SPICE	8
Chairman:Dilip Modi Address: Hemkunt Towers, 98, Nehru Place, New Delhi – 110 019INDIA Tel : 011-26434544 Fax: 011-26444221/26439963 Website: www.spiceindia.com , www.spicetele.com  V&D estimates CyberMedia Research

In FY 2002–03, Spice Communications is estimated to have done a total business of Rs 550 crore in the two circles where it operates. During the period, which witnessed the consolidation post the mergers and acquisitions in the previous fiscals and the entry of fourth operators and WLL services in the fray, operators with limited circle presence were seen as the takeover targets. Withstanding such environments, Spice continued to grow its business. It grew from Rs 486.7 crore in FY 2001–02 to an estimated Rs 550 crore in FY 2002–03. Since it operates in circles, the entry of the third and fourth operators dented its market share. Nevertheless, it continued to grow its subscriber base. In Karnataka, Spice’s subscriber base grew 17 percent as it held 23.5 percent of the total market share pie. And in Punjab, despite losing market share to new entrants Bharti and BSNL, it retained the No. 1 position, registering 45 percent growth in its subscriber base. With a subscriber base of 447,100, it had close to 49 percent market share. Moreover, there was a strong mix of prepaid and postpaid subscribers, unlike in Karnataka, where the mix is estimated to be 60:40 in favor of prepaid. 

During the fiscal under consideration, Spice made significant investments to address the demands of market operations as well as technology enhancements. Its planned investment in Karnataka was close to Rs 75 crore. It planned a second switch in Bangalore and increased the number of cell sites. In Punjab, Spice planned an investment of Rs 100 crore for expanding its network infrastructure to 100 new sites, and upgradation of its existing switch. The company has over 95 percent coverage of Punjab’s urban area, having more than 300 base transmission receivers. It has more than doubled its network capacity in the last one year.