Lifetime schemes acting as lifeline for telecom industry

New Delhi, Dec 19 (UNI) The lifetime validity schemes introduced by cellular service operators were one of the key driving forces responsible for a spurt in the mobile subscriber base this year.

According to a study released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today, the schemes registered 16.10 million subscribers in a period of six months. Most of the mobile service providers launched these tariff schemes in the period between December 2005 and January 2006, which entitle the subscribers to receive incoming calls for an indefinite period.

The study notes that the tariff scemes with lifetime validity gained immense popularity in the market.

Of the 16.10 million subscribers, 51 per cent were newly acquired by the operators while the rest were the existing customers, who migrated to these schemes.

With higher revenue per minute (RPM) of Re 0.80 as compared to Re 0.77 for the full mobility service as a whole, the service providers, despite targeting the low usage and marginal customers, also seem to benefit from the lifetime schemes.

The schemes are providing monthly adjusted rpt adjusted revenue per unit (ARPU) of Rs 218 across the country, as compared to Rs 261 ARPU per month in prepaid segment.

On an all India average, 72 per cent of the lifetime subscribers are reported to have recharged their accounts every month.

The study shows that a lifeline subsriber makes 57 minutes of outgoing calls and receives 214 minutes of incoming calls per month.

The data collected between January-June 2006 is based on information from consumers, research organisations and analysts, besides the service providers.

The wireless segment added 6.80 million subscribers during November 2006, the highest ever growth in any single calendar month.

The grand total of total wireless (GSM, CDMA and WLL-F) subscribers at the end of the month were 143.02 million, according to figures compiled by the apex body TRAI.

UNI CS PV RK1340