India Telecom User Base To Touch 500 Million Mark
Telecom as a sector is booming. Not very long ago, we reported how Rural Telecom figures had touched one million. With reference to the UID, there was a suggestion on using the verified mobile user database as basis. India is now ready to teach the 500 million mark.
At the end of August, there were 494 million subscribers, including both fixed and wireless mobile segments. That was a whopping 15 million increase from the end of July from the figures released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. If the rate of growth continues, the 500 million mark could very well be reached by the end of this year.
Mobile seems to be the watchword. Fixed telephone subscribers actually decreased by 0.09 million, to settle at a modest 37.33 million compared to the substantial 456.74 million mobile subscribers. Bharti Airtel remains the market leader in the wireless network segment. BSNL and MTNL continue to dominate the fixed wire or the wireline phones (85.5%), though they lost a little market share to other competitors.
The broadband figures have also risen, at a growth rate of 2.65% to 6.98 million. The Government hopes to reach the 500 million mark in mobile phones by 2012, a news report said.
Mobile phones in India are fast becoming the norm, with the wire line segment declining rapidly. Mobile telephony as a concept is growing, with the mobile being integral to our lives, be it for calling or using the Internet. With MNP and 3G coming in the next few months, this segment can only see prospective growth. With most mobile players in the market already launching internet cards (TATA, Idea, Reliance etc), there’s bound to be sparks when 3G comes out with better benefits to mobile users. We recently wrote how Evalueserve expects275 million 3G users by 2013.
With the arrival of mobile number portability, the user will no longer be constrained to one network and can switch based on who is offering better services. Also, more players are expected to leap into the arena. Unitech Wireless seems all set to capture some share of hte market. One thing is certain, the mobile user base in India is growing, which increases the scope of the industry, facilitating improving competition and better benefits to the end-user.
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