INDEPENDENT, Professional, Clear, jargon-free advice

Our goal is to provide our customers with the mobile phone technology needed in today's fastmoving wireless world. We are experienced at combining cost-effective solutions with personal service. Our fully stocked Mobile Phone shop is open 6 days a week ready for routine purchases, urgent phone replacement, repairs & accessories. For those of you who cant find the time to visit our shop, our experienced sales representative is available for appointments at your premises.

Our staff can assess your current mobile phone usage, develop a plan specifically designed for your company, and keep you up to date on new product lines.

We format and package books so that you can read them on a java enabled phone. Most phones sold today are java enabled - you probably have one in your pocket right now. Our book reader program is integrated within each downloadable book. Features of the BooksInMyPhone book reader program include:

Adjustable font size settings make the letters bigger or smaller according to your personal preference. Night-vision mode - makes it easy to read in a dark room. Chapter navigation navigate the book by chapter. Pause & Auto-

resume function automatically pauses and resumes to accommodate incoming calls. Autobookmark you never have to remember where you're up to in the book.

We manually review and format each of our books so that they will present well on a mobile/cell phone screen and deliver a high quality reading experience. The books we provide are out of copyright in the USA; and in most cases Australia, Canada, the U.K., and many other countries(1) For commercial distribution and/or derivative or new works please contact us. Copyright laws vary from country to country. Outside the USA the copyright status will vary from book to book. It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not breach the copyright laws that apply in your country.
1

Enjoy!

The books offered here are either licensed under Creative Commons or out of copyright in the USA and many other countries including Australia, Canada, and the UK. Most of the books are out of copyright world wide, check the copyright laws that apply to your country prior to download. It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not breach the copyright laws that apply to you. This is part of our Terms and Conditions of Use. By using this website or downloading a book, you are indicating that you acknowledge and accept our Terms and Conditions of Use and the license under which the book is offered.

http://www.intomobile.com/2010/12/15/people-spend-as-much-time-on-mobile-as-newspapers-andmagazines-combined/

A survey from eMarketer confirms what most tech-obsessed folks already know- people spend as much time on their mobile phone as they do reading a newspaper and magazine combined. The survey reveals the average user spends 50 minutes a day using their mobile phone, 30 minutes reading a newspaper, and a mere 20 minutes reading a magazine. Take a stroll through your local mall on a busy afternoon and you will see these survey results played out on real life. Count all the people you see with their noses buried in a mobile phone and compare it to the number of people you see with a newspaper or a magazine open in their lap. Almost anyone with an eye for technology can see this trend, all this survey does is give us some numbers for comparison. While mobile usage has grown 28% year over year, it still trails radio listening, Internet usage, and TV and video watching. People spend almost four and a half hours watching TV, over an hour and a half listening to the radio, and only 50 minutes on their mobile phones. While these absolute figures suggest TV and radio are well entrenched in our daily lives, the year to year trend paints a much different picture. Year over year, TV and video, radio, newspapers, and magazines are all on the decline, while mobile and the Internet are making gains. Yes, the losses in traditional media are small, but they are still losses and a possible sign of greater losses to come.

It will be interesting to re-visit these numbers in the next few years when the smartphone adoption rate goes through the roof and tablets are found on everybodys coffee table. Will TV and radio still be the leaders? Speaking of tablets I wonder where the iPad fits into this survey. Is it grouped into the mobile category or is it bundled into the general Internet category? Is it even prevalent enough to make a difference in these results? Any thoughts? [Via TechCrunch and eMarketer]

About The Author

Kelly Hodgkins

Electronic paper
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Intelligent paper" redirects here. For interactive form, see Intelligent form. It has been suggested that E ink be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since February
2011.

iLiad e-book reader equipped with an electronic paper display. E-ink displays can be read even under bright sunlight since they are reflective and use no backlighting.

Electronic paper, e-paper and electronic ink are a range of display technology which are designed to mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper.[1]Unlike conventional backlit flat panel displays, electronic paper displays reflect light like ordinary paper. Many of the technologies can hold static text and images indefinitely without using electricity, while allowing images to be changed later. Flexible electronic paper uses plastic substrates and plastic electronics for the display backplane.

