OVERVIEW OF TELECOM SCENARIO IN INDIAincluding rapidly changing technology in the telecom

K. Sridhara

Member (Technology)

Department of Telecom

TDSAT SEMINAR 26 November 2006

26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 2

Contents

Telecom Sector Current Telecom scenario Key Policy initiatives Technology development Issues & challenges

26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 3

Telecom Sector

Most vibrant sector with highest growth rate – more than 60 lakh customers are added every month

Plethora of services Easier access/ availability Drastic reduction in tariff World class service

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Fixed & Mobile subscriber base (1982 onwards) (in millions)

2.15 2.3 2.47 2.67 2.9 3.17 3.49 3.8 4.17 4.59 5.07 5.81 6.8 8.03 9.811.98

14.5417.8

21.6126.65

32.71

38.3341.48 42.58

45.91 47.7 47.83 48.5

0.07 0.34 0.88 1.2 1.9 3.58 6.54

13

33.6

52.1757.38

65.0571.5

2.15 2.3 2.47 2.67 2.9 3.17 3.49 3.8 4.17 4.59 5.07 5.81 6.8 8.03 9.8 12.05 14.8818.68

22.8128.55

36.29

44.87

54.48

76.16

98.08

105.08

112.88

120

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Financial Year

Subs

crib

er B

ase

(in m

illio

n)

Fixed includingWLL(F)

Mobile inlcudingCDMA(CDMA+GSM)

Total(Fixed+Mobile)

Major classes of Services

• Fixed Copper, Optical Fibre, Wireless

• Mobile GSM and CDMA based

• Narrow band Voice, Internet, Fax

• Broad band High speed Internet, Video

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Current Telecom Scenario

Total Number of Operators - Above 800

Access Service (Mobile & Fixed) - 138 National Long Distance - 13 International Long Distance - 8 ISPs, Infrastructure providers etc. - Above 650

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Current Telecom Scenario (contd) Fixed lines 49.2 m Mobile lines 105.36 m WLL Fixed 6.79 m Total wireless lines 112.15 m Teledensity 15.12 Internet connections 8.4 m Broadband connection 1.92 m

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Mobile Growth and effective charge per minute

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

16.00

18.00

Mar-98 Mar-99 Mar-00 Mar-01 Mar-02 Mar-03 Mar-04 Mar-05 Sep-05

Eff

ectiv

e ch

arg

e (in

Rs.

per

min

.)

0.00

6.00

12.00

18.00

24.00

30.00

36.00

42.00

48.00

54.00

60.00

66.00

Mo

bile

su

bsc

rib

er b

ase

(in M

illio

n)

FixedMobile (Rs./min)Mobile Subscriber base (Millions)

NTP '99

Telecom Tariff Order

3rd & 4th cellular operator

WLL introduce

d

CPP introduced

Lowering of ADC from 30% to 10% of sector revenue

6.503.58

1.881.200.88

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Urban & Rural Teledensities

0

10

20

30

40

50

Mar-98

Sep-98

Mar-99

Sep-99

Mar-00

Sep-00

Mar-01

Sep-01

Mar-02

Sep-02

Mar-03

Sep-03

Mar-04

Sep-04

Mar-05

Sep-05

Mar-06

Sep-06

Urban Rural Total

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Fall in STD Rates

Pre – April 1999 38 April 1999 30 October 2000 24 January 2002 9 March 2003 4.80 April 2004 3.60 September 2004 2.40 March 2006 1

(Rs/min)

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Key Policy Initiatives/milestones

New Economic Policy (1991) Opening up of Telecom service sector (Mobile –

metros)

National Telecom Policy 1994 Telecom, key for development Inadequacy of public resource to meet demand Private sector to supplement Govt. Provide world class telecom service at affordable

cost

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Key Policy initiatives (contd..) Establishment of TRAI (1997) New Telecom Policy (NTP 99)

Transition from fixed license fee to revenue share

Introduction of free competition Technology neutral licenses Tariff rebalancing

Creation of BSNL (2000) Establishment of TDSAT (2000)

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Key Policy initiatives (contd..)

Opening of National & International long distance

Launching of mobile service by BSNL (2002)

Establishment of USO Fund Broadband policy (2004)

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Technology Trend Optical fiber based wireline networks Wireless networks GSM,CDMA based mobile VSAT based satellite WiMax Next Generation Networks Voice , Data,Video convergence Telecom networks increasingly software

intensive

Subscribers Wish List

VIRTUAL PRESENCESpeak, Hear, See, Seek, Store Info Instantaneously & Interactively Perhaps feeling and sharing ambience Seamlessly , Everywhere , Always

atAffordable cost with Agreed Quality of

Service

Convergence • Scenario for Residences

Members of the same household are

On-line Simultaneously• Browsing Web• Watching, Downloading & Recording Video• Digital Audio & Video Broadcast

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Future Growth

Demand for Wireless based services. Content rich services.

IP based technology to provide requisite cost economics to achieve attractive business cases.

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CONTENT RICH TELECOM SERVICES

LOCATION BASED SERVICES, USING DIGITAL MAPS.

VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS VIDEO CONFERENCING. e-EDUCATION e-MEDICINE INTERACTION WITH GOVERNMENT ENTERTAINMENT

Issues to be addressed in the Indian Scenario

Unique Rural Scenario : low teledensity Need for Spectrum re-farming & re-

allocation Lack of Content in Local Languages Confidence on e-Commerce Network Security Bridging Digital Divide

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The real Challenge !

How effectively can the: Government with its policies TRAI with regulation & TDSAT with dispute resolution

can keep pace with the fastest growing and complex Telecom sector

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THANK YOU