MTS Crosses The 5 lakh Customer Milestone in Bihar & Jharkhand

MTS Crosses The 5 lakh Customer Milestone in Bihar & Jharkhand

Submitted by news on December 30, 2010 - 15:23

Adds over 4.9 lakh voice and over 15,000 data customers in just 16 months~

• Company on track with its investment plans of USD 180 million, earmarked to develop telecom infrastructure and services in Bihar and Jharkhand.
• MTS credited for establishing a network of 25000 retailers across 282 towns & over 25000 in the twin states.
• Company has also drawn plans to further expand its rural presence from 25,000 to 30,000 villages by Q1 2011. Additional plans also include expanding retail presence from 25,000 to 40,000 retail outlets by Q2 2011.
• Future plan include reaching 1 million voice and 30,000 data customer milestone by Q2 2011.
• MTS is recognized to be the First Telecom Company in India to launch High Speed Mobile Broadband Services in the state of Jharkhand with speed up to 3.1 Mbps.

October 28, 2010: MTS, the mobile telephony services brand of Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd (SSTL), today announced it’s achievement of crossing the 5 lakh customer milestone in Bihar & Jharkhand. MTS has added over 4.9 lakh voice and over 15,000 data customers in just 16 months. The company is on track with its investment plans of USD 180 million, earmarked to develop telecom infrastructure and services in Bihar and Jharkhand. Additionally MTS is also credited for establishing a network of 25000 retailers across 282 towns in the 2 states.
Speaking on the achievement, M K Sachdeva, Chief Operating Officer, Bihar and Jharkhand Telecom circle, said, “We at MTS are extremely proud to have crossed the 5 lakh customer milestone in Bihar & Jharkhand. What is significant is that this milestone has been achieved in just 16 months, thanks to the acceptance of our voice and data service. Our future plan includes crossing the 1 million voice and 30,000 data customers by Q2 2011. Additionally we also are planning to expand the retail presence of MTS from 25,000 to 40,000 outlets by Q2 2011.”
In addition to expansion of it’s retail footprint, MTS has also drawn plans to further expand its rural presence from 25,000 to 30,000 villages by Q1 2011. The company since its launch in July 2009 has maintained a growth rate of 10 percent in Bihar & Jharkhand as compared to just 3 percent growth in the overall CDMA market.
Incidentally, MTS is also recognised as the first telecom company to launch its High Speed Mobile broadband services in the state of Jharkhand with speed up to 3.1 Mbps.

CEO Vsevolod Rozanov sends greetings to AMSOST

Dear Alok and all respected AMSOST members,

 

Thank you very much for your warm wishes, let me reciprocate them to you as well! Let the 2011 bring you and your families peace, joy and happiness. I share your view on 2011 and reassure you management will triple it’s focus on key business drivers i.e. data and smartphones. You will see more HSD cities, more circles and more revenue next year.

 

All the very best,

 

VR

Mobile operators pay penalty for failing to meet roll out obligations

Special Correspondent

Mobile operators who recently received notices from the Department of Telecommunications for failing to meet their roll-out obligations have started paying penalty to the government. Government sources said Etisalat DB (earlier known as Swan Telecom), Uninor and MTS have already deposited their penalty, while remaining operators are likely to follow suit.

“Etisalat DB Telecom has received a communication from Department of Telecommunications for imposition of liquidated damages towards roll-out obligation for the first year in respect of four telecom circles, aggregating Rs.9.90 crore…Etisalat DB has made payments for Rs.9.90 crore under protest,” the company said in a statement.

Similarly, Uninor, the joint venture between Norway's Telenor and Unitech, said it had deposited the penalty as claimed by the DoT “under protest”. “Various factors, including delay in clearances required for each site, new last minute pre-launch testing requirements and new equipment security clearance processes, came in the way of roll out and were beyond our control. We have requested the DoT to consider these in its assessment.

“As a serious long-term operator with considerable presence in India, we intend to continue delivering the benefits of competition to customers in the country,” it said.

Significantly, following Comptroller and Auditor General of India audit report on 2G spectrum allocation, which pointed towards non-fulfilment of roll out obligations by new telecom players, TRAI last month had asked DoT to cancel 69 of the 127 licences given to six companies — Etisalat DB, Uninor, Videocon (earlier Datacom), Loop Telecom, S Tel (a joint venture between Siva Group and Bahrain Telecommunications Company) and Aircel — as they failed to meet licence conditions regarding commencement of their services. Subsequently, DoT had issued notices to these telecom operators asking them to pay the penalty.

Keywords: telecom service provider, 2G spectrum

MTS INDIA launches UP East and UP West circles.

Sistema Shyam Tele Services Limited (SSTL) announced the expansion of its national footprint. The company has launched its mobile telephony services under the MTS brand in UP East and UP West Circles. This is all set to further add to the company’s customer base, which now stands at over 8 million voice and over 400,000 mobile broadband customers. The Russian Government recently picked up approximately 17% stake in SSTL for US$ 600mn.

Announcing the launch of MTS in UP East and UP West Circles, Sergey Savchenko, Chief Financial Officer, Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) said, “The launch of telephony services by MTS in UP East and UP West has further expanded our national footprint. MTS would now be able to address the telecom needs of over 80% of India’s population and about 92% of the data market potential in the country. This truly represents a very exciting opportunity for MTS.”

SSTL has already invested over US$2.2 bn in India. An investment of about Rs. 1.5bn has been earmarked for UP East and UP West circles. According to Arvind Kumar, Chief Operating Officer, UP East and UP West Circles, “The launch of MTS services will provide mobile customers in UP East and UP West Circles access to our nationally successful ½ paisa per second tariff plan or 1 paisa per second + 25% extra value on core Talk time with every recharge. This is bound to result in huge savings for the customers. Additionally, our customers would get to experience world class telecom services backed by seamless connectivity on a congestion free network.