Electronic paper is often considered to be more comfortable to read than conventional displays.[2] This is due to the stable image, which has no need to be refreshed constantly, a wider viewing angle, and that it reflects ambient light rather than emitting its own light. An ideal e-paper display can be read in direct sunlight without the image appearing to fade. The contrast ratio in available displays as of 2008 might be described as similar to that of newspaper, though newlydeveloped displays are slightly better.[3] There is ongoing competition among manufacturers to provide full-color ability. Applications of electronic visual displays include electronic pricing labels in retail shops, and digital signage,[4] time tables at bus stations,[5] electronic billboards,[6] mobile phone displays, and ereaders able to display digital versions of books and e-paper magazines. Electronic paper should not be confused with digital paper, which is a pad to create handwritten digital documents with a digital pen.

Contents
[hide]

1 Technologies o o 1.1 Gyricon 1.2 Electrophoretic o 1.2.1 Electrophoretic display

1.3 Electrowetting 1.3.1 Electrofluidic

o o o

1.4 Interferometric modulator 1.5 Other bistable displays 1.6 Other technologies

2 Disadvantages 3 Applications o o o o o o o o 3.1 Wristwatches 3.2 e-Books 3.3 Newspapers 3.4 Displays embedded in smart cards 3.5 Status displays 3.6 Mobile phones 3.7 Electronic shelf labels 3.8 Other

4 Display manufacturers 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

Disadvantages
Electronic paper technologies have a very low refresh rate compared to other low-power display technologies, such as LCD. This prevents producers from implementing sophisticated interactive applications (using fast moving menus, mouse pointers or scrolling) like those which are possible on mobile devices. An example of this limit is that a document cannot be smoothly zoomed without either extreme blurring during the transition or a very slow zoom.

An e-ink screen showing the "ghost" of a prior image

Another limit is that a shadow of an image may be visible after refreshing parts of the screen. Such shadows are termed "ghost images", and the effect is termed "ghosting". This effect is reminiscent of screen burn-in but, unlike it, is solved after the screen is refreshed several times. Turning every pixel white, then black, then white, helps normalize the contrast of the pixels. This is why several devices with this technology "flash" the entire screen white and black when loading a new image.[citation
needed]

[edit]Applications Several companies are simultaneously developing electronic paper and ink. While the technologies used by each company provide many of the same features, each has its own distinct technological advantages. All electronic paper technologies face the following general challenges:

A method for encapsulation An ink or active material to fill the encapsulation Electronics to activate the ink

Electronic ink can be applied to flexible or rigid materials. For flexible displays, the base requires a thin, flexible material tough enough to withstand considerable wear, such as extremely thin plastic. The method of how the inks are encapsulated and then applied to the substrate is what distinguishes each company from others. These processes are complex and are carefully guarded industry secrets. Nevertheless, making electronic paper promises to be less complex and costly than making traditional LCDs. There are many approaches to electronic paper, with many companies developing technology in this area. Other technologies being applied to electronic paper include modifications of liquid crystal displays, electrochromic displays, and the electronic equivalent of an Etch A Sketch at Kyushu University. Advantages of electronic paper includes low power usage (power is only drawn when the

display is updated), flexibility and better readability than most displays. Electronic ink can be printed on any surface, including walls, billboards, product labels and T-shirts. The ink's flexibility would also make it possible to develop rollable displays for electronic devices

e-Books
Main article: List of e-book readers

In 2004 Sony released Libri EBR-1000EP in Japan, the first e-book reader with an electronic paper display. In September 2006 Sony released the PRS-500 Sony Reader e-book reader in the USA. On October 2, 2007, Sony announced the PRS-505, an updated version of the Reader. In November 2008, Sony released the PRS-700BC which incorporated a backlight and a touchscreen.

In November 2006, the iRex iLiad was ready for the consumer market. Consumers could initially read e-Books in PDF and HTML formats, and in July 2007 support for the popular Mobipocket PRC format was added, but price was still a problem. With the introduction of the competing Cybook, prices have decreased almost 50%.

In late 2007, Amazon began producing and marketing the Amazon Kindle, an e-book reader with an e-paper display. In February 2009, Amazon released the Kindle 2and in May 2009 the larger Kindle DX was announced. In July 2010 the third generation Kindle was announced.[38]

In November 2009 Barnes and Noble launched the Barnes & Noble Nook, running an Android operating system. It differs from other big name readers in having a replaceable battery, and a separate touch-screen color LCD below the main electronic paper reading screen.

