3G News / Data

Advanced Info Thailand Invests 9.6Bn for 3G

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Advanced Info Thailand Invests 9.6Bn. Data growth very strong, subs at 12mn or 1/3 sub base, smartphones at 17% penetration up from 11% in 2011. Data usage and revenue 65% growth. 3G license in December, commercial launch next month in key cities. 70bn over three years. 97% population coverage. 2015, no longer own 2g assets, … Read more

Telecom Spectrum Prices Falling

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Wireless Spectrum prices in India peaked with the 3G auction [2100 MHz] at Rs 33,501m/Mhz (pan- India), driven largely by policy uncertainty around license renewals and future availability. Telecom Spectrum costs since then are rapidly falling and stand at Rs 23,786m/Mhz (pan-India) for the 1800Mhz band. They are likely to fall further since auctions have failed in key markets, which would necessitate a further reduction in reserve prices.

The government is obligated to auction the entire spectrum

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How Technology Neutrality Pose Tisk to 3G / BWA Spectrum Holders ?

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In India, the government has allocated 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz spectrum bands for 3G and BWA (4G) services, respectively. These are relatively inferior frequencies and require more tower sites/tenancies to provide coverage in a specific area compared to 900 or 1800 MHz spectrum. According to the new telecom policy, the telecom operators can deploy … Read more

Telecom CAPEX between Expansion and Maintenance

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Telecom tower is a capex-intensive business. While the tower structure and shelter have a long life of up to 40 years, there are parts such as batteries, generators and air conditioners that are the responsibility of a tower company and have a shorter life. Telecom tower companies’ capex can be divided into new tower capex, tower capacity expansion capex, renewable energy initiatives capex and maintenance capex. For example, Bharti Infratel management has guided to maintenance capex of INR 100,000/tower per year. Main parts that need regular replacement are batteries (cost INR80,000-100,000 each) and diesel generators (INR150,000 each).

Indian tower companies spend on batteries and generators,

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Tower Requirements of Top 4 Mobile Operators

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Let us look into the Telecom Tower Requirement of Top 4 Operators – Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Communications and Idea Cellular.

Bharti Airtel Airtel is already present on Bharti Infratel [BHIN] sites; will contribute to incremental tenancy of Indus Towers. Airtel is a tenant on almost all of Bharti Infratel’s towers. Airtel will contribute to Bharti Infratel’s incremental tower growth but not to its incremental tenancy. However, Airtel will be the key driver of 3G and 4G loading revenue, being the single-largest operator on Bharti Infratel’s towers. This benefit will be back-ended, as Bharti Infratel’s towers are in B and C circles, which shall see delayed 3G/4G investments, as they are predominantly rural

Vodafone India Vodafone is only on the 1,800MHz band, necessitating

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3G in 2100MHz Require Twice the Towers in 900MHz

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Tower company contracts show that additional loading from the existing tenants leads to only a limited increase in rent, and this does not count as additional tenancy. However, a comparison of 2G and 3G spectrum holdings indicates that in most circles where operators have acquired 3G spectrum (2.1GHz), their existing 2G networks are on 900MHz, while 2.1GHz requires 1.9x sites to cover the same footprint.

Operators will focus only on loading their existing 2G sites with 3G over the next two-to-three years and will let subscribers move to an EDGE network in 3Gdark areas. However,

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Reliance Communications’ Tariff Hikes in Feb-2013

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Along with incumbent GSM Lobby comprising of Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Reliance Communications has carefully hiked voice call tariffs in selected circles and not across India. The following chart shows the Tariff hikes by Reliance Communications in Feb-2013. What do you think of RCom’s Mobile QoS ? is it poor that it is unable to … Read more