The telecom services industry in the country grew by 16 per cent from Rs 58,741 crore (Rs 587. 41 billion) in 2003-04 to Rs 68,069 crore (Rs 680.69 billion) in 2004-05, a survey carried out by 'Voice and Data', a leading communications business magazine, said.
Cellular services continued their great march, growing at 63 per cent last year, whereas fixed services posted a negative growth of one per cent, although it still formed the biggest chunk (48 per cent) of the telecom services market, the survey said.
According to the report, national long distance services grew by 22 per cent while international long distance services slipped by 12 per cent. On the much talked about broadband, the report found that the Internet services could grow by only one per cent.
According to the survey, state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd occupied the top slot with a revenue of Rs 36,303 crore (Rs 363.03 billion) among top ten service providers followed by Bharti with Rs 8,035 crore (Rs 80.35 billion) in 2004-05.
Another PSU, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd came third with revenue of Rs 6,084 crore (Rs 60.84 billion) followed by Reliance and Hutch.
Tatas-owned companies like VSNL and Tata Tele Services grabbed the sixth and eight slot respectively.
© 2026