Chirag 5 Report post Posted July 2, 2005 Mobile industry dials wrong number Rediff.com Joji Thomas Philip in New Delhi | July 01, 2005 11:17 IST India's mobile users population is well below the projections. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in March 2003 had set a target of 70 million mobile subscribers by March 2005 and 100 million by December 2005. With just six months to go, telecom service operators say it will be a miracle if the number manages to touch 70 million -- 30 per cent short of the target. In May 2005, the country's total mobile subscriber base (GSM, CDMA and WLL) was close to 56 million. "This is not exactly a slowdown -- we are still adding over 1.5 million subscribers a month. One must seek answers from the operators," Trai chairman Pradip Baijal said. The Cellular Operators' Association of India, the body representing all GSM players, had set an internal target of 80 million subscribers by the year-end. "This required an addition of 2.75 million new subscribers (both GSM and CDMA) a month. However, India has been averaging just about 1.5 million new subscribers per month. At current rates, we are likely to finish with 65-70 million subscribers by December," said COAI director-general T V Ramachandran The upshot is clear: Though India still continues to retain its position as the "fastest growing mobile market in the world", the mobile boom has started petering out with the urban markets reaching saturation. All operators, except BSNL, have a token presence in the rural segment. In 2005, the average monthly growth for the country's GSM operators was about 3.5 per cent, down from 4.01 per cent in 2004. For the CDMA players, the average monthly growth slipped to around 3 per cent from 4.21 per cent in 2004. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
anujit 0 Report post Posted July 2, 2005 Well the govt is more responsible than the service providers. And why: 1. FDI upto 75% was supposed to be opened up 1 year ago. 2. Real broadband policies (256kbps with no download caps and without you having to convince 20 other people in your building before the ISP is willing to put a modem there) should have been here 1 year ago. 3. Three G! Whats the army doing there? The rest of the world's armies are on higher bands. Move up people quickly (without creating another bofors case of course). 4. A-F*U*C*K*I*N*G-DC - cross subsidy never works. Never did. Never will. Its the worlds worst economic theory. Mr. M. Singh knows it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SexyGurl 0 Report post Posted July 2, 2005 What have broadband or 3G activities have to do with penetration of 2G or 2.5G systems. Is someone thinking that Indians don't by 2G services, because they are really low-end services ... we have a liking and ability to pay for 3G. Nothing less, please ;-) !! - I think it's the handset prices -- currently lowest end handset at Rs. 2000/- plus , say a 199 voucher would mean an average monthly expense over 1 year as (2000 + 2400) / 12 = 366/- or so. A bulk of Indian population would start seeing the utility and affordability of at or in the 100 to 200 range. Clearly, the monthly rental could still go down by around 50 more .... but the real spoiler is the cost of the handset. We need 500 or 700 rupee handsets. (75% FDI argument has a marginal effect ... it only affects hutch as of now ... no one's really bothered .. they all have the money to put the network) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AmanJ 1 Report post Posted July 2, 2005 I am not sure but have heard that motorola has launched a Rs.999/- handset, and its commercials are on these days on TV Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