BREAKING NEWS ... THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT COMPLETES THE PAYMENT FOR SHARES OF SISTEMA SHYAM TELESERVICES Ltd.

THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT COMPLETES THE PAYMENT FOR SHARES OF SISTEMA SHYAM TELESERVICES Ltd.

Moscow, Russia – December 21, 2010 – Sistema (LSE: SSA), the largest diversified public financial corporation in Russia and the CIS, which invests in, and is a major shareholder of, companies operating in different industries, today announced that, as a part of previously announced transaction the Russian government completed the payment for shares of Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd. (SSTL), Sistema’s subsidiary in India, which provides telecommunications services under the MTS brand.

Rosimushchestvo paid the rupee equivalent of US$ 600 million for a stake of approximately 17% in SSTL’s share capital. Following the additional share issue, the total stake in the share capital of SSTL owned by Russian parties (Sistema and Rosimushchestvo) will not exceed 74%.

SSTL expects to issue the shares to Rosimushchestvo during the first quarter of 2011, subject to the successful completion of a rights issue to SSTL’s Indian shareholders and compliance with all applicable Indian regulatory requirements. Upon final completion Sistema will announce all the relevant details about this transaction.

SSTL plans to use the funds to finance the continued development of the company, and in particular to strengthen its leading position in wireless broadband under EV-DO Rev. A.  The funds will also be used to expand the branded retail network in its current telecommunication circles and to accelerate the launch of operations in a number of new circles.

Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd. (previously Shyam Telelink Ltd.), established in 1998, launched its full operations in the State of Rajasthan in 2000. The company received the pan-Indian licence for mobile network operations in March 2008, and presently owns right to use frequencies for provision of mobile telephony services in 22 circles  across the country. The company provides telecommunication services to more than 8 million subscribers in 13 circles: Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu (and Chennai), Kerala, Kolkata, West Bengal and Sikkim, Bihar (and Jharkhand), Delhi, Karnataka, Mumbai, Haryana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. The company provides mobile broadband services under MBlaze brand to more than 400,000 people in 84 cities in India. Sistema owns 73.71% of Shyam TeleServices Ltd. For further information please visit www.mtsindia.in.

Sistema Shyam to receive $200 mn loan for expansion plans

Published on Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 08:36   |  Updated at Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 08:50  |  Source :

CDMA mobile firm Sistema Shyam will receive a loan of USD 200 million or approximately Rs 900 crore, from Russia-based Gazprom Bank. The funds will be used for expanding its network in India. SSTL is a joint venture between India’s Shyam group and Russian conglomerate Sistema.
The CEO of SSTL, Vsevolod Rozanov, in an interview with CNBC-TV18 said, "At this stage, we are providing the widest mobile broadband network in the country with approximately 100 cities being covered by mobile broadband across various circles. We plan on increasing the number of cities covered, both in terms of news states coming into the picture and increasing the depth of the coverage in each particular state."

Excerpts from India Business Hour on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show »

Sistema Shyam may pay DoT for missing rollout obligations

By Tejeesh NS Behl Dec 20 2010

Tags: Company, Telecommunication

 

Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL), which operates the MTS brand of mobile telephony, is likely to pay the

liquidity damages impo­sed on it by the department of telecommunications (Do­T) for not meeting rollout obligations within the stipulated time frame, a company official with direct knowledge of the development told Financial Chronicle on condition of anonymity.

“The total amount of liquidity damages for all the concerned circles works out to Rs 11 crore and it is possible we might just decide to pay up and get on with our rollout,” said the official.

He said it was also likely that other telecom companies who had been asked to pay liquidity damages for not meeting rollout obligations would follow suit.

According to telecom minister Kapil Sibal, there were 119 cases of violations of rollout obligations. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), in a letter to DoT, had named nine companies, including SSTL, that did not meet rollout obligations and had recommended punitive action against each depending on the quantum of delay. The other companies were Uninor, Etisalat DB, Loop Telecom, S Tel, Tata Teleservices (TTSL), Videocon, Vodafone Essar and Aircel/Dishnet.

Trai had said that SSTL had not started services in 10 circles –– Gujarat, Punjab, UP West, UP East, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Assam, the Northeast and Jammu & Kashmir. For such cases, which Trai has categorised as D2, meaning the telecom operator has not started services despite registering with the telecom enforcement, resource and monitoring cell, the regulator has recommended outright cancellation of licence. In addition, Trai said the telecom company had rolled out services in West Bengal in only two districts.

As per the licence agreement, a telecom operator is liable to pay a weekly penalty of Rs 5 lakh for the first 13 weeks of delay in rollout, Rs 10 lakh each for the next 13 weeks and Rs 20 lakh each up to the next 26 weeks, subject to a maximum of Rs 7 crore per week. The DoT had said that they could also consider cancelling a licence in certain cases where rollout obligations were not met.

Vsevolod Rozanov, president and CEO of SSTL, confirmed that DoT had asked the company to pay liquidity damages. “Yes, we have received a notice from the DoT last week and we will respond to it,” he said. He, however, declined to clarify whether the company had delayed rollout in certain circles and whether it would pay the liquidity damages. “Let me keep it between us and the regulator,” he said.

Each company has been given 15 days to pay liquidity damages, failing which licences could be cancelled and the companies would have to shell out fines with interest.

