anujit 0 Report post Posted May 4, 2004 THE TELEGRAPH - KOLKATA - 4th May 2004 DoT contests Reliance claim M. RAJENDRAN New Delhi, May 3: Reliance Infocomm is the country’s largest mobile telephony service provider. But how many subscribers does it really have? The company claims it is 7 million — and growing. However, a couple of canny officials at the department of telecommunications (DoT) have said if they work back from the revenue figures that the company had submitted to DoT, it comes to only 2.6 million. The DoT officials’ calculations are based on a pretty technical — if a little arcane — formula. The whole controversy rests on the average revenue per user (ARPU) — a metric that establishes how much a company earns per subscriber. Recently, Reliance vice-chairman Anil Ambani said the ARPU for its telecom service was Rs 523 a month. However, Reliance had reported to DoT that its revenues from the telecom services worked out to Rs 1,686.38 crore during 2003-04. DoT officials said Reliance ARPU for the full year would work out to Rs 6,276 (Rs 523 x 12). If the revenue of Rs 1,686.38 crore was divided by the ARPU for the year, the subscriber base would be just 2.6 million. A senior Reliance spokesperson said, “We have submitted to DoT that the telecom subscriber base is 7 million and the ARPU is Rs 523. We have not submitted a revenue share of any amount to DoT.” However, sources in DoT said, “The revenue share works out to only Rs 1,686.38 crore based on the quarterly average gross revenue (AGR) details they have submitted to DoT and the total subscriber base submitted to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) during the financial year. If the company's revenues are only Rs 1,686.38 crore, then the company has only 2.6 million subscribers.” Reliance, in its presentation available on the company's website, claims its total customer base is 7 million. ARPU is calculated on a monthly basis. This is multiplied for 12 months to get the yearly ARPU. During the investors’ call on April 29 for the annual results of the company, SSKI Securities sought to know from the Anil Ambani the extent of debt provisioning for Reliance Infocomm. Ambani said that the ARPU was Rs 523 for the financial year 2003-04 and MoU (minutes of usage) was 342. He also added that the total bad debt provision was Rs 435 crore, which is about 15-20 per cent of their revenues. Going by Ambani’s figures, the revenues should have been Rs 6,276 (the full year ARPU) multiplied by 7,000,000 — to give Rs 4393.2 crore. The operators submit a quarterly report on the revenue share to DoT and on the subscriber base every month to Trai. However, the quarterly as well as the total gross revenues submitted by Reliance to Trai shows a different picture (see chart below). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Of course in RIM's defence one can say that not all the subscribers havent been on board for a whole year. In fact most the subscribers came in after the Monsoon Hungama was launched - around late summer last year. That coupled with high losses from people who've abused the service (as in used & dumped the phone) - something that RIM won't ever admit - should get them a little closer, but not quite close enough to the 7m mark dont you think? Is this another of RIM's googlies! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tushar 0 Report post Posted May 4, 2004 Wow that was a good discovery I never knew that also whereever u took the article from could u provide the chart mentioned in the last line also thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Greens 21 Report post Posted May 4, 2004 No quick conclusions. You can't simply back calculate. The facts are: 1. Most of RIM subscribers have been enrolled only after Monsoon Hungama. 2.This figure includes prepaid & fixed wireless phone which also have been acquired off late. 3.Take in account unpaid bills. So apply your mind before you do the calculation, as simply multiplying ARPU into 12 wont make any sense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
emmi 3 Report post Posted May 11, 2004 Does reliance use Gsm Technology since when?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ashokjp 15 Report post Posted May 11, 2004 Does reliance use Gsm Technology since when?? Yeh Reliance does have GSM long back.. If you notice the mobile option in yahoo messenger, you will see Reliance India in the provider list.. That represents Reliance GSM!! Reliance GSM was there before CDMA, but wasnt famous, Also was not available all over :'( Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
emmi 3 Report post Posted May 11, 2004 (edited) Yeh Reliance does have GSM long back..If you notice the mobile option in yahoo messenger, you will see Reliance India in the provider list.. That represents Reliance GSM!! Reliance GSM was there before CDMA, but wasnt famous, Also was not available all over Oh tats the reason when i'm adding a few reliance numbers its not accepting them Edited May 11, 2004 by Chirag Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chirag 5 Report post Posted May 11, 2004 Reliance GSM was there before CDMA, but wasnt famous, Also was not available all over :'( Well Reliance GSM was quite famous and impressive in the cities where it was present. When Airtime rates in rest of the country were Rs. 6/min, Reliance GSM used to offer rates at Rs. 1-2/min ... It was distinctly famous in MP. But i guess, Reliance soon found out tht CDMA was a much better and not-so-explored technology and made a switch over for its investments to be diverted in a better and newer technology!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
emmi 3 Report post Posted May 12, 2004 And now they r making loads and loads of money fleecing consumers,well which cell operator doesnt!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
