Idea Cellular’s managing director Himanshu Kapania said that the country’s telecom sector saw a growth of 6.5% in last fiscal year, which is lowest since 2010. Kapania, who is also the outgoing chairman of GSM lobby body COAI, said that the industry added 79 million active subscribers despite seeing a decline in revenue from voice calls.
"If I go back to 2010, the industry has consistently been delivering double digit growth of about 10 per cent. After years of constant revenue growth of double digit, it has come to the level of 6.5 per cent," Kapania was quoted as saying by PTI.
The industry has been investing in expansion of network and at the same time cut down data tariff by 20% and voice call rates by 10%. The reduction in interconnection charges from 20 paise per minute to 14 paise per minute, decline in roaming rates and reduction in SMS rates has led to steep decline of an estimated 8-10%, Kapania said.
Kapania is being replaced by Bharti Airtel MD and CEO for India and South Asia Gopal Vittal as the chairman of COAI, which has also named Vodafone MD and CEO Sunil Sood as the Vice-Chairman.