MTS India Aims for 2011 IPO

December 17, 2010 |

Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd. (SSTL), which operates under the brand MTS India, is shaping up for an IPO in 2011, according to a senior executive at the mobile operator. (See MTS India Puts Its Faith in Data.)
"We haven't decided a time line for this, but we'll be coming out with an IPO in 2011," says Rajeev Batra, chief information officer at MTS India, though he is unable to provide any further details.
That the operator is looking to list its stock on the public markets isn't wholly unexpected, as the company -- currently majority owned (73.7 percent) by Russia's Sistema JSFC (London: SSA), with India's Shyam Group (23.8 percent) and a number of smaller investors (2.5 percent) holding the balance -- had previously hinted at a potential listing during 2010.
But MTS India delayed as telecom stocks had a bumpy ride on the Indian exchanges this year while operator margins were squeezed, billions were spent on new spectrum, and several security issues injected uncertainty into the country's communications services.
Instead, the company, which has activated more than 7.5 million connections in the 13 circles (service areas) in which it is currently operational, adopted an alternative funding strategy. In August this year it secured a 13 billion Indian rupees (US$286 million) loan from the State Bank of India to finance the company’s expansion plans and introduce new products and data services on its CDMA network. (MTS India didn't participate in the 3G spectrum auction.) (See Data Is India's Next Tariff Battlefield and MTS India Signs Up for Advanced CDMA.)

That, though, clearly hasn't put the company's IPO plans on ice, as MTS India's management appears bullish about joining the public markets in the next calendar year.

Sistema Shyam Expects Russia Investment Next Quarter : Wall Street Journal

Sistema Shyam Expects Russia Investment Next Quarter

By MUKESH JAGOTA and ROMIT GUHA

NEW DELHI -- Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. said Monday it expects the Russian government's investment of around $600 million to come through in the January-March quarter, giving the mobile operator much-needed funds to expand its operations in India.
"All in-principle clearances have come [from the Russian and Indian governments]. Now only technicalities remain," Chief Executive Vsevolod Rozanov told reporters.
Sistema Shyam is 73.71% owned by Russia's Sistema JSFC, with India's Shyam Group holding about 23.79%. The Russian government planned to pick up the stake in the company by the end of 2009, but the plan was delayed as the country's economy ministry didn't approve the investment that had been included in Russia's 2009 budget.
Last December, Sistema Shyam had said it will issue 662.75 million shares, or a 19.8% stake, on a preferred basis to the Russian Federal Property Agency at 49.31 rupees and up to 228.55 million shares to its Indian founders at 10 rupees a share.
The deal will reduce Sistema's holding in the Indian company to about 54%. The share allotment to the Indian founders will, however, help Sistema Shyam keep the total foreign stake in it below the government-mandated limit of 74% for Indian telecom companies.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has held some deposits in rupees in India. Sistema JSFC has previously said the government is required to invest this cash in Indian projects and that the investment in Sistema Shyam would be a "financing arrangement" as it includes a pledge by Sistema to buy the shares in five years' time.
Sistema Shyam has licenses to provide services in all of India's 22 service areas but has so far started operations under the MTS brand in 13 areas. It has 8 million voice users and 400,000 broadband subscribers.
Earlier in the day, Sistema Shyam signed an agreement with Russia's Gazprombank for a $200 million loan to fund expansion. It also plans to launch an initial public offering in the second half of 2011, Mr. Rozanov said.
The company's expansion plan comes at a time when the world's fastest-growing telecom market has been plunged into turmoil following allegations of corruption.
The country's top investigative agency is scrutinizing the 2008 sale of licenses and bandwidth that critics alleged favored some companies. The telecom department is sending notices to some companies which received licenses in 2008, asking why their licenses shouldn't be cancelled. It is also sending notices to some companies which haven't met stipulated schedules of service roll outs.
A person familiar with the matter said Monday that Sistema Shyam has received a notice from the telecom department, claiming 110 million rupees ($2.43 million) as "liquidated damages" for the delay in roll out of services in 10 areas.
Chief Executive Rozanov said the company will reply to the notice within the stipulated time of 15 days. "This doesn't affect Sistema's plans in India...and at this stage, we continue to roll out our network," he said.

Sistema says India investment plans on track : Reuters

Sistema says India investment plans on track

NEW DELHI, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Russian oil-to-telecoms group Sistema's (SSAq.L) Indian unit on Monday said an inquiry by the Indian government about its telecom licence in a case running parallel to one of the biggest corruption scams to hit India will not affect its investment plans in the country.
The Indian unit's Chief Executive Vsevolod Rozanov said the firm would reply to India's letter on not meeting network rollout obligations, and added that Russian government's planned investment of about $600 million in the company was expected to close in the first quarter of next year.
"All the principal clearances are received both from the Indian side and the Russian side. Now what is remaining is basically technicalities," Rozanov said of the Russian investment.
The Russian government will get a 20 percent stake in Sistema Shyam, which holds telecoms licences for all of India and currently operates in 13 of India's 22 telecoms zones.
India's telecoms ministry last week sent out notices to firms named by a government auditor as being ineligible for licences they were given in 2008, asking them to defend the permits.
The inquiry is part of a scandal that alleges the country's former telecom minister gave out licences too cheaply and to some companies that were ineligible, possibly costing the state $39 billion in revenue.
Separately, the ministry also sent out letters last week to firms that have not fulfilled network rollout obligations asking them to reply within 15 days or pay "liquidated damages."
Some of these licences could be cancelled, government officials have said.
Sistema's Indian mobile joint venture, Sistema Shyam Teleservices, has received a letter for not meeting rollout requirements, Rozanov said, but added the letter was for "liquidated damages" and not for cancellation of licences.
"This doesn't affect Sistema's plans in India because we haven't received any show cause notice and at this stage continue to rollout our network," he said, referring to notices which have been issued to companies asking them to defend their licences.
Rozanov said Sistema Shyam would reply to the government letter on not meeting rollout requirements "within the prescribed timeline."
India's telecoms regulator had earlier recommended cancelling some telecom licences, including 10 held by Sistema Shyam, for failing to meet rollout requirements. The regulator also wants another licence of Sistema Shyam cancelled after legal examination.
Sistema owns a 73.7 percent stake in Sistema Shyam, while India's Shyam group owns 23.8 percent. The issue of shares to the Russian government would dilute Sistema's holding to 54 percent.
Sistema Shyam has also said it is also looking to list the company in India.
"We expect that next year we should be ready for listing, Then the board will make a decision depending on the right market condition," Rozanov said.
Sistema Shyam earlier on Monday signed a mandate letter with Russian lender Gazprombank for a loan of $200 million. The rupee-denominated loan would be used on network building and on operational expenses, Rozanov said. (Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy, Writing by Bharghavi Nagaraju; Editing by Rosemary Arackaparambil and Jui Chakravorty)

