CARE Ratings, the second-largest credit rating agency in India disclosed some key trends for Indian Operators, reflecting the telecommunications' sectors overall direction, opportunities for operators and emerging trends for the various revenue segments. According to CARE Ratings, the share of revenue from non-voice usage for telecom operators in India is expected to grow to 25-30% in the next few years from the current 20%. Meanwhile, mobile data, that has seen a rapid increase in terms of coverage and consumption, is making up 50% of current non-voice revenue.
CARE Ratings highlighted that the rapid growth in mobile data and availability of various mobile messaging applications have eclipsed the growth in SMS and expects this segment to face tougher times ahead. According to CARE, the revenue from SMS for GSM service providers declined from 5.84% of total revenue in Q3FY13 to 3.39% in the current quarter, while for CDMA service providers it declined from 1.80% to 1.66% for the same period.
CARE Ratings pointed out to the fact that India is seeing a rapid increase in the number of mobile subscribers who access the internet on mobile devices, totalling 220 million of the total wireless subscribers of 886 million as at end of last year. This has contributed to increased revenue from data in total Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) where the share of data revenue rose from 10.02% in Q1FY14 to 14.96% to current quarter for GSM service while for CDMA, it rose from 36.28% to 37.91%. CARE outlined the following key factors driving the use of mobile data in India - cheaper smartphones and tablets priced at about Rs.4,500 (USD73) and tablets priced at Rs 6,000-Rs7,000 (USD98 - USD114), reduction in the tariffs for 3G services and the increasing dependence on rich mobile content for information, entertainment and communications needs. More details of the release are available at CARE Ratings.
