RelianceCommunications says 2G data will die in 2-3 years..Reliance Communications, which recently became a full GSM player, feels 2G data would be phased out soon, given the huge consumption and uptake of 3G technology currently.

Reliance Communications, which recently became a full GSM player, feels 2G data would be phased out soon, given the huge consumption and uptake of 3G technology currently. 

“In 2-3 years, 2G data may be phased out, with most subscribers migrating to 3G,” said Gurdeep Singh, CEO and president or Reliance Communications’ wireless business, on an analyst concall on Friday. 

The 3G data consumption is supported by availability of content, devices and applications, he said.

RCom said its wireless revenue growth of 21.3% — highest in the industry — in the first quarter was led by data average revenue per user and 77 lakh 3G subscribers using over 342 MB per subscriber.

The company said it has highest number of 3G subscribers among telcos as of June. 
Singh said RCom was the only operator to have partnered with almost all handset players for data bundling. 

“We expect data to grow exponentially leading to further revenue per minute improvement for telcos, and we are confident of capturing 40% of the smartphone market share, which is currently growing at 2 million smartphones a month,” said Singh.

This is despite a slight drop in 3G subscriber additions in the quarter, attributed to seasonality, as the telco expects additions to rise from this month on account of the festive season.

Singh also sees consolidation in the telecom sector with an almost complete exit of small players leaving only 4-5 pan-India operators, making way for a level-playing field and return of pricing power. 

On steps taken by RCom towards revenue per minute improvement, Singh said the telco would  complete the migration of its subscriber base to headline tariffs and eliminate promotional vouchers by August-end.

The unlocking of land assets by demerger into Reliance Properties will also lead to additional gains for shareholders. 

Punit Garg, president & CEO of RCom’s global enterprise business unit, said the company earned Rs 200 crore from Globalcom order bookings in the quarter — Rs 100 crore from international long distance and Rs 100 crore from national long distance telephony. 

“Enterprise customers also grew to 300, contributing Rs 300 crore to the enterprise business in Q1,” Garg said. 

The company will see revenue flowing from two big deals for inter-city optic fibre and 45,000 towers with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm by this fiscal-end.