Sistema Shyam Q3 net jumps seven-fold at $507 mn

NEW DELHI: Sistema Shyam TeleServices, a joint venture between Sistema of Russia and Shyam Group of India , today reported over seven-fold jump in its net income to $ 507 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2010, over the same period last year.

The company had a net income of $ 68.84 million in the June-September quarter 2009, Sistema Shyam TeleServices which owns CDMA mobile telephony brand MTS said in a statement issued here.

During the period, the Income of the company from continuing operations before income tax, equity in net income of energy companies in the Republic of Bashkortostan stood at $ 693.35 million.

"In our Telecoms business unit, the third quarter was characterised by our continued efforts to consolidate our telecoms assets and create an integrated market leader.

Notably, the recovery we witnessed in the second quarter in our Consumer businesses was sustained in the third quarter, which showed double digit revenue growth and a turnaround in net profitability," Sistema President and CEO Leonid Melamed said.

Total revenues stood at $ 7.3 billion during the quarter under review, against $ 5.33 billion in the same year-ago period.

The Group's cash balances stood at $ 4,009.5 million as of September 30, 2010, compared to $ 2,395.3 million in the same period last year.

The Group's net debt (short-term and long-term debt 14 less cash and cash equivalents) amounted to $ 10,459.8 million as of September 30, 2010, compared to $ 11,633.5 million as of June 30, 2010.

SSTL launched its mobile data services in 22 new cities with total number of cities covered by high speed data services increasing to 96 out of 100 biggest cities in India, including all five Metro areas, at the end of the third quarter. The number of mobile broadband subscribers more than doubled quarter-on-quarter to 260 thousand subscribers as of September 30, 2010.

In September 2010, the Government of the Russian Federation approved an equity investment in SSTL. It is expected that the Russian Government will participate in an issuance of additional 6 shares of SSTL, paying an equivalent of $ 600 million in the form of Indian rupees held in accounts representing Indian governmental debt to the Russian Federation.

LTE coming in 2011

With newer , faster technologies around the bend,  MTS india will need to get its technology and business strategy right and create a niche segment to avoid getting crowded out- Editor

 Analyst: LTE TDD Will Reach India in 2011

December 5, 2010 | Gagandeep Kaur | Post a comment

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Following swiftly on the heels of the widespread launch of 3G services, India is set to witness the launch of its first Long Term Evolution Time Division Duplex (LTE TDD) network in the second half of 2011, according to an experienced industry analyst. (See Bharti Gets a Makeover Before 3G Launch and India's Tata Ready for 3G Launch.)
Two developments in the Indian telecom industry this week have added momentum to the country's LTE TDD sector. The first, and more important of the two, was the confirmation by BWA (broadband wireless access) license-holder Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) that it intends to build out a network based on LTE TDD technology. Reliance Industries is the only company to hold a pan-Indian BWA spectrum. (See Reliance Gives Impetus to LTE TDD in India and Reliance Shows Off LTE TDD Ecosystem.)
The second development was the demonstration of LTE TDD capabilities in India by industry giants Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM) and Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC). (See Ericsson, Qualcomm Demo LTE TDD in India.)
But it's going to be a few months yet before the LTE TDD ecosystem -- networks, devices, supporting Service Provider Information Technology (SPIT) systems -- will be ready. "Globally, LTE is gaining momentum, but LTE TDD is still more than a year behind WiMax and LTE FDD, and this going to have a big impact on the decision of the Indian operators. I still think Indian operators will have a hard time launching a commercial BWA service using LTE TDD until the second half of 2011. This may just mean they will delay until then," says Berge Ayvazian, senior consultant at Heavy Reading.
His view is corroborated by Qualcomm, which successfully bid for BWA spectrum in the auction earlier this year. The company had paid more than US$1 billion for BWA spectrum in four circles (service areas): Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala. (See Qualcomm Wins India Spectrum, India's BWA Auction Ends in $8.2B Drama, and BWA Auction Is Bad News for WiMax's Future .)
"The Indian operators will finish the 3G launch by March next year and we would be demonstrating interoperability with 3G in the second quarter of the coming year. Ecosystem will be ready then. We expect one or two operators to launch in the second half of the coming year but the actual launch may be dependent on the operators," the president of Qualcomm India and South Asia, Kanwalinder Singh, told Light Reading Asia. (See Reliance Sets Out Its 3G Stall and India's 3G Auction Ends, Raises $14.6B)
Not surprisingly, the WiMAX Forum has a different take on current developments. "LTE TDD is unlikely to take off in India as the technology is not ready for commercial rollout," says CS Rao, chairman of the Forum in India.
Qualcomm's quest
Meanwhile, Qualcomm continues to seek operators that can take on its spectrum and build out LTE TDD networks, a move that was always part of its medium-term strategy.
The company has already offloaded a 26 per cent stake to Tulip Telecom Ltd. and GTL Ltd. for about $58 million, and recent media reports put Qualcomm in talks with Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Mumbai: BHARTIARTL) (See Qualcomm Names India LTE Investors , Qualcomm Updates on India Exit Plan, and Will Qualcomm Sell Its BWA Spectrum in India? .)
According to the reports, Aircel has shown interest in the Mumbai and Kerala circles, while Bharti is interested in the Delhi and Haryana circles. Qualcomm's spectrum can be sold together as a single block or be split into two blocks -- one grouping Mumbai and Kerala, and the other Delhi and Haryana.
"We are not in any hurry to offload the spectrum which we have won. We are talking to all operators, both 3G and 2G, and there is a certain set of base terms we are discussing with the operators. However, we're certain that we do not want to compete with the operators," says Qualcomm's Singh.
Though the Indian market is moving towards LTE TDD, it is not the end of the road for WiMax. "The decision to deploy LTE [in place of] WiMax may still vary by circle and operator," believes Ayvazian at Heavy Reading. "For example, Reliance may select a few rural circles for WiMax deployments to deliver low-cost broadband, taking advantage of the current cost and maturity advantages of the WiMax base stations and devices. But in major cities [the operators] will deploy LTE TDD, even if it delays service rollouts," he adds. (See All WiMax Eggs in Reliance Basket, India's Still Hot for WiMax, Says Forum , BWA Auction Is Bad News for WiMax's Future and WiMax, 3G to Dominate India's Broadband Future)

