line connections in Sept 2004 and
currently there are an estimated 929.37 million mobile phone users in India compared to
31.53 million fixed line subscribers. India primarily follows the GSM mobile system, in the
900 MHz band. Recent operators also operate in the 1800 MHz band. The dominant players
are Aircel, Vodafone, Airtel, Tata Indicom, Tata Teleservices, MTS, Uninor, Reliance
Infocomm, Idea Cellular and BSNL/MTNL. There are many smaller players, with operations
in only a few states. International roaming agreements exist between most operators and
many foreign carriers.
Dialing system: On landlines system, intra circle calls are considered local calls while inter
circle are considered long distance calls. Government is now working to integrate the whole
country in one telecom circle. For long distance calls, you dial the area code prefixed with a
zero (e.g. for Delhi, you would dial 011-XXXX XXXX). For international calls, you would
dial "00" or + and the country code+area code+number. The country code for India is 91.
Call rates cutting blows: The rates of communication in India were one of the highest in the
world, till a few years back. The rates could not be justified by the fact that rupee is cheaper.
In fact the Indian sub continent had shown a calm tolerance towards the high rate in even in
telecom. The rates were also justified as the government has to feel the high cost involved in
the one-time developments like satellite and telephone tower related charges. But now owing
to better technologies the telecom rates in India are on the verge of becoming cheaper.
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Visitor Location Register(VLR):
Out of the total 929.37 million mobile subscribers, 689.33 Million subscribers were active
subscribers in VLR on the last working day of the month i.e., May 31, 2012. The total active
VLR number excludes the CDMA VLR figure of BSNL, as the service provider has not provided
the VLR figures corresponding to their total CDMA subscriber base of 3.59 million. The
proportion of VLR subscribers is 74.17% of the total wireless subscriber base reported by the
service providers.
Internet users: Number of Internet users in India is the 3rd largest in the world next only to
China and the United States of America.Though the number of internet users is high, internet
penetration is still much lower than most countries across the globe. As per TechCircle
reports from Aug 2013, India reported 165 million Internet connections
(as of March 2013) of which over 140 million were mobile internet connections.
Broadband subscribers: Broadband in India is defined as 512kbit/s and above by the
government regulator. Total subscribers were 14.31 million (May 2012).
Internet service providers (ISPs) & hosts: 86,571 (2004) source: CIA World Fact Book
Country code (Top-level domain): IN
Radios: 116 million (1997)
Radio broadcast stations: 153- AM (Amplitude Modulation), 91- FM (Frequency Modulation),
68 (1998) - Shortwave
Televisions: 116,438,938(2011 Census)
In India, only the government owned Doordarshan (Door = Distant = Tele, Darshan == Vision)
is allowed to broadcast terrestrial television signals. It initially had one major National channel
(also known as DD1) and a Metro channel in some of the larger cities (also known as DD2).
Satellite/Cable television took off during the first Gulf War with CNN. There are no regulations
against ownership of satellite dish antennas, or operation of cable television systems, which led
to an explosion of viewer ship and channels, led by the Star TV group and Zee TV.
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Initially restricted to music and entertainment channels, viewer ship grew, giving rise to several
channels in regional languages and many in the national language, Hindi. The main news
channels available were CNN and BBC World. In the late 1990s, many current affairs and news
channels sprouted, becoming immensely popular because of the alternative viewpoint they
offered compared to Doordarshan. Some of the notable ones are Aaj Tak that means Till Today,
owned by the India Today group and Star News, initially run by the NDTV group and their
charismatic lead anchor, Prannoy Roy (NDTV now has its own channels, NDTV 24x7, NDTV
Profit and NDTV India). Also Sahara (like Sahara Rastriya & some regional channel),Sun
network,E nadu India TV & IBN 7(the TV 18 group) are some most popular channel.
Television terrestrial broadcast stations: 562 (of which 82 stations have 1 kW or greater power
and 480 stations have less than 1 kW of power) (1997).
Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring (TERM), formerly known as Vigilance
Telecom Monitoring (VTM), is the vigilance and monitoring wing of the Indian Department of
Telecommunications (DoT). TERM is made up of 34 Cells in India's 24 telecom circles and 10
large telecom districts, each headed by a Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) level officer,
termed as Deputy Director General (DDG). The main functions of TERM Cells are vigilance,
monitoring and security of the network. Apart from this, TERM Cells also operate the Central
Monitoring System (CMS), a clandestine mass electronic surveillance program, and carry out
other functions. The TERM Cells function as the subordinate offices of the DoT in the field.
These Cells represent the Telegraph Authority and the Licensor.
Vigilance Telecom Monitoring Cells (VTM) were created by the Government to control
illegal/clandestine telecom operations. Three VTM Cells were set up in October 2004
at Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, and a fourth cell was created at Chennai the following month.
Nine more Cells were created in August 2006
at Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West
Bengal and Uttar Pradesh (East) and fifteen more were added in January 2007 at Andhra
Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (West), Andaman &
Nicobar, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, North East-I,
North East-II, Orissa and Uttaranchal (now Uttarakhand). Six additional Cells were added in
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March 2007 for Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Pune, Jaipur and Lucknow taking the total
number of VTM Cells to 34.
VTM Cells were renamed to Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring (TERM) Cells,
with effect from 5 August 2008. The change was due to the increase in the role and functions of
VTM Cells since their formation, and the Government felt that the new name reflected "the
entire gamut of functions assigned to the Cells" and "distinguished their role vis-vis staff-
vigilance activities




