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 almost reach the 900 million mark by the end of 2011 and the market was growing into 2012. GSM technology continued to dominate the mobile market in India; while CDMA clings to a declining market share of around 13%. Solid growth 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. On the other hand the impact of the unfolding scandal over the awarding of 2G licences in 2008 is looking grim for the mobile industry. Court decisions and the subsequent responses of the regulators are key to the eventual outcome. The fixed-line market, which had grown strongly for a while, has been 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. Supreme court decision condemns government process in allocating 2G licences.
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.