MTS enters Gujrat

MTS eyes 30% CDMA market share in Gujarat

BS Reporter / Mumbai/ Ahmedabad December 03, 2010, 0:28 IST

Having rolled out its prepaid CDMA mobile telephony services, MTS, in Gujarat, Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) is now eyeing to grab a market share of 30 per cent in the state. Entering its 13th circle in the country, SSTL intends to build an MTS subscriber base of two lakhs for voice users and 6,000 data users by end of 2011.
"“The launch of MTS services in Gujarat will provide mobile customers the access to our nationally successful half paisa per second tariff plan. In-addition to an unmatched tariff, our focus is also to provide a world class customer care service and add more value-for-money for customer through innovative products like Recharge Booster, where we give 25 per cent extra talk time with every subsequent recharge for a year. By 2011 end, we have a target of two lakh voice users and 6,000 data users. We are expecting a CDMA market share of 30 per cent in Gujarat," said Navid Rashid, Chief Operating Officer, Gujarat.

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SSTL's launch plan, spread across 245 towns and 5,000 villages, includes an investment of Rs 100 crore in Gujarat. These funds will be utilised in building the service network for MTS customers across the circle. Over the next ­3 months, MTS customers would also be serviced by a network of over 150 dealers and 31000 retail outlets across the state. Going forward, MTS also plans to launch its high speed mobile broadband service in Gujarat under its flagship data brand 'MBlaze' by first quarter of 2011. Additionally, MTS plans to launch its post paid mobile services in the state by Q1 2011. "Mobile customers in Gujarat will now get to experience the services of a global brand like MTS, which stands for world class telecom services backed by seamless connectivity on a congestion free network," said Vsevolod Rozanov, president and chief executive officer, Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL).
Going forward, MTS also intends to establish a strong data services business in Gujarat. "In voice and data, we are looking at 80:20 ratio in urban areas, and 90:10 in rural areas in Gujarat. We want to be known strongly as a data brand as well," Rashid added.
In a short span of time, MTS has secured over 7.5 million subscribers. The company is present in 12 other circles including Kolkata, West Bengal & Sikkim, Rajasthan, Chennai & Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar & Jharkhand, Mumbai, Maharashtra & Goa, Delhi & NCR, Haryana, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. MBlaze, the data service of MTS, offered in 84 towns of India, has over 3.5 lakh mobile broadband customers so far since its launch in November 2009.

Data is India's Next Tariff Battlefield

India's voice service tariff war, which sent per-minute prices crashing to rock-bottom levels last year, is set to be repeated in the emerging data services market as the country's mobile operators launch their 3G offerings, according to Tata Teleservices Ltd.
The operator has just launched its 3G services, having won 3G spectrum in nine circles (service areas) earlier this year. (See Tata Docomo Unveils 3G Packages and India's Tata Ready for 3G Launch.)
However, it's soon set to be joined by many of its key 3G rivals. (See Bharti Gets a Makeover Before 3G Launch, Aircel Earmarks $500M for 3G, India's Vodafone Essar Names 3G Suppliers, and India's 3G Players Ready for Swift Launch.)
"We believe that the data space is going to be more competitive as... other operators launch 3G services," said Lloyd Mathias, president of the corporate monitoring group at Tata Teleservices, speaking to Light Reading Asia on the sidelines of a recent press conference.
That spells good news for consumers, who, as tariffs drop and device makers launch ever-cheaper 3G handsets, will find 3G increasingly affordable.
But a mobile data price war won't be such good news for the operators or their investors, as the service providers need to find ways of generating a profitable return on their 3G license and infrastructure investments. (See India's 3G Auction Ends, Raises $14.6B and India's 3G Equipment Market a 'Bloodbath'.)
CDMA dominates mobile data landscape
Currently there are just three prominent players in India's mobile data services market -- Tata Teleservices, Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd. , and Reliance Communications Ltd. -- and, not surprisingly, all of them are CDMA operators that have upgraded their networks with EV-DO technology.
Tata, in fact, has just started to promote a netbook that hooks up to its CDMA EV-DO network, offering downstream mobile broadband speeds of up to 3.1 Mbit/s. (See TTSL, Acer Offer Connected Netbook.)
Tata and Reliance have an additional string to their mobile data bows, though, as both operate CDMA and GSM networks, and both hold 3G licenses that have enabled them to upgrade their GSM networks with 3G/HSPA technology. Sistema Shyam, which trades under the brand MTS India, has only its CDMA operations. (See MTS India Puts Its Faith in Data.)
Now Tata, which unleashed the voice price war by cutting its tariffs last year, is confident it can capitalize on the head start it has over its competitors, and benefit from its CDMA EV-DO experience.
"We believe we have an advantage over others, since we already have more than 1 million [mobile data] subscribers across the country. The technology and the spectrum we have is superior. We are already ahead of the other operators," said Mathias. (See Huawei Bags India 3G Deal.)
The likelihood is, then, that rivals such as Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Mumbai: BHARTIARTL), which has previously said 3G service prices are unlikely to be as low as 2G, might be drawn into a data tariff war along with all the other 3G players, with Tata Teleservices the probable leader in cutting prices. (See Bharti Gets a Makeover Before 3G Launch, Bharti Needs More Data Drive, and Tata Docomo Unveils 3G Packages.)
Though Tata's Mathias didn't comment on the data services ARPU (average revenue per user) across all of Tata Teleservices, he said Tata Photon Plus, the operator's CDMA EV-DO service, currently has a monthly ARPU upwards of 800 Indian rupees (US$17.45).
— Gagandeep Kaur, India Editor, Light Reading

