Year 2004 to see mobile users outnumbering fixed-line connections: Gartner
•
2004-01-23 •
While it took fixed line phones decades to reach the masses in India, mobile phones did it in just a couple of years. And now it is predicted that the number of mobile phone users in the country would soon exceed the fixed-line customer base.
Consultancy firm Gartner predicts this would happen by the end of the year 2004. Currently, India has an installed base of about 43 million basic phone lines and more than 28 million mobile service users. The sector is forecasted to have at least 100 million users by 2005, putting it in the ranks of leading markets globally. As Kobita Desai, principal telecom analyst, Gartner, says, “We expect the wireless market to grow in the region of 2 to 2.5 million users a month in 2004.”
According to Gartner, the Government's new unified licensing policy, which brings cellular and basic services under a single permit, would stoke more growth, competition and mergers in one of the world's fastest growing markets. Another factor leading to the mobile growth is the availability of cheaper handsets. According to Gartner mobile penetration will touch 5.2 per cent by the end of 2004, up from 2.7 per cent a year earlier.
Handsets are available for as little as Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 in India and prices are falling further after the government announced a cut in customs duties. Gartner estimates, more than 5.8 million mobile phones were sold in India in the third quarter of 2003.
Although the mobile industry consumer base has doubled in the last seven months due to cutthroat pricing, when compared with global markets, the figure doesn’t look very encouraging. While 3 per cent of Indians use mobile phones, the percentage is small compared with markets such as China and Europe where the mobile population is 20 per cent and 60 percent respectively.
Gartner also predicts that competition between telecom services providers will increase due to the single permit policy. The consultancy firm expects four large nationwide players – Bharti, Reliance, Tata and BSNL – to survive the competition.
Internet | Mobile Telephony | Satellite Radio
Mail this page