RELIANCE COMM SEES INDIA TELECOM CONSOLIDATION

Intensifying competition in the Indian telecom sector, the world’s fastest growing in mobile sign ups, should kick off an industry consolidation in two years, a senior official at Reliance Communications said.

With four firms, including ventures of Norway’s Telenor and United Arab Emirates’ Etisalat, set to start operations in India this year, existing players led by Reliance and Bharti Airtel have slashed call charges to lure users.

India, which has 11 mobile operators, has this year added an average 14 million mobile users a month. Analysts say still there is huge potential as only 40 people of every 100 own mobile phones from a population of more than a billion.

Reuters/Livemint

BHARTI SLASHES MOBILE ROAMING CHARGES, SHARES FALL

Bharti Airtel launched yet another new billing plan on Friday, slashing mobile roaming rates by nearly 60% and signalling a tariff war in the world’s fastest-growing wireless market was far from over.

The announcement accelerated losses in the shares of Bharti, the country’s top mobile operator. The stock fell as much as 3.3% but trimmed losses to 2.7% at Rs284.90 by 0825 GMT in a Mumbai market that was up 0.3%.

The price war, aimed at grabbing new users ahead of fresh entrants waiting in the wings, has raised concerns about telecom firms’ profitability. Four new firms, including ventures funded by Telenor and Etisalat, are set to start services this year adding to the existing 11 operators.


Reuters/Livemint