Surprising October figures for MTS India

SSTL October 2010 additions are down compared to Sept 2010 though marginally. So month on month gain that was expected has not materialized

As expected amongst all circles Mumbai and Maharashtra performed poorly..Mumbai additions are just 1000!!! and maharashtra saw a decliine!!!.

What is the Maharashtra team up to under the leadership of the new circle chief !

Sistema Shyam CEO Vsevolod Rozanov: “We expect a price war in the post-paid market"

MNP to trigger post-paid rate wars

Katya B Naidu & Surajeet Das Gupta / Mumbai/ New Delhi November 24, 2010, 0:03 IST

Tariffs of post-paid customers are expected to fall, as telcos — particularly new operators — brace for a price war with the launch of mobile number portability (MNP) on Thursday from Rohtak in Haryana. MNP allows customers to retain their number while changing their operators.
Telcos say tariffs could be cut by up to 20 per cent. While post-paid customers constitute only 5 per cent of the total customer base of 670 million, they make up over 15 per cent of revenues thanks to their relatively higher average revenue per user (Arpu).

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Says Sistema Shyam CEO Vsevolod Rozanov: “We expect a price war in the post-paid market, where customers have been loyal to their operators for a long while. Also, most of the fall in tariffs that we saw in the last few years has been in the pre-paid category. We expect tariffs to fall by double digits.” New players like Sistema see an opportunity to grab customers from incumbent operators, who have congested networks.
J Gopal, executive director of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, confirmed the likely fall in tariffs: “By how much is tough to say, because that will depend on how many people leave or come into the network. We are hoping to get a large number of consumers after MNP.”
New private operators say that they will now use this one-time opportunity to garner high-Arpu customers by offering them a better network. “We see tariffs falling by 20 per cent. Our strategy will be to get high-paying customers, who are unhappy with congested incumbent networks and give them an alternative at a lower price,” said a top executive with a new operator.
Operators say the big challenge will be corporate accounts, where operators offer managed services — a Rs5,000-crore market in which mobile revenues are nearly half — that include mobile connections to employees.
It is a market that Reliance Communications, for instance, is planning to address by weaning away accounts.
Executives in the company say this market will also see a price war, as incumbents have to drop tariffs by around 15 per cent to ensure that they do not lose customers. New companies that do not have a large post-paid base have nothing to lose by dropping tariffs and garnering incremental business.
But incumbent operators, while agreeing that the initial churn might go up by 5 percentage points, do not see any tectonic shift in consumers due to MNP. The current industry trend is a 7-10 per cent churn, which simply means that every customer changes his or her operator once a year.
"You might see an overall tariff drop of 5 per cent by new players, but that cannot be a differentiator, as it will be matched by others," said a source at Vodafone-Essar.
However, some experts say the MNP battle will be fiercest in the post-paid market. "We strongly believe that MNP could be a game-changer in the Indian wireless space, more so in high-Arpu subscriber segments, where churn rates remain low," said Satish Seth, group managing director of Reliance Communications, in a conference call.
"The lower end of the market looks for the best possible offer. After MNP comes in, behaviour in the high net-worth segment might change. Since there are few differentiators in the service offered, churn could go up," said Romal Shetty, head of telecom at KPMG.
"This could be only a temporary phenomenon. In the long-term, high-end subscribers prefer good network coverage and service, and incumbent operators will score. We don't expect anything so spectacularly different that would change the dynamics of the game," countered Sangeeta Tripathi, a telecom analyst with Sharekhan.

SISTEMA SHYAM SEPTEMBER QTR REVENUES UP 200 PERCENT !!!

SISTEMA SHYAM SEPTEMBER QTR REVENUES UP 200 PERCENT !!!

SSTL has registered gross  revenues of INR 150 cr  (aprox) in Q2 of 10-11  against  INR 50 cr (aprox) in Q2 of  09-10 and INR 110 cr (aprox) in Q1 of 10-11...that's a growth of 200 percent year-on-year and 35 percent quater-on-quarter.

On a 9 month basis revenues went up over 200 percent in 9 months ending sep 2010 as compared to 9 months ending sept 2009..for 9 months ending sept 2010 sstl has revenues of INR 340 cr aprox against revenues of INR  110 cr  (approx)for 9 months ending  sptember 2009 .