[edit]Newspapers

In February 2006, the Flemish daily De Tijd distributed an electronic version of the paper to select subscribers in a limited marketing study, using a pre-release version of the iRex iLiad. This was the first recorded application of electronic ink to newspaper publishing.

In September 2007, the French daily Les chos announced the official launch of an electronic version of the paper on a subscription basis. Two offers are available, combining a one year subscription and a reading device. One interesting point of the offer is the choice of a light (176g) reading device (adapted for Les Echos by Ganaxa) or the iRex iLiad. Two different processing

platforms are used to deliver readable information of the daily, one based on the newly developed GPP electronic ink platform from Ganaxa, and the other one developed internally by Les Echos.

Since January 2008, the Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad is distributed for the iRex iLiad reader

Communications in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about communications in India. For a more general coverage of media in India, see Media of India. The Republic of India possesses a diversified communications system that links all parts of the country by Internet, telephone, telegraph, radio, and television. None of the telecommunications forms are as prevalent or as advanced as those in modern Western countries, but the system includes some of the most sophisticated technology in the world and constitutes a foundation for further development of a modern network. Indian telecommunication industry is the world's secondlargest in terms of number of subscribers, and the world's fastest growing market in terms of number of new subscribers.[1][2][3][4] India had 851.70 million mobile phone subscribers at the end of June 2011.[5] The country has third highest number of Internet users as of December 2010.[6] The primary regulator of communications in India is the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. It closely regulates all of the industries mentioned below with the exception of newspapers and the Internet service provider industry. As the fastest growing telecommunications market in the world, India is projected to have 1.159 billion mobile subscribers by 2013.[7][8][9][10] Several leading global consultancies estimate that India will become the world's largest mobile phone market by subscriptions by 2013.[7][8] The industry is expected to reach a size of 344,921 crore (US$76.92 billion) by 2012 at a growth rate of over 26 per cent, and generate employment opportunities for about 10 million people during the same period.[11] According to analysts, the sector would create direct employment for 2.8 million people and for 7 million indirectly.[11] In 2008-09 the overall telecom equipments revenue in India stood at 136,833 crore (US$30.51 billion) during the fiscal, as against 115,382 crore (US$25.73 billion) a year before.[12]

Contents
[hide]

1 Modern growth 2 History o o o 2.1 Introduction of the telegraph 2.2 Introduction of the telephone 2.3 Further milestones and developments 2.3.1 Indian telecom sector: recent policies

3 Emergence as a major player o o 3.1 Privatization of telcommunications in India 3.2 Telecommunications Regulatory Environment in India

4 Revenue and growth 5 Telephone o o 5.1 Mobile telephones 5.2 Landlines

6 Internet o o 6.1 Broadband 6.2 Statistics

7 Broadcasting 8 Next generation networks 9 Mobile Number Portability (MNP) 10 International o 10.1 Submarine cables

11 Telecom Training in India 12 Numbering scheme o o 12.1 Mobile 12.2 Landline

13 See also 14 References 15 External links

[edit]Modern

growth

A large population, low telephony penetration levels, and a rise in consumer spending power has helped make India the fastest-growing telecom market in the world. The market's first operator was the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), created by corporatization of the Indian Telecommunication Service, a government unit formerly responsible for provision of telephony services. Subsequently, after the telecommunication policies were revised to allow private operators, companies such as Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, Idea Cellular, Aircel and Loop Mobile have entered the market (Bharti Airtel currently being the largest telecom company in India). In the fiscal year 2008-09, rural India outpaced urban India in mobile growth rate. The total number of telephones in the country stands at 885.99 million, while the overall tele-density has increased to 73.97% as of June 30, 2011.[5] Mobile telephony experiences growths at rates such as 11.41 million subscribers a month, which were added in June 2011.[5] [edit]History Telecom in the real sense means the transfer of information between two distant points in space. The popular meaning of telecom always involves electrical signals and as a result, people often exclude postal or any other raw telecommunication methods from its meaning. Therefore, the history of Indian telecom can be started with the introduction of telegraph. [edit]Introduction

