JK spend Rs 960 cr on cellular services annually

‘Telecom companies lack proper infrastructure’

Bilal Hussain

The telecom companies both public and private sector make enormous revenue of over Rs 960 crores annually in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Average revenue per user (ARPU), a measure used primarily by consumer communications and networking companies, it is the total revenue divided by the number of subscribers. The average monthly revenue per user ARPU fell 8.85 per cent to Rs 278 in Q1 June 2009 over Q4 March 2009 for a leading telecom company.
On an average if the mobile subscriber in the state pays Rs 200 a month —a conservative figure— to cellular service providers, the mobile subscriber base in the state is over 40 lakhs, which includes BSNL, Bharti Airtel, Dishnet Wireless, and Vodafone Essar the total amount works out is over Rs 80 crore a month.
The BSNL, a public sector telecommunication company, currently have a customer base of over eight lakh subscribers, Bharti Airtel, has got the highest customer base of over 18 lakh in the state, Dishnet Wireless has eleven lakh subscribers in the state and the new entrant in the state, Vodafone Essar has a customer base of over a lakh.
Exact figure up till August 2009 for the BSNL was 878842, for Bharti Airtel it was 1885695, Dishnet Wireless 1110163 and for Vodafone Essar 164717. Total number for all cellular connections in J&K till August this fiscal was 4039417. And same figure for the month of July 2009 was 3892626, which shows a growth of 3.77 per cent in a month.
On an average subscribers in the state spend over Rs 960 crore annually on their mobile bills. Despite the telecom companies managing huge profits in general in the state and valley in particular, they have failed in building proper infrastructure to provide up to mark services to its customers.
Noted economist Professor Nisar Ali said that the telecom companies draw huge revenues from the state but when it comes to service companies are lagging behind. The companies don’t invest much in the state compared to the revenue cellular operators are managing here so as to improve their infrastructure to provide better services to customers.
Many subscribers told KASHMIR TIMES that the services were highly unsatisfactory despite paying their bills on time.
Software engineer, Audil Hussain said, “This is not for the first time when telecom service companies have failed in providing to the mark services to its customers.”
“If the companies are not able to cater to its vast customer base they should stop providing fresh connection and up grade its infrastructure to provide hassle free services to its current existing base,” he said.
Cellular services in other places are far better than as are being provided by companies in the state. It is not only about the cellular services, the companies have not been able to provide smooth GPRS service to its customers as well, Audil said.
Many subscribers said that they where thinking to switch over to other service providers but that too is of no use as all are providing poor services in the state. “It is a bit difficult to switch over to other service providers because the number you use is already known to your friends, relatives and others. But should the companies fail to improve its services, I may switch over to some other service provider," said Nazir Ahmad of a subscriber.
According to the telecom experts here the telecom services get affected due to the unprecedented power cut in the Valley, as the companies ill-equipped to tackle power cuts.