Telecom Sector Revenue Growth Lowest In 6 Years: Industry Body

New Delhi: Indian telecom industry's revenue grew 6.5 per cent last year, the lowest since 2010, despite the sector witnessing a further addition of 79 million active subscribers during the period, says the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), a GSM industry body.

"If I go back to 2010, the industry has consistently been delivering double digit growth of about 10 per cent. After years of constant revenue growth of double digit, it has come to the level of 6.5 per cent," COAI's outgoing chairman and Idea Cellular managing director Himanshu Kapania said at an event.

He said the industry has seen a decline in revenue from voice calls, although the overall subscriber base rose by 79 million last year.

"Industry has been investing in expansion of network and at the same time cut down data tariff by 20 per cent and voice call rates by 10 per cent," Mr Kapania said.

He said reduction in interconnection charges from 20 paise per minute to 14 paise per minute by the telecom regulator TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), a decline in roaming rates and reduction in SMS rates led to an estimated steep decline of 8-10 per cent.

"Despite volume expansion in minutes and growth in subscriber base, the overall mobile voice segment revenue recorded negative to zero growth for the first time in the history of Indian mobility sector," Mr Kapania said.