Income from rental accounted for as much as 30.6% of revenues from CDMA mobile services in India, for the quarter ended March 2011, while for GSM mobile services, it contributed as much as 19.46%. These figures are surprising, particularly taking into account that 94.03% of India's CDMA base and as much as 96.81% of its GSM base is prepaid - they don't pay a monthly rental. Makes you wonder - what if all subscribers became prepaid? The other surprising thing is- how small the percentage contribution of SMS is to CDMA at 1.5%. 'Other Revenues' (defined by the TRAI as VAS, installation etc) has increasingly become important. Readers need to keep in mind that wireless data cards are a part of VAS revenues for CDMA operators, and it likely that this has an impact on both rental income for CDMA, as well as 'Other Revenues" What changed between March 2010 and 2011? GSM - Calls were 53.26% of total revenue for the quarter ended March 2011, substantially lower than the 59.1% for the quarter ended March 2010. - SMS increased to 7.04% from 6.2% - Other revenues, including VAS, increased from 11.97% from 9.4% - Rental Revenue was 19.46% for March 2011, higher than 17.7% in March 2010. - Percentage share of Roaming increased from 6.2% to 8.27% CDMA - Calls were 47.1% of total revenue for the quarter ended March 2011, lower than the 54% for the quarter ended March 2010. - SMS declined substantially to 1.5%, from…
