Several
Indian telecom operators have started slashing their inactive mobile users.
This drive is primarily aimed at reporting active mobile subscriber numbers,
maintaining quality customer-base and optimally using the mobile numbers
available for their mobile users.
According
to TRAI, out of the total 881.40 million subscribers, 626.18 million mobile
users were active
on the date of Peak VLR for the month of October 2011. The total active VLR
number excludes the CDMA VLR figure of BSNL, as the service provider has not
provided the VLR figures of their total CDMA subscriber base of 4.65 million.
India is
also witnessing a drop in subscriber additions in the past two quarters. In
2010, India used to add around 12-15 million users per month.
If the
Indian mobile operators continue their cleaning up act, it will affect
teledensity in the country. Teledensity may nosedive to 50-60 in next 2-3
quarters from the current level. At present, India’s teledensity stands at
76.03 with mobile contributing 73.27 and wireline service at 2.76.
The
proportion of VLR subscribers is approximately 71.04 percent of the total wireless
subscribers base reported by the service providers.
The
VLR (Visitor Location Register) data calculated on the basis of active
subscribers in VLR on the date of Peak VLR of the particular month for which
the data is being collected. This data is to be taken from the switches having
the purge time of not more than 72 hours.
Idea’s
active user base at 93 percent is the highest in the telecom industry with
Bharti Airtel close behind at 90 percent, while 61.3 percent subscribers were
active for new-comer Uninor, which by that matrix is just one percentage point
behind Reliance Communications. Etisalat is at the bottom with 27.57 percent
active subscribers.
J&K
has the highest proportion of VLR subscribers with 81.36 percent followed by
Assam (77.43 percent) and M.P. (77.35 percent); Mumbai has the lowest
proportion with 59.68 percent.
Idea
Cellular leads the tally with 92.03 percent followed by Bharti (88.79 percent);
Etisalat is at the bottom with 27.57 percent.
Analysts
say telecom operators will focus on revenues from active subscribers.
Recently,
Videocon had slashed 1.13 lakh subscribers nationally in its ‘clean up’ drive,
revealed subscribers’ data released by Cellular Operators Association of India
(COAI).
As
per some analysts, operators are trying to focus more on increasing revenue
from subscribers rather than adding subscribers aggressively. This also
reflects the government’s decision against releasing spectrum based on
subscriber base.
The
cleanup has been observed by the newer entrants in Indian telecom industry such
as Videocon, Uninor, Etisalat and Sistema Shyam.
These
new entrants had aggressively added subscribers without verifying their
identities as required by law and thus, the operators are now scrambling to
ensure regulatory compliance by -cleaning-up’ the database.
However,
all the leading telecom operators like Vodafone, Airtel, Tata Teleservices and
Idea have also joined the race to remove their inactive users.
By
Danish Khan
editor@telecomlead.com
