Indian 3G Mobile Forecast to 2012

The Indian mobile market has recorded stupendous growth over the past few years on the back of easy availability of low cost devices, better network coverage and affordable services. The uptrend in growth is expected to continue in near future owing to the lower teledensity, which currently hovers at around 30-35%. Moreover, there is a wide gap between rural and urban areas in terms of mobile penetration. For instance - the mobile penetration in urban areas stood at around 70% in 2008 while in rural areas, it was pegged at less than 15%, indicating to the immense potential of Indian mobile market for future growth.

Nationwide deployment of 3G telecom services will help the country to bridge this huge gap, says our new research report, "Indian 3G Mobile Forecast to 2012". The report anticipates that the number of 3G mobile subscribers will surge at a CAGR of more than 250% by 2012 provided various factors/issues, critical to this growth, are adequately addressed and resolved. Besides, the report includes thorough analysis of 3G market potential in the Indian telecom market.

The projected growth in the Indian 3G market will largely depend upon the decision of Indian government to auction 3G frequencies. At present, state-owned BSNL and MTNL have been allowed to rollout 3G services in India while rest of the operators will be issued 3G spectrum via auction. With the finishing of auction process, there will be massive investment in the domestic 3G deployments and the country will be able to reap the value of mobility by developing its telecom infrastructure for the propagation of this next generation technology.

The report also discusses factors and trends contributing to the nationwide deployment of 3G services. It also provides an extensive information on the market potential in terms of 3G subscribers, and studies key areas critical to the successful adoption of 3G services in India.

Four-year projection (2009-2012) has been given on:

• Mobile subscribers
• Internet subscribers
• Broadband subscribers
• 3G mobile subscribers
• 3G broadband subscribers
• 3G enabled handsets
• 3G enabled modems

The report has also identified important telecom market players in the country and provides brief overview along with their strength and weakness. These include:

• Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd
• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd
• Bharti Airtel Ltd
• Reliance Communication Ltd
• Vodafone Essar Ltd