Findings and analysis
This above analysis and findings are encrypted from the above questions asked in survey. This
will help to find the data analysis and interpretation . the answers from respondents are as
follows as:
1) 1) Which service provider do you currently use?
Ans. 18 people said they use Airtel, 7 said TATA DOCOMO, 3 said Idea, 2 said Reliance. 60%
people use Airtel.23% use Tata Docomo,10% Idea,0.06% use Reliance.
2)Are you Happy with your current service provider?
Ans. 21 people said yes , 9 people said no. It means 70% people are happy with their Current
service provider.
3) ) Are you Happy with your network Coverage?
Ans. 19 said yes, 11 people said no. most of the people are happy with network coverage.
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4) Hows your experience in terms of Customer Service?
Ans. 17 people said good, 7 said better,6 said best. So majority of people are happy with
customer service
5). Do you receive SMS surveys regarding the feedback from your end on customer service
regularly ?
Ans. 5 people said Yes, 25 people said No. So 83.3% people doesnt receive sms feedback.





6) Would you recommend your service provider to other people?
Ans. 18 people said Yes, 12 said No. So 60% people are happy and will recommend their service
provider to other people .
7) On a rating scale parameter, from 1 to 5 rate your service provider?
Ans. 8 people rated 2 points.
10 people rated 3 points.
5 rated 3.5 points.
7 rated 4 points.


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Generic Conclusion

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Telephone:
Telephone Subscribers (Total) (2012) 960.9 million (May 2012)
Fixed lines (May 2012) 31.53 million
Mobile phones (2012) 929.37 million
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Monthly telephone additions (Net) (May 2012) 8.35 million
Teledensity (2012)
79.28 %
Rural Teledensity
33 %
[1]

Projected teledensity by 2012 84 %
Internet & Broadcasting
Percent household access (total), 2012 10.2% of households (137 million)
Percent broadband household access 1.18% of households (14.31 million)
Broadband internet users
14.31 million (May 2012)
[2]

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Internet Service Providers (2012)
155
country code top-level domain .in
Broadcasting
Television broadcast stations (2009) 1,400
Radio broadcast stations (1997) 800

Annexure:
1) Which service provider do you currently use?
Ans._____________________________________
2) Are you Happy with your current service provider?(Yes/No)
Ans._____________________________________
3) Are you Happy with your network Coverage? (Yes/No)
Ans._____________________________________
4) Hows your experience in terms of Customer Service?(Good/Better/Best)
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Ans._____________________________________
5) Do you receive SMS surveys regarding the feedback from your end on customer
service regularly? (Yes/No)
Ans._____________________________________
6) Would you recommend your service provider to other people? (Yes/No)
Ans._____________________________________
7) On a rating scale parameter, from 1 to 5 rate your service provider?
Ans._____________________________________



Bibliography
1) TRAI website. (29/9/2013)
2) Survey about telecom user. (02/10/2013)
3) Wikipedia- Indian Telecom Sector. (03/10/2013)
4) Images- Information and Communication & Broadcasting. (04/10/2013)




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