savramesh 37 Report post Posted June 19, 2009 Economic Times 19 Jun 2009, 0054 hrs IST NEW DELHI: Continuing its growth trajectory, the Indian telecom sector is expected to generate revenues of over $30 billion by 2013, according to global analyst firm Gartner. The country’s telecom subscriber base is expected to cross the 770-million mark by 2013. India has over 450 million telecom users at present. “The Indian mobile industry has now moved out of its hyper growth mode, but it will continue to grow at double-digit rates for the next three years as operators focus on rural parts of the country,” Gartner senior research analyst Madhusudan Gupta said. As per Gartner, India’s telecom market is unlikely to surpass China as the largest telecom market by 2013 and would retain its position as the second-largest market in the world. The mobile penetration in the country is also expected to reach 63.5% by 2013, up from 38.7% at present, according to Gartner. Growth is largely expected to come from telecom operators increasing their focus on the rural market, local consumer durable and electronic companies entering the domestic mobile handset segment, and decline in handset prices. The increased adoption of value-added services (VAS) will also stimulate growth. While the bulk of revenues for telcos would be generated from voice services, data usage will grow at a faster rate, Gartner said. With the entry of new operators in the Indian telecom market, it is expected that voice tariffs will continue to fall. Also, expansion in rural circles is expected to pull down average revenue per user (ARPU). The number of people with prepaid connections would also increase to contribute about 96% of the total subscriber base by 2013, due to increased adoption in rural circles. Currently, about 93% of the users own a pre-paid connection. The churn rate is also expected to go up in India as more players enter the fray and the government allows mobile number portability (MNP). MNP will allow users to switch their telecom service provider while retaining their mobile number. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