of the telegraph

The Indian postal and telecom sectors saw a slow and uneasy start. In 1850, the first experimental electric telegraph line was started between Kolkata and Diamond Harbor. In 1851, it was opened for the use of the British East India Company. The Posts and Telegraphs department occupied a small corner of the Public Works Department,[13] at that time. Subsequently, the construction of 4,000 miles (6,400 km) of telegraph lines connecting Kolkata (then Calcutta) and Peshawar in the north along with Agra, Mumbai (then Bombay) through Sindwa Ghats, and Chennai (then Madras) in the south, as well as Ootacamund and Bangalore was started in November 1853. Dr.William O'Shaughnessy, who pioneered the telegraph and telephone in India, belonged to the Public Works Department, and worked towards the development of telecom throughout this period. A separate department was opened in 1854 when telegraph facilities were opened to the public. [edit]Introduction

of the telephone

In 1880, two telephone companies namely The Oriental Telephone Company Ltd. and The AngloIndian Telephone Company Ltd. approached the Government of India to establish telephone exchangesin India. The permission was refused on the grounds that the establishment of telephones

was a Government monopoly and that the Government itself would undertake the work. In 1881, the Government later reversed its earlier decision and a licence was granted to the Oriental Telephone Company Limited of England for opening telephone exchanges at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras andAhmedabad and the first formal telephone service was established in the country.[14] On the 28th January 1882, Major E. Baring, Member of the Governor General of India's Council declared open the Telephone Exchanges in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. The exchange in Calcutta named the "Central Exchange", was opened at third floor of the building at 7, Council House Street, with a total of 93 subscribers. Later that year, Bombay also witnessed the opening of a telephone exchange. [edit]Further

milestones and developments

A Mobile Phone Tower.

Pre-1902 - Cable telegraph 1902 - First wireless telegraph station established between Sagar Islands and Sandheads. 1907 - First Central Battery of telephones introduced in Kanpur. 1913-1914 - First Automatic Exchange installed in Shimla. 1927 - Radio-telegraph system between the UK and India, with Imperial Wireless Chain beam stations at Khadki and Daund. Inaugurated by Lord Irwin on 23 July by exchanging greetings with King George V.

1933 - Radiotelephone system inaugurated between the UK and India. 1953 - 12 channel carrier system introduced. 1960 - First subscriber trunk dialing route commissioned between Lucknow and Kanpur.

1975 - First PCM system commissioned between Mumbai City and Andheri telephone exchanges. 1976 - First digital microwave junction introduced. 1979 - First optical fibre system for local junction commissioned at Pune. 1980 - First satellite earth station for domestic communications established at Sikandarabad, U.P.. 1983 - First analog Stored Program Control exchange for trunk lines commissioned at Mumbai. 1984 - C-DOT established for indigenous development and production of digital exchanges. 1995 - First mobile telephone service started on non-commercial basis on 15 August 1995 in Delhi. 1995 - Internet Introduced in India starting with Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Chennai and Pune on 15 August 1995

While all the major cities and towns in the country were linked with telephones during the British period, the total number of telephones in 1948 numbered only around 80,000. Post independence, growth remained slow because the telephone was seen more as a status symbol rather than being an instrument of utility. The number of telephones grew leisurely to 980,000 in 1971, 2.15 million in 1981 and 5.07 million in 1991, the year economic reforms were initiated in the country. While certain measures were taken to boost the telecom industry from time to time, (for example introduction of the telex service in Mumbai in 1953 and commissioning of the first Subscriber trunk dialling route between Delhi and Kanpur and between Lucknow and Kanpur in 1960), the first waves of change were set going by Sam Pitroda in the eighties.[15] The real transformation in scenario came with the announcement of the National Telecom Policy in 1994.[16] [edit]Indian telecom sector: recent policies

All villages shall receive telecom facilities by the end of 2002. A Communication Convergence Bill introduced in the Parliament on August 31, 2001 is presently before the Standing Committee of Parliament on Telecom and IT. National Long Distance Service (NLD) is opened for unrestricted entry. The International Long Distance Services (ILDS) have been opened to competition. The basic services are open to competition. In addition to the existing three, a fourth cellular operator, one each in four metros and thirteen circles, has been permitted. Cellular operators have been permitted to provide all types of mobile services including voice and non-voice messages, data services and PCOs utilizing any type of

network equipment, including circuit and/or package switches that meet certain required standards.

Policies allowing private participation have been announced as per the New Telecom Policy (NTP), 1999 in several new services, which include Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) Service, digital Public Mobile Radio Trunked Service (PMRTS) and Voice Mail/ Audiotex/ Unified Messaging Services.

