Despite 2G controversies, the hostilities between telecom operators and the government over 3G roaming pacts, one- time fee for extra spectrum, fierce competition and the dwindling profits, 2011 has been another success chapter in India’s telecom sector.
The Indian Telecom sector has proved to be an international success story. The sector has witnessed a commendable growth over the past two years. With an overall subscriber base of 914.60 million and a teledensity of 76.03%, the sector continues to grow from strength to strength. With the urban teledensity reaching 166.54%, the market has been showing signs of maturity. Rural India is the key target market likely to drive the next round of growth, particularly for voice based services. It is envisaged that ruralteledensity of 40% would be reached by end of 2014. 3G and BWA are expected to reinvigorate the maturing urban markets and help in bringing balanced growth of economy. The aggressive growth observed by mobile services is yet to be replicated in case of broadband service, where the subscriber base currently stands at more than 12 million. The Government has a vision to provide telephone connection and broadband facilities on demand across the country at an affordable price and it strives to achieve the same.
The growth of telecom sector since 2007:
Subscribers |
Subscribers' base ( in million) |
March'07 |
March'08 |
March'09 |
March'10 |
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