The Indian mobile services, growing 18% annually, are expected to reach US$ 37 Billion by 2012 due to huge demand in rural areas, lower call rates, and low priced handsets.
Gartner Inc. revealed that revenue from the Indian mobile services is expected to grow at an annual rate of around 18% to US$ 37 Billion by 2012, as reported by NETWORKWORLD.
The Indian mobile industry is set to have more than 737 Million subscribers by 2012, growing at an annual rate of 21%. Moreover, the percentage of mobile users will rise to 60.7% by 2012 from current level of 20%. The Indian mobile industry will be dominated by prepaid subscribers that are projected to rise over 92% by 2012 against 89% last year. Further, the mobile service penetration in India is expected to reach 60.7% from 19.8% in 2007.
The Indian telecom industry will be driven by a host of factors, including proliferating rural market, lower tariffs and low handset costs. Moreover, call rates have declined further, reaching at par with fixed-line rates. These factors, together with increasing competition, will accelerate the growth in the industry and boost the adoption of wireless services in rural and small towns in the country. Telephone services in rural region are projected to grow four times during the forecasted period.
Furthermore, growth in the telecom industry will be pushed by the entrance of domestic players of electronic and durable products in the handset market of India. Mobile manufacturers will continue to lay emphasis on low-priced handsets to increase their penetration in the market.
According to the industry watchers, the Indian mobile industry will remain the world’s second largest market after China due to favorable conditions. Thus, mobile service providers and handset makers see rural India as a big pool of opportunities and share their infrastructure to cut down cost of services.
According to a Research Analyst at RNCOS, “With its huge population base, India has the inherent advantage of being an attractive telecom (mobile) market. Though mobile services have penetrated urban India, there is a large untapped potential in rural India. Seeing this potential, international players are venturing into the country to cut huge profits. Availability of cheap handsets and low tariff rates has further made the country a lucrative destination for investments in mobile domain with focus on small towns and villages.”
Related Market Research Reports:
Emerging Rural Mobile Market in India
Global Mobile TV Forecast to 2010
European Mobile Market Scenario to 2012
