India’s mobile phone boom is expected to sustain momentum, with connections zooming to 77.1 crore by 2013, up from 45.2 crore in 2009, says a research report by Gartner Inc. That implies a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.3 per cent.
In a matching vein, the total mobile services revenue in India is projected to grow at CAGR of 12.5 per cent from 2009 to 2013 and exceed $30 billion (Rs 1.44 lakh crore) by that time, the report says.
The percentage of revenue coming from voice will dip from 89 per cent in 2008 to 86 per cent in 2013 with the increased growth in data services.
“Data revenue growth is expected to peak by 2010-11, and India’s mobile telecom revenues are increasingly going to come from value-added services,” Madhusudan Gupta, senior research analyst, Gartner, told Hindustan Times.
Growth is poised to continue through the forecast period, and India is expected to remain the world’s second-largest wireless market after China in terms of mobile connections.
“The Indian mobile industry will continue to grow at double-digit rates for next three years as operators focus on rural parts,” said Gupta.
{{/usCountry}}“The Indian mobile industry will continue to grow at double-digit rates for next three years as operators focus on rural parts,” said Gupta.
{{/usCountry}}Gartner said growth will be driven by operators increasing their focus on the rural market, local consumer durable and electronic firms entering the domestic mobile handset segment, and lower handset prices.
Prepaid connections accounted for more than 93 per cent of all mobile connections in 2008 and it is expected to grow to more than 96 per cent of the connection base by 2013, surpassing 74.1 crore against 31.2 crore in 2008.