TouchTel sees DSL fueling basic growth

NEW DELHI: As the Indian telecom services market evolves with faster mobile growth rates than fixed line services, TouchTel, the oldest private basic service provider has identified DSL as its lever for growth.

In the years to come, TouchTel believes that it is the demand for DSL connections that would fuel its growth both in terms of market expansion as well as adding to its bottomlines.



"We see data traffic increasing significantly in the usage pattern of basic subscribers. Even now that pattern is on the rise and with increasing PC penetration, the growth will entirely be driven by data communication needs in this segment," said CEO of TouchTel in the Northern region Rajiv Kohli.

TouchTel believes that as the demand for datacom increases, it is only DSL that would help solve the problem of last mile access. Despite having robust backbones, which enables high-speed data transfers, the choking point is usually the last mile, which frustrate users.

DSL as a technology can overcome this bottleneck by providing high-speed access up to the customer premise. TouchTel, which launched its DSL service, branded Zipnet last November has started seeing accelerated growth in subscribers for the service. In August alone the company has registered over 5,000 new subscribers across all its circles. As the momentum picks up the company expects to add over 10,000 DSL subscribers every month.

In the North, the company has a total of 5,000 DSL subscribers adding over 15 subscribers every month and closing the year with over 25,000 DSL subscribers. Kohli said that one of the major obstacles to the expansion of DSL penetration is the misconception that DSL is an expensive service. "People still question whether they really need it. They haven’t yet enjoyed the pleasure of surfing and downloading at high speeds," he added.

Amongst the various DSL packages on offer, the entry-level price is Rs 200 per month and the subscriber pays as per usage according to the regular dial-up pulse rate. The DSL packages otherwise start from Rs 995.

TouchTel has basic licenses in the five circles of Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. TouchTel has over 1.15 lakh subscribers in the Northern region with an ARPU of Rs 2,000. Amongst its subscribers, those accessing the Internet generate additional revenue of about Rs 300 per month.

(CNS)