Arun 795 Report post Posted June 10, 2006 Associated Press - June 09, 2006 India has become the fifth country to have a base of 100 million mobile phone subscribers, Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran said Thursday. The milestone has been the result of continuously dropping tariff, affordability of mobile phone handsets and constant improvement in the quality of service, Maran said at a function here to mark the landmark. Only China, US, Japan and Russia have a larger mobile phone subscriber base. Officials pointed out that just two years ago, India's telephone subscriber base - both landlines and mobile phones - was only 75 million with a tele-density of a mere 7.08 percent. Thanks to the unprecedented growth in mobile telephony in the country, the tele-density has ballooned to 13.54 percent, with a total phone base of 150 million. Of the 100 million mobile phone users - 75.3 million use the Global Standard for Mobile telephony, better known as GSM, while 25.3 million use the code division multiple access technology (CDMA). "This trend is because of the policies of the government and the lowering of tariffs by the companies," he said. With nearly 3 million phone users being added every month, India has emerged as one of the fastest growing telecommunications markets in the world. Analysts have attributed the growth to cheap tariffs, low cost of handsets and rising incomes of the country's estimated 300-million strong middle class. Maran said Indian companies should aim at adding 5 million users each month to attain the government's target of 250 million users by December 2007 and 500 million by 2010. The number of phones per 100 people has now risen to 13 from seven in 2004 in India. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
