THE INDIAN telecom industry has been growing at its fastest in the past few months. The large number of subscriber additions is not coming from the metros but from Class A and Class B towns. With tele-density still very low as compared to other nations, the Indian market is said to be witnessing tremendous growth in the upcoming years, as the network coverage goes further in rural areas. This telecom boom has several factors responsible for it. There has been an increase in the coverage area of networks all over the country bringing in the Class B towns as well as rural areas.

An ‘Idea’ advertising campaign shows a teacher teaching a group of children in rural areas through cell phone. This is fast becoming a reality, as even the rural area subscribers are growing at a very fast pace. Another reason which has brought about this boom is the decrease in the call tariff. The Indian market is now an open and competitive one with several established players trying to build further, and many new players also trying to make their presence felt in the country. This highly competitive nature of the market has been great for the consumers as the call charges through out India with most of the operators are rupee one or less. The recent campaign started by ’Virgin Mobile’, which pays you for incoming calls is a great step in the direction of lowering the mobile rates even further. Also, there has been a decrease in the cost of the handset prices, which means that first time users do not have to spend a bomb in going mobile. The cell phone model rates have all been coming down in the past few years and this downward pricing trend is expected to continue in the years to come.

Moreover, there has been a rise in the income levels of the average Indian and there is now an increased need to be able to communicate and hence, going mobile is the mantra of the day in Class A and Class B towns, which are currently the fastest growing sectors in the Indian telecom industry. The Indian telecom industry is a highly regulated one and this has augured well for the industry. The regulator telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI) has done wonders to the growth of the industry. The recent TRAI policies includes universal access service licence, which enables GSM operators to start CDMA operations and vice versa. Thus, the players are only supposed to pay the entry licence fee and then they can switch.

The future of the industry looks great both for the consumers as well as the players in the industry. With mobile number portability (MNP) going to be implemented soon, a user will have the option of switching to another service provider but still be able to retain the number that he/she had been using with the previous operator. The quality of service has become a cause for concern and operators will have to now focus on increasing the capacity of the present network in order to avoid call dropouts. The players in the industry can expect great growth in the years to come, as most of the consumer base in the industry has yet not been capped.