Wireless Local Loop (WLL) has been introduced to provide telephone connections in urban, semiurban and rural areas promptly. Two telecom PSUs, VSNL and HTL have been disinvested. Steps are being taken to fulfill Universal Service Obligation (USO), funding, and administration. A decision to permit Community Phone Service has been announced. Multiple Fixed Service Providers (FSPs) licensing guidelines were announced. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been allowed to set up International Internet Gateways, both Satellite and Landing stations for submarine optical fiber cables. Two categories of infrastructure providers have been allowed to provide end-to-end bandwidth and dark fiber, right of way, towers, duct space etc. Guidelines have been issued by the Government to open up Internet telephony (IP).

[edit]Emergence

as a major player

In 1975, the Department of Telecom (DoT) was separated from Indian Post & Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service. DoT was responsible for telecom services in entire country until 1985 when Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) was carved out of DoT to run the telecom services of Delhi and Mumbai. In 1990s the telecom sector was opened up by the Government for private investment as a part of Liberalisation-Privatization-Globalization policy. Therefore, it became necessary to separate the Government's policy wing from its operations wing. TheGovernment of India corporatised the operations wing of DoT on 1 October 2000 and named it as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). Many private operators, such as Reliance Communications,Tata Indicom, Vodafone, Loop Mobile, Airtel, Idea etc., successfully entered the high potential Indian telecom market. [edit]Privatization

of telcommunications in India

The Indian government was composed of many factions (parties) which had different ideologies. Some of them were willing to throw open the market to foreign players (the centrists) and others wanted the government to regulate infrastructure and restrict the involvement of foreign players. Due to this political background it was very difficult to bring about liberalization in telecommunications.

When a bill was in parliament a majority vote had to be passed, and such a majority was difficult to obtain, given to the number of parties having different ideologies. Liberalization started in 1981 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi signed contracts with Alcatel CIT of France to merge with the state owned Telecom Company (ITI), in an effort to set up 5,000,000 lines per year. But soon the policy was let down because of political opposition. She invited Sam Pitroda a US based Non-resident Indian NRI to set up a Center for Development of Telematics(C-DOT), however the plan failed due to political reasons. During this period, after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, under the leadership of Rajiv Gandhi, many public sector organizations were set up like the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), VSNL and MTNL. Many technological developments took place in this regime but still foreign players were not allowed to participate in the telecommunications business.[17] The demand for telephones was ever increasing. It was during this period that the Narsimha Rao-led government introduced the national telecommunications policy [NTP] in 1994 which brought changes in the following areas: ownership, service and regulation of telecommunications infrastructure. They were also successful in establishing joint ventures between state owned telecom companies and international players. But still complete ownership of facilities was restricted only to the government owned organizations. Foreign firms were eligible to 49% of the total stake. The multi-nationals were just involved in technology transfer, and not policy making.[17] During this period, the World Bank and ITU had advised the Indian Government to liberalize long distance services in order to release the monopoly of the state owned DoT and VSNL; and to enable competition in the long distance carrier business which would help reduce tariff's and better the economy of the country. The Rao run government instead liberalized the local services, taking the opposite political parties into confidence and assuring foreign involvement in the long distance business after 5 years. The country was divided into 20 telecommunication circles for basic telephony and 18 circles for mobile services. These circles were divided into category A, B and C depending on the value of the revenue in each circle. The government threw open the bids to one private company per circle along with government owned DoT per circle. For cellular service two service providers were allowed per circle and a 15 years license was given to each provider. During all these improvements, the government did face oppositions from ITI, DoT, MTNL, VSNL and other labor unions, but they managed to keep away from all the hurdles.[17] After 1995 the government set up TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) which reduced the interference of Government in deciding tariffs and policy making. The DoT opposed this. The political powers changed in 1999 and the new government under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee was more pro-reforms and introduced better liberalization policies. They split DoT in two- one policy maker

