MTS Data Subscriber Base Up 36% QoQ

MTS India, or Sistema Shyam Teleservices, has reported a 35 per cent quarter on quarter increase in number of data subscribers in the quarter ended March 31, 2011. It now has 580,000 for the dongle retail product.

The operator has expanded its high-speed mobile data service to 130 cities in India, including all five metros and now is present in 150 cities.

MTS now has 10.05 million customers and its market share in terms of subscriber base is at 1.24 per cent.

The current ARPU for data cards has not been disclosed but in the previous quarter ended December 2010, the ARPU stood at Rs. 274. Non-voice revenues (which includes data and mobile VAS) for the quarter was up by 33 per cent on a quarterly basis to Rs 58.8 crore, and contributes to 25 per cent of the company's total revenue. The blended mobile ARPU for the quarter was Rs 82.

Overall, MTS has reported a 201 per cent rise in consolidated revenues to Rs 236.2 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2011 from Rs 78.6 crore recorded in same quarter of fiscal 2010.

Consolidated OIBDA loss for the quarter stands at INR 4,552 million. The CAPEX investments made by SSTL in India as of March 31, 2011 stood at Rs 5800 crore.

Vsevolod Rozanov, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd., said, "For the first time, our revenue growth during the quarter was faster than our growth in wireless subscribers. This is a strong reflection of our continued efforts to target quality customers. Further blended mobile ARPU also remained consistent as against a declining trend in the market. MTS' brand is now ranked 80th amongst the top 100 most valuable brands in the world as per the latest Millward Brown report. Looking ahead, our endeavor is to further drive the same momentum forward."

In the quarter, MTS unveiled a new brand identity with the tagline 'A Step Ahead'. It branded and launched HTC Iris as MTS Pulse, offering it for free to customers as part of a bundled offer with an MTS mobile connection.