Local Cable Operators (LCO) across India “continued to lead” wired broadband subscriber additions charts, ICICI Securities said in a report on Thursday. The report is on the heels of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Wednesday releasing the Telecom Subscription Data for the period ended October 31, 2020. The Trai data highlights that the wired broadband service providers across the country added 390,000 users in one month. While the large telecom operators including Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel added 180,000 and 70,000 wired broadband users respectively in October, ICICI Securities said that the net additions by LCOs were higher.
LCOs Play Significant Role in Wired Broadband Space
ICICI Securities said that the net additions by the wired broadband service providers in October translated to an 1.8% Month-over-Month (MoM) and 12.7% Year-over-Year (YoY) growth. The company said that Reliance Jio’s market share in the wired broadband space “improved” to 7.9% as of October.
Similarly, ICICI Securities said that the net additions by Airtel in the wired broadband space was “stable” with the operator’s market share improving “marginally” to 12.4% as of October.
“Others (local service providers) continued to lead net add at 0.19mn [190,000] in Oct’20,” ICICI Securities said in the report.
Wired Broadband Segment Now Providing Opportunity for Small and Big Players
Motilal Oswal in its report on Thursday said that the “growth in wired broadband subscribers remains steady” with the total subscriber count hitting 21.5 million as on October 31, 2020. The firm engaged in financial services earlier in November said in a report that the home broadband home broadband segment in India was a “dull market for a decade.” However, Motilal Oswal also highlighted that the segment is now providing an opportunity for both small and the big players. The firm said that the “regional players” between March, 2020 to August, 2020 “accounted for 84% of the overall wireline subscriber growth of 7%.”
“Nevertheless, the market for even regional players remains buoyant, especially in the recent lockdown, as our channel check suggests there is increased demand for low ARPU conventional home broadband connectivity,” Motilal Oswal said in its November report.
It has to be noted that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) continues to be the largest operator in the wired broadband segment with 7.75 million users, translating to a 36% market share. Further, Airtel, Atria Convergence Technologies (ACT), Reliance Jio and Hathway Cable and Datacom continue to remain the top five largest wired broadband service providers in India.