and the other service provider (DTS) which was later renamed as BSNL. The proposal of raising the stake of foreign investors from 49% to 74% was rejected by the opposite political party and leftist thinkers. Domestic business groups wanted the government to privatize VSNL. Finally in April 2002, the government decided to cut its stake of 53% to 26% in VSNL and to throw it open for sale to private enterprises. TATA finally took 25% stake in VSNL.[17] This was a gateway to many foreign investors to get entry into the Indian Telecom Markets. After March 2000, the government became more liberal in making policies and issuing licenses to private operators. The government further reduced license fees for cellular service providers and increased the allowable stake to 74% for foreign companies. Because of all these factors, the service fees finally reduced and the call costs were cut greatly enabling every common middle class family in India to afford a cell phone. Nearly 32 million handsets were sold in India. The data reveals the real potential for growth of the Indian mobile market.[18] In March 2008 the total GSM and CDMA mobile subscriber base in the country was 375 million, which represented a nearly 50% growth when compared with previous year.[19] As the unbranded Chinese cell phones which do not have International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers pose a serious security risk to the country, Mobile network operators therefore planned to suspend the usage of around 30 million mobile phones (about 8 % of all mobiles in the country) by 30 April.[20] 56 years the average monthly subscribers additions were around 0.05 to 0.1 million only and the total mobile subscribers base in December 2002 stood at 10.5 millions. However, after a number of proactive initiatives were taken by regulators and licensors, the total number of mobile subscribers has increased greatly to 851.70 million subscribers as of June 30th 2011.[5] India has opted for the use of both the GSM (global system for mobile communications) and CDMA (code-division multiple access) technologies in the mobile sector. In addition to landline and mobile phones, some of the companies also provide the WLL service. The mobile tariffs in India have also become lowest in the world. A new mobile connection can be activated with a monthly commitment of US$0.15 only. In 2005 alone additions increased to around 2 million per month in the year 2003-04 and 2004-05.[citation needed] In June 2009, the Government of India banned the import of several mobile phones manufactured in China citing concerns over quality and the lack of IMEI's which make it difficult for authorities in India to track the sale and use of such phones.[21] In April 2010, the Government was also reported to be blocking Indian service providers from purchasing Chinese mobile technology citing concerns that Chinese hackers could compromise the Indian telecommunications network during times of national emergency. A series of attacks on Indian government websites and computer networks by suspected Chinese hackers has also made Indian regulators suspicious with regards to the import of potentially

sensitive equipment from China. The companies reported to be affected by this areHuawei Technologies and ZTE.[22][23][24] [edit]Telecommunications

Regulatory Environment in India

LIRNEasia's Telecommunications Regulatory Environment (TRE) index, which summarizes stakeholders perception on certain TRE dimensions, provides insight into how conducive the environment is for further development and progress. The most recent survey was conducted in July 2008 in eight Asian countries, including Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan, Thailand, and the Philippines. The tool measured seven dimensions: i) market entry; ii) access to scarce resources; iii) interconnection; iv) tariff regulation; v) anti-competitive practices; and vi) universal services; vii) quality of service, for the fixed, mobile and broadband sectors. The results for India, point out to the fact that the stakeholders perceive the TRE to be most conducive for the mobile sector followed by fixed and then broadband. Other than for Access to Scarce Resources the fixed sector lags behind the mobile sector. The fixed and mobile sectors have the highest scores for Tariff Regulation. Market entry also scores well for the mobile sector as competition is well entrenched with most of the circles with 4-5 mobile service providers. The broadband sector has the lowest score in the aggregate. The low penetration of broadband of mere 3.87 against the policy objective of 9 million at then end of 2007 clearly indicates that the regulatory environment is not very conducive.[25] [edit]Revenue

and growth

The total revenue in the telecom service sector was 86,720 crore (US$19.3 billion) in 2005-06 as against 71,674 crore (US$16 billion) in 2004-2005, registering a growth of 21%.estimted revenue of FY'2011 is Rs.835 crore (US$ 19 Bn Approx).The total investment in the telecom services sector reached 200,660 crore (US$44.7 billion) in 2005-06, up from 178,831 crore (US$39.9 billion) in the previous fiscal.[26] Telecommunication is the lifeline of the rapidly growing Information Technology industry. Internet subscriber base has risen to more than a 100 million in 2010.[27] Out of this 11.47 million were broadband connections.[5] More than a billion people use the Internet globally. Under the Bharat Nirman Programme, the Government of India will ensure that 66,822 revenue villages in the country, which have not yet been provided with a Village Public Telephone (VPT), will be connected. However doubts have been raised about what it would mean for the poor in the country.[28] It is difficult to ascertain fully the employment potential of the telecom sector but the enormity of the opportunities can be gauged from the fact that there were 3.7 million Public Call Offices in December 2005[29] up from 2.3 million in December 2004.

The Total Revenue of Indian Telecom Services company is likely to exceed Rs 200000 Cr ( US$ 44 Bn approx) for FY 11-12 based on FY