Telecom Lead India: Idea Cellular has rolled out 2,432 GSM cell sites and 1,595 3G cell sites during the fourth quarter of FY 2013, taking site count to 90,094 and 17,140 for GSM and 3G, respectively.
The total addition to the gross block including CWIP for the quarter and for the year was Rs 13.28 billion and Rs 33.60 billion (not taking into account any forex fluctuation and spectrum payout).
Idea Cellular recently said the Capex for FY 2014 will be around Rs 3500 crore, excluding any spectrum related payout.
The active 3G subscriber base of Idea Cellular stands at 5.1 million, helping overall 2G+3G data revenue growth on sequential quarterly basis by 24.6 percent and data ARPU reaching to Rs 55.
Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel’s 3G subscribers reached 6.4 million in the fourth quarter of FY 2013. Airtel says data continues to lead the mobile segment growth in India, through deeper penetration and consumption. Data consumption increased 20 percent every quarter and has reached 24 billion MBs in this quarter. Airtel data contributes around 6.5 percent of the total mobile revenues (against 5.7 percent in Q3 FY 2013).
After winning 3G spectrum in 11 service areas which cover over 74 percent of its existing revenue and account for around half of national mobility revenue, Idea offers 3G services in 20 service areas (excludes Orissa and Punjab), through a combination of home network and roaming arrangements. Its roaming agreement is facing uncertainties due to the ongoing court cases.
Idea Cellular has strengthened its mobile data services after launching its own ISP services to cater for the captive requirement of its mobile business in FY 2012.
The mobile operator is now ready to offer alternative choice to small ISPs and enterprise customers for their wholesale Internet backhaul needs. Idea ISP currently handles more than 86 percent of captive requirements.
Idea also expanded optical fiber network to 74,000 km and strengthened its presence in NLD, ILD, ISP, data services and smartphone device business.
