Future Trend of Telecommunication Industry in India

Motivation

The telecommunications industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India. It more than characterized the boom in the Indian economy. The teledensity in India grew at a rate from just about three for every 100 people in 2000 to reach 10.66 per 100 as of October 2005. This phenomenal growth in the telecommunication scenario can be attributed to the exponential growth of the wireless phones in the country. The Government has targeted to have subscriber base of 250 million phones by 2007, which would translate to a teledensity of 23 per 100 people. The major beneficiary of these policy initiatives has been the wireless market, which has spearheaded the telecom revolution in India and has continued to attract large investments.

There is a lot made out for the 3G services. Should 3G services be introduced in India? Would that serve the purpose? The initial buzz is that 3 G services would give the always-on connectivity to the mobile owners. But ongoing war between 3G, 4G and WiMax will not make it easy for India to decide its future course.

Objective of the Paper

This paper will comprehensively cover the past, present and future of telecommunication industry in India. I will then follow up with in-depth operator analysis and their future anticipation and will attempt to gauge industry players’ interest in 3G, 4G and WiMAX and understand their views, plans and concerns. We will compare these results and analyze the changes in market perception of WiMax and the implications that these changes have for operators.

This report reassesses the viability of 3G, 4G and WiMax both regionally and globally, using in-depth case studies of innovators in the field to examine what works, and what doesn’t.

Key Questions Answered

- What are the promises and shortcomings of 3G, 4G and WiMAX?

- What factors will drive deployments by operators?

- Where and when these technologies be deployed?

- Does WiMAX pose a threat to wireline broadband?

- Does WIMAX pose a threat to 3G?

- Which customer segments will be addressed by WiMAX and 3G? Are they heading