This is an update from the Idea Cellular conference call with CEO Himanshu Kapadia over the weekend [Forgive me, for being late, but time is a big constraint].
First, let me update you on my favorite subject – Broadband. Idea Cellular has 2.5Mn 3G Data Subscribers. However, Himanshu clearly stated that only 750,000 can be considered as Serious 3G Data Subscribers. This means my calculations for NTP 2011 Broadband Subscribers Target should be re-calculated. 3G Data services are added in VAS and thus the company saw rise in VAS income from 12.1% to 13.2%.
Other highlights of the Con Call are as follows,
- Idea has reached a Subscriber base of 100 Mn with the highest Active / Visitor Location Registry data updated by TRAI of whopping 91%, beating Airtel and others by significant margins. [ Gotta admire Aditya Birla group management for this because this is not even a fully integrated Telecom company yet rocking]
- Idea Cellular has 11.4% and 13.9% Subscriber and Revenue Market share in Indian Telecom industry as on Sept-2011
- Idea 3G – The 3G roaming pact has helped Idea achieve higher ARR from 41 to 42.7. 3G is already available in 1600 towns and 10,000 villages. Network are upgraded consistently with a 40 Bn CAPEX for this FY.
- Idea Branded SmartPhone – Himanshu stated that as consumers increasingly adopt Online lifestyle from offline, their will be a huge uptake in 3G. In order to facilitate consumers with SmartPhone, Idea is already working on the handset based on Android platform. It will be a fully featured smart-phone without any handset subsidy from Idea.
- Impact of Voice Tariff Hike – Not the right quarter to comment due to seasonality. But should be visible in the next 2 quarters.
- 3G Roaming is Legal – DoT had clarified in the pre-bid document about Roaming. Telcos further defend that licenses given to them are technology agnostic and hence their roaming arrangements are perfectly legal. You can read an analysis on why 3G roaming noise will die soon.
- Idea Cellular on One India, One License – This is going to be a long discussion. Abolition of roaming charges will not be possible due to differential tariffs across circles. Multiple discussion points and hence will not happen in the near future as highlighted in NTP 2011.
Finally, whether its Apple’s Steve Jobs who wanted to KILL Android or Microsoft‘s ever going Patent Fight, my bet is final Android will remain in the Top-2 Smartphones in India.