Telecom services revenue up 21% to Rs 1.30 lakh cr

With one out of four Indians owning a phone, revenue of the country's
telecom services industry has swelled to Rs 1,30,561 crore in 2007-08,
up 21 per cent over the the previous fiscal.

India added 100 million new subscribers in this period.

The revenue of telecom services, including that of cellular, fixed
line, national long distance, international long distance, broadband,
radio trunking and VSAT services, has risen to Rs 1,30,561 crore,
registering a growth of 21.3 per cent, a survey by Voice&Data
revealed.

Among the services, cellular segment contributed a major chunk of
around 59 per cent to the total revenue. The segment's topline rose to
Rs 76,608 crore in 2007-08, compared to Rs 56,183 crore last fiscal, a
growth of about 36 per cent.

BSNL topped the survey list in terms of revenue with Rs 35,296 crore
total income. However, it registered a negative growth of 12 per cent.
Its revenue for last fiscal was Rs 40,135 crore.

Bharti with Rs 26,436 crore topline clinched the second slot while
Reliance communications was placed at the third position reporting
total income of Rs 18,638 crore, the survey read.

Fixed line business was the second biggest revenue earner for the
industry, contributing more than 20 per cent. However, its total
income dipped 11.6 per cent in this financial year to Rs 26,692 crore,
compared to Rs 30,190 in 2006-07, it said.

Broadband business showed a huge growth of 162.7 per cent in terms of
revenue. It reached to Rs 5,359 crore in 2007-08, compared to Rs 2,040
crore in the previous fiscal.

The growth in the number of broadband subscribers, however, was not
appealing as the country added only 1.4 million new users in this
period. The total subscriber base was up 56 per cent to 3.9 million,
the survey added.