Rank 29 - Spice Telecom Ltd

Spice
Telecom is the brand name for Spice Communications Ltd (promoted in India by
Modicorp Group of companies) and is currently operating cellular services in the
states of Punjab and Karnataka. It has the second largest subscriber among all
the cellular operators in India.

 

Spice’s subscriber base in the two states went up to
1,74,430 in the year ending March 2000 as against 1,01,000 in 1998-99. As a
result, it registered a whopping 169.64 percent rise in its revenue from airtime
charges and value-added services during 1999-00. It is the lead operator in both
circles, with practically 80 percent market share in Punjab and 60 percent in
Karnataka. New products and services have given it a big boost in sales and have
increased market share. It focuses a lot on value-added services besides quality
and the reach of its network.

Spice’s business is now being managed as one cohesive
operation that helps provide it a formidable competitive advantage across it two
circles. With its central hub in Mohali (near Chandigarh), Spice network covers
45 towns and cities of Punjab out of which 15 are district headquarters.

Coverage is also available on over 1,200 km of roads and highways in Punjab,
which includes connectivity on the National Highway GT Road. In Karnataka, Spice
covers 33 cities. The company has created a more than 1,000-km long optic fibre
backbone in the state. This constitutes approximately 70 percent of the
geographical area covering 14 of the 19 telecom-districts in Karnataka.