Telcos sign up 9 million users in 4 months in India

Since the launch of 3G services four months ago, telcos in India have signed up as many as 9 million consumers. The number assumes significance in the backdrop of a fall in the overall wireline consumer base to 11 billion.

Bharti Airtel is at the top slot among the players in the 3G space with 3 million subscribers, followed by Tata DoCoMo with 1.5 million users and Idea Cellular, Vodafone and BSNL with around a million 3G customers each.
 
Though Reliance Communications has not come out with its numbers, sources say, it also has close to a million 3G connections. According to analysts, the initial trend clearly points to 3G giving a boost to broadband uptake in the country.

The initial numbers have come even as consumers have reported poor quality of service. With 3G expected to deliver data speeds of around 500-600 kbps, consumers across the country complain of frequent call drops, poor speeds and erratic connectivity with operators having failed to fully set up networks.

According to analysts, operators should have no alibis for poor 3G connectivity given that the technology is available with them. They add that the initial uptake showed that there was a huge pent-up demand for broadband and operators should use that opportunity.

The high cost of roaming is another issue that has to be resolved. Subscribers are charged as much as Rs15 per MB of data even if they are roaming on the same network.

Operators, however, dismiss these as teething troubles and say they are well on their way to meet the target of 100 million 3G connections by 2015.