1 cr = 10 million
1 US$ = INR 45
Q2 : JUN -SEPT

DoT says it won’t cancel any telecom licences

Govt says revoking licences not on the agenda for now; those not in compliance face ‘heavy penalties’

Shauvik Ghosh, shauvik.g@livemint.com

The department of telecommunications (DoT) will not cancel any of the telecom licences and spectrum given to operators in January 2008, for now, but is looking at ensuring that losses made due to alleged faulty procedures prior to 2008 be rectified as much as possible.
“We cannot cancel the licences based on the procedure followed by the government at the time. We are, however, looking at whether it is possible to discover a new price for the licences. This will be higher, so we will have to ask the operators to pay the difference,” a DoT official said on condition of anonymity. “There is scope for renegotiation of the licences and we will make every effort to get back the money that the government has lost.”
On Thursday, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had written a letter to DoT recommending that around 70 licences be cancelled due to non-compliance of roll-out obligations stipulated in licence agreements.
According to Trai data on subscriber numbers as of end -August, Videocon, Etisalat DB and Loop had no or negligible subscribers in a majority of the circles they held.
“We cannot cancel the licences on the basis of what should have been done by the earlier regime. Agreements have been signed with the operators,” another DoT official said. “But we cannot be unfair to genuine companies.”
The ministry, however, will look into penalizing the telcos for not complying with roll-out obligations, if this is proven.
“We are looking into the recommendations by Trai. The guilty will be heavily penalized, but we cannot allow the consumer or the industry to be affected. The sector is a vital source of government revenue,” the second official added.
All the new operators got spectrum in nearly all the circles they won as soon as they signed their licences almost three years ago, in January 2008.
The development comes as a consequence of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report submitted on Tuesday, on the controversial second generation mobile spectrum allocation.
The report alleges that policies followed by DoT under former communications minister A. Raja led to a loss of between Rs.50,000 crore and Rs.1.76 trillion to the exchequer. Besides allotting the spectrum at “throwaway” prices, DoT gave licences to companies that did not qualify.
CAG has asked that the 121 licences, issued to nine operators in January 2008, be cancelled due to the alleged wrongdoing.
“This may lead to many of the new operators surrendering their licences in some circles due to the inability to start operations or the operations not making commercial sense. This, in turn, could lead to more spectrum being available in the country and quality of service improving significantly,” a Mumbai-based analyst with a multinational brokerage firm said on condition of anonymity as he is not allowed to speak to the media. “The government may also allow mergers and acquisitions in the sector in order to clean up the mess.”

Shyam-Sistema refutes Trai charge on roll-out obligations

Shyam-Sistema refutes Trai charge on roll-out obligations
Refuting telecom regulator Trai's charge that it has not met its roll-out obligations, Sistema-Shyam, on Thursday said the company has launched services in all 22 circles and has over seven million subscribers. "Amongst the new telecom operators, Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd (SSTL) was the first company to launch its services. The company has complied with all its roll-out obligations in all the 22 telecom circles and has already secured over 7 million voice subscribers and over 3,00,000 data customers," the company said in a statement.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Thursday said Sistema-Shyam has failed to meet roll-out obligations in 10 circles and has recommended cancellation of its licences in those areas.
A joint venture between India's Shyam group and Russian giant Sistema, Sistema-Shyam is the only new telecom operator which is offering CDMA based services across the nation.
Among the new licensees, no irregularity was found by the government auditor CAG, which has said that 2G spectrum allocation by the government cost the exchequer up to Rs 1.76 lakh crore. CAG report also mentioned a few companies, saying that they were ineligible for telecom licences.
Russian firm Sistema holds nearly 74% equity in the company, and has also roped in the Russian government which holds nearly 19 per cent stake.

Sistema India unit says has met all rollout obligations Thu, 18th Nov 2010 12:42

NEW DELHI, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Sistema Shyam Teleservices, the Indian arm of Russia's Sistema, said on Thursday it had met all its obligations for rolling out mobile telecom operations in the country.

The company's statement came after local television channels said that the telecoms sector watchdog had recommended cancelling as many as 69 telecoms licences issued to various operators due to delay in the rollout of services.

ED weighing if money from stake sales can be termed criminal proceeds

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate , or ED, is investigating foreign entities that bought stake in new telecom companies that were given permits in 2008, to determine if the money received from these stake sales can be classified as criminal proceeds.
The agency, which investigates violation of India’s foreign exchange laws, has also written to countries from where money was received by the Indian firms for details on the investors and source of funds.

“Prima facie, it appears that money was routed through several tax havens and we have written to these countries for details,” said an ED official who did not wish to be identified. “If the procedure for allotment of licences is found to be faulty or inappropriate, then the money received by these companies could be treated as criminal proceeds,” the official added.

India’s national auditor, in its report submitted to the government on Wednesday, had indicted telecom minister A Raja for selling scarce airwaves to nine new entrants in 2008 using a faulty and outdated policy, and costing the exchequer between Rs90,000 crore and Rs140,000 crore. The report has resulted in a political firestorm, with Opposition parties calling for Mr Raja’s resignation.

In its report, CAG has said mobile permits given to five of the new entrants were illegal. It has slammed the telecom department for not rejecting the applications of Loop Telecom , Unitech, Swan (Etisalat DB), Datacom (Videocon) and S Tel and added that these firms had failed to meet the eligibility criteria for obtaining telecom licences. The nub of ED’s case is that if the licences awarded were illegal, then the money received from selling stakes in them could also be tainted.

ED is probing money allegedly received by two companies from Cyprus and Dubai, respectively. “We have sent letters of rogatory to these countries and are examining whether foreign exchange laws were violated by these fund transfers and also the source of these funds,” said the official quoted earlier. The agency is also learnt to have informed the Supreme Court of these developments.

The nine firms that got licences in 2008 for a mere Rs1,651 crore include Essar Group-owned Loop Telecom, realty firm Unitech, Datacom (Videocon), Swan (Etisalat), Sistema Shyam, Spice and S Tel.

Some of these firms immediately sold stakes to foreign companies for huge valuations.

Unitech ceded control to Norwegian telecom major Telenor for $1.1 billion; UAE-based telco Etisalat bought a 45% stake in Swan for $900 million; and S Tel, which had permits for only six circles, sold 49% stake to Bahrain’s Batelco for about $225 million. These deals were clinched even before the companies set up a single tower or any other infrastructure to roll out services.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in its report said “based on the foreign equity attracted by them, the value of a pan-India mobile permit could be anywhere between Rs7,442 crore and Rs47,918 crore”. It added that Mr Raja acted in an “arbitrary” manner and deliberately followed faulty policies to “benefit” a few operators.

ED recently told the Supreme Court that it has registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) earlier this year under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, or PMLA, on the basis of the FIR registered by CBI in the spectrum allocation scam.

ET had earlier reported that the agency has registered complaints against Unitech and Loop under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act or PMLA. Another ED official, who declined to be named, said the agency is also examining the role of a prominent corporate lobbyist who is alleged to have played a role in influencing the way the licences were awarded to new companies. The agency has summoned this lobbyist for questioning under the provisions of PMLA, this official added.

ED officials are also studying the comments by the national auditor that companies such as Swan, Unitech and S Tel were able to attract huge foreign investments soon after getting mobile permits. Sources in the agency pointed out that the auditor has questioned the motivation of Telenor, one of Norway’s largest firms, for acquiring stake in Unitech, stating that the high value it paid for the stake in the communication venture was primarily for spectrum and not for “other inputs claimed to have been infused by Unitech”.

“The value which should have accrued to the public exchequer went as a favour to the new licensees in the form of capital infusion for enriching their business,” the chief auditor has said. The extension of the ED probe could spell more trouble for Mr Raja, whose decisions related to awarding mobile licences in 2008 are also being investigated by CBI, CVC and the Parliamentary Affairs Committee . Cases related to these are being heard in the Supreme Court. CBI in its FIR has said the loss to the exchequer from the spectrum scam is about Rs22,000 crore.

Message from the CEO

Dear Amsost members,

 

Thank you very much for the greetings!

Let me in turn wish very happy Diwali to you and your families, let the coming year be joyful and prosperous! Let me reassure you the management team will continue it’s effort to deliver the best for our customers, shareholders and employees.

 

Very best regards,

 

Vsevolod Rozanov

 

India adds 2.5 Lakh CDMA data card subscribers every month

Corporate - Others

By: Nilabh Jha| afaqs! Telecom Yatra | New Delhi, November 03, 2010

In a country where broadband targets have continuously been missed, CDMA operators have crossed the three million subscriber mark with their EVDO data cards, which provides high speed internet access.
According to research done by Telecom Yatra, CDMA operators are adding around 2.5 lakh data card subscribers per month. Also, the absence of 3G data cards has proved to be a big factor in success story of CDMA data cards.

Amongst the CDMA operators, Reliance is the biggest player in the data card business with about 55 per cent market share, and Tata Indicom is the second with close to 35 per cent share.
On the other hand, MTS - the new operator in the space is a distant third with 2.5 lakh subscribers.
Public sector operators BSNL and MTNL, who also have CDMA networks, are only marginal players. BSNL has upped the ante and hopes to capture a bigger market share in this lucrative market.
In terms of net additions per month, both Reliance and Tata are in close competition. Both are adding one lakh customers a month with an additional 50,000 being added by MTS and the public sector operators.
In the vendor space, Chinese equipment manufacturers have captured almost the entire dongle market in India. ZTE has 43 per cent market share while Huawei has close to 55 per cent. Together they have been able to push more than 5 million dongles to operators.
The dongles business is very lucrative for CDMA operators - while their average revenue per user (ARPU) hovers at around Rs 111; ARPU for data cards is more than Rs 700.
Given the importance of the business each operator has already chalked out plans for expanding their EVDO network. RCom plans to expand its Netconnect (Its wireless internet brand) service to 600 towns and cities from the current 69 cities. MTS is also planning to take its MBLaze service to more than 100 cities. Right now it is available in 84 cities; while Tata Photon plus is available in 76 cities.
Operators are also thinking of upgrading to next generation EVDO Rev B platform which will enable them to offer speeds up to 14.3 Mbps. However, none of them have committed a time period for this upgrade.
So far, CDMA operators have had no competition from GSM operators in data connectivity from. But with the launch of 3G in the offing they will soon have to face the onslaught of HSPA data cards. Though HSPA data cards will offer similar speeds, being a GSM product can help their brand.
Kunal Bajaj, director, Analysis Mason, had a different perspective, "I don't think CDMA camp will face any threat from GSM camp in this space. It will in fact help in expanding the market. Moreover, 3G operators will also have to carry voice in this limited bandwidth available to them, so they will not be very keen on pure play dongle business, I think they will use 3G to provide better value added services".
Despite being successful, CDMA operators other than MTS refused to share the number of dongles sold by them. The probable reason for this could be the criticism from GSM operators that CDMA operators are getting unfair advantage as they are able to offer 3G services (EVDO is a 3G standard) without paying for it, While GSM operators have to pay a huge spectrum fee.

Rediffusion Y&R wins MTS business for over 200 crores..

Rediffusion Y&R wins MTS business

By Anushree Bhattacharyya, afaqs!, New Delhi, November 01, 2010

• The size of the business is estimated to be more than Rs 200 crore.

Rediffusion Y&R has bagged the creative duties for MTS, the CDMA mobile telephony brand. Prior to this, Saatchi & Saatchi was the incumbent agency. MTS started looking for a new creative partner in July this year, after its contract with Saatchi & Saatchi expired.
The development has been confirmed by the MTS' spokesperson.
MTS' media duties are handled by Media Planning Group (MPG) India, the media buying arm of Havas Media.
MTS is the global telecom brand of Mobile TeleSystems (Sistema) of Russia. In December 2008, Sistema and Shyam Group of India formed a joint venture and brought the MTS brand into India under a brand license agreement with Mobile TeleSystems (MTS).