CRN Network, July 16, 2010, 1200 hrs
Mobile connections in India will grow by 27.3 percent in 2010 to cross 660 million, according to analyst firm Gartner. Mobile service revenue in India will reach $19.8 billion by the end of the year, up 19.7 percent from 2009.
“The arrival of new players in the Indian mobile sector has led to fierce competition which has sustained the strong subscriber growth we saw in 2009,” said Neha Gupta, senior research analyst at Gartner. “Furthermore, with mobile penetration standing at 44.5 percent at the end of 2009, there is still ample room for growth in 2010 and beyond.”
In 2010, mobile penetration in India is projected to grow 55.9 percent, and Gartner expects the Indian mobile industry to grow at double-digit rates till the end of 2012 with mobile penetration increasing to 72.5 percent in 2012. Mobile market penetration is projected to increase further to 82 percent by 2014, mainly due to the service providers increasing their focus on the rural market and lower handset prices.
By the end of 2014, total mobile services revenue in India is forecast to exceed $23 billion, and India is expected to remain the world’s second largest wireless market after China in terms of mobile connections.
However, the Indian mobile services market is going through a state of flux, with the arrival of many new players leading to a decrease in price points for the industry, according to Gupta. Gartner analysts believe that some market consolidation will happen over the next 18 months as the launch of 3G services enables service providers to distinguish themselves on services offered rather just on prices. |