Impact on Telecom Industry
One of the fastest growing sectors in the country, telecommunications has been growing at a feverish pace in the past few years. The speed of growth can be gauged by the fact that in 2004, ten years after private telephony was introduced in India, the mobile subscriber base had crossed the number of fixed line connections.
• While fixed lines touched 44 million at the end of 2004, the cellular user base registered a 68 per cent growth to touch the 48-million mark. More than a third of these subscribers were added during 2004.
• The total telecom subscriber base, consisting of fixed as well as mobile users, registered a growth of 31.42 per cent to touch 92.76 million at the end of 2004.
The gross telecom user base stood at 70.58 million at the end of 2003. (According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the growth in the mobile subscriber segment picked up in December 2004 after remaining at around 1.5 million per month for the previous two months.)
• The year 2004 ended with the tele-density reaching an all-time high of 8.62, as compared to 6.65 at the end of 2003, an increase of over 30 per cent.
• In the mobile segment, additions consisted of 1.42 million GSM subscribers and 0.53 million CDMA subscribers. The total of 19.51 million mobile users in 2004 marks an increase of 11.5 per cent over the 17.49 million additions made in 2003.
• Even in fixed line, 2.67 million subscribers were added as compared to 2.15 million new users during 2003, registering an increase of 24 per cent.
The non-voice market (message and data services) for mobile operators has also registered tremendous growth in 2004. According to a study by IDC, it had a growth of 139 per cent year on year in 2004.
At present non-voice revenue contributes around 4.7 per cent to the total mobile services revenue, which is around Rs. 14,560 crore (US$ 3.3 billion).
Analysts believe that if the current rate of growth is maintained, it could add up to amazing figures in the next few years. A study released by Ernst and Young says revenues from the sector could touch US$ 25 billion by 2007.
One of the fastest growing sectors in the country, telecommunications has been growing at a feverish pace in the past few years. The speed of growth can be gauged by the fact that in 2004, ten years after private telephony was introduced in India, the mobile subscriber base had crossed the number of fixed line connections.
• While fixed lines touched 44 million at the end of 2004, the cellular user base registered a 68 per cent growth to touch the 48-million mark. More than a third of these subscribers were added during 2004.
• The total telecom subscriber base, consisting of fixed as well as mobile users, registered a growth of 31.42 per cent to touch 92.76 million at the end of 2004.
The gross telecom user base stood at 70.58 million at the end of 2003. (According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the growth in the mobile subscriber segment picked up in December 2004 after remaining at around 1.5 million per month for the previous two months.)
• The year 2004 ended with the tele-density reaching an all-time high of 8.62, as compared to 6.65 at the end of 2003, an increase of over 30 per cent.
• In the mobile segment, additions consisted of 1.42 million GSM subscribers and 0.53 million CDMA subscribers. The total of 19.51 million mobile users in 2004 marks an increase of 11.5 per cent over the 17.49 million additions made in 2003.
• Even in fixed line, 2.67 million subscribers were added as compared to 2.15 million new users during 2003, registering an increase of 24 per cent.
The non-voice market (message and data services) for mobile operators has also registered tremendous growth in 2004. According to a study by IDC, it had a growth of 139 per cent year on year in 2004.
At present non-voice revenue contributes around 4.7 per cent to the total mobile services revenue, which is around Rs. 14,560 crore (US$ 3.3 billion).
Analysts believe that if the current rate of growth is maintained, it could add up to amazing figures in the next few years. A study released by Ernst and Young says revenues from the sector could touch US$ 25 billion by 2007.