Vodafone Essar has come out as the fastest growing telecom provider in the last year-and-a-half in one of the fastest growing telecom GSM subscriber market in Punjab. The company has notched a growth of 127% in its subscriber base during March 2006 and September 2007 followed by Bharti Airtel (71%) and Spice Communication (47%) for the same duration.
The telecom companies had around 42 lakh new subscribers since fiscal year 2005 in the state. During the same period telecom behemoth BSNL, that was market leader with subscriber base of 37 lakh till March 2006 in the state, lost over million subscribers to others registering a negative growth of 270%.
The subscriber base of four leading GSM service providers in Punjab till September 2007 stood at 28,65450 for Bharti Airtel, 21,98805 for Spice, 15,00125 for Vodafone and 14,2837 for BSNL.
Eyeing the festive season the telecom companies are endorsing their festive plans aggressively in the state. Vodafone is vying to increase its subscriber base by cashing in on its collaboration partner Research In Motion (RIM) by introducing Blackberry Pearl 8120 smart phone in the country. The company has already launched its assured surprise gifts for both post-paid and pre-paid subscribers like free night calls, free or discounted local calls within the same network. The company has announced to give free talk time of calling value Rs 100, Rs 1,000 and Rs 10,000 every day whereas a customer can win mega price of talk-time of one lakh per week.
Spice communications, only regional player among the four service providers in the state, still holds its market that stands at 28%. The company registered growth of 33% during fiscal 2005 and has increased its subscriber base to 21,98805 till September 2007 with 47% growth for the duration. The company has added 7 lakh mobile subscribers since March 2006 in the state.