Telecom Towers in India 2012

Indian telecom sector is the third largest sector in the world and second largest among the Asian emerging economies. Amongst the 811.6 bn wireless subscribers in India, 66% reside in urban areas and 34% hail from rural areas. With low penetration in the rural areas which accounts for nearly 70% of the country's total population, there remains a huge potential in rural front. Rising penetration of telecom services and future introduction of newer generation wireless network will require more telecom tower deployment across the country.

The telecom infrastructure primarily consists of telecom tower operation and it takes up around 60-65% of the total infrastructure deployment and management cost. “If we ignore power and fuel expenses, telecom tower generates roughly INR 180-200 bn of revenues annually, in the present market scenario” says Mr. Kalyan Banga, Product Manager at Netscribes. India and United States are the prime countries where telecom tower is recognized as an independent industry. In the US market penetration level of wireless telecom services has reached around 90%, the market has reached too much opf a maturity stage for telecom towers to make significant revenue locally. Companies across the globe are now focusing on emerging markets and countries with lucrative opportunities such as India. New government policy and huge prospect in rural infrastructure deployment makes India an ideal market for large scale telecom tower implementation and operation. “Although telecom tower market is highly fragmented, the major 6 companies hold around 90% of the total market” added Kalyan.

Infrastructure sharing is the first step towards cost reduction resulting better returns from telecom tower business. “Analysis shows, proper resource utilization and shifting to alternate energy will help reduce operation costs significantly” noted Kalyan.

The report begins with ‘Introduction' section covering overview of telecom industry which provides basic idea of the state of the overall industry, telecom tower vertical's position in the industry, the types of telecom towers and a pictorial representation of basic telecom network infrastructure.

The ‘Market Overview' section elaborates global & domestic market state of telecom tower business. It is accompanied by a plethora of statistical information regarding wireless tower in global scenario as well as in India such as global trend, domestic telecom tower demand or requirements, revenue generated from telecom towers, state of cell tower orientation in major countries and other related information. The India section also elaborates on the numbers of telecom towers in various states, market share of major telecom tower companies, telecom tower business model and the major government bodies.

It is followed by ‘Scope in India' section where various potential areas for telecom towers in India are elaborated. Specific aspects such as government policy and rural opportunity have been highlighted with information regarding their state and future prospect of the same. The section continues with ‘Types of Infrastructure Sharing' stressing on the two major types of sharing prevalent across the globe. It also focuses on major benefits of telecom infrastructure sharing and it is explained with the help of tower profitability matrix along with an example. Details regarding USO fund scheme for infrastructure sharing and it scope of work. SWOT analysis of the infrastructure sharing has been presented to further strengthen the understanding regarding pros and cons of the same. The section ends with elaborating on various financial and operational incentives available in the industry along with beneficiary initiatives taken by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The report continues with ‘Drivers & Challenges' section elaborating the major furtherance & impediments for telecom towers market in India. Both the ‘drivers' and 'challenges' are equally stressed upon to provide clear idea regarding the probable obstacles and rewards in the line of business and help vendors take necessary measures.

In the ‘Major Telecom Tower Companies' section, the key wireless tower companies are profiled. It provides information such as corporate & business highlights covering operational & recent information regarding each company's contact information, location, key product and service offerings and key contacts. It also provides financial performance for a period of time including revenue and profit, key ratios, financial summary and key financial performance indicators. Key business segment and key geographic segment for each player are provided as well to provide further clear idea regarding the companies. Also some other cell tower companies having smaller market share, have been profiled briefly in the end of the section. It is followed by ‘Mergers & Acquisitions' section mentioning key domestic transactions between telecom companies in recent years.

Next the dominating trend in the market is illuminated along with recent developments in the domestic telecom tower market under ‘Trends & Developments' section.

The report concludes with the section ‘Strategic Recommendation' which is derived after a comprehensive analysis of the market state & scope. It suggests key strategic moves which can help improved operation and healthier revenue in the domestic telecom tower market.