When it comes to telecom, India is poised to become one of the fastest growing markets in the world. Phone manufacturers and operators are dialing their way to great success in the country.
Registering a steep growth in the Indian mobile telephony market, 67 million new mobile phone users in the year ending March 2007 swelled up the total wireless connections in the country to 166 million, according to the telecom regulator on April 23, 2007. Inspite of a decline in land phones during the period, the year-on-year growth of 68% enabled the total number of phone users in India to exceed the 200-million level, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) stated in news published on International Business Times.
Resurgent and an increasing middleclass, technological improvements, rising competition alongwith privatization of important industries is making India one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world. Another key cause for the achievement is higher quantity with low cost.
The average revenue per user (ARPU) was reduced due to steep cuts in rates by mobile services operators influencing the mobile telephony market to grow more leading to India’s telecom density rising from 3.6% in March 2001 to above 17% by January 2007. The operators are now eyeing e-mail and music downloads to improve ARPU.
Even though the average mobile users forming a major chunk of subscribers stick to voice and SMS services due to low income, high-end handsets with multimedia functions are becoming popular. With about 20% of the world’s population, India is the biggest untapped market for mobile services.
The huge growth in mobile subscribers in India has led to foreign companies investing in the Indian telephony market. Also, relaxed rules by the Government have allowed the foreign companies to hold upto 74% stake in their venture.
Being the second largest populous nation in the world with a low mobile penetration, India offers huge scope for growth. The most intensive users of mobile are in the age group of 15-64, which forms 63% of India’s population and is fuelling the market for mobile phone, according to the RNCOS research report “Indian Telecom Sector Analysis (2006-2007)”.
Related Market Research Reports:
Indian Telecom Analysis (2008-2012)
Europe Mobile Handset Market Analysis (2007)
Mobile Handset Industry Asia (2004-2009)
