Synopsis
India continues to be one of the fastest growing major telecom markets in the world. It is also one of the largest. Sweeping reforms introduced by successive Indian governments over the last decade have dramatically changed the nature of telecommunications in the country. The mobile sector has grown from around 10 million subscribers in 2002 to pass the 750 million mark by the end of 2010 and the market was growing strongly into 2011. GSM technology continued to dominate the mobile market in India; while CDMA still clings to a market share of around 15%. The boom in the mobile industry was expected to continue at least into the medium term, boosted by the allocation of 3G licences in 2010 and the large scale roll-out of networks in 2011. The fixed-line market, which had grown strongly for a while, was experiencing zero and negative growth of late. There has been a fresh effort made to promote broadband internet access throughout the country; after a period in which broadband development languished and the government became concerned, there was new hope for a serious expansion phase in this segment of the market. In the meantime, the government has been continuing to push to complete the restructuring of the telecommunications regulatory regime. The opening up of the market to full scale competition has been dramatic; however, some major challenges remain.
This report presents the key measures and takes a general look at India’s telecom market together with the direction it is heading. It also considers the evolving regulatory landscape.
Key developments:
Overall growth in India’s telecom market remains strong; mobile subscriber growth remains surprisingly strong in a highly competitive market; broadband internet has seen substantial growth over a number of years; wireless broadband systems have been helping increase the penetration of broadband across the market place; regulatory reform continues to be high on the government’s agenda; the 2G corruption scandal, although embarrassing for the government, will no doubt see some important changes to the way much of the sector is regulated and managed.
Companies covered in this report include:
Aircel/Dishnet, Bharti Airtel, Loop Mobile (BPL Mobile), Idea/Spice, Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, Vodafone Essar, Uninor (Unitech), Videocon, S Tel, Bharti Telenet, Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices, Sistema (Shyam Telelink), Swan Telecom, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), Videocon.
