GSM operators'' average revenue per user declines

Mumbai: GSM operators''s average revenue per user (ARPU) - an indicator of revenue for service providers - has declined while that of CDMA operators are on the rise according to a study by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on quarterly performance of the sector for the period ended March 2007.

The study found that while the all-India blended ARPU per month (both prepaid and post-payment) for GSM services stood at Rs 298 during the quarter, a fall of 5.69 per cent from Rs316 posted during the quarter ended December 2006.

The ARPU for GSM post-payment services declined 3 per cent, while prepaid ARPU fell 4.58 per cent.

On the contrary, the all-India blended ARPU for CDMA operators rose 3.06 per cent to Rs202 during the quarter under review from Rs196 recorded during the previous quarter.

While ARPU in the prepaid segment rose, post payment saw a decline.

The study found that telephone penetration increased to 18.23 per cent during the quarter ended March 31 when compared with 17.16 per cent recorded during the comparable period of the previous quarter.

The gross subscriber base (wired and wireless) has eventually crossed the 200 million mark - much earlier than what may analysts had expected.

While the total number of subscribers rose 8.39 per cent to 205.86 million during the quarter, the number of public call offices went up 4.72 per cent.

The number of Internet subscribers grew by a modest 8.03 per cent to touch 92.71 lakh subscribers during the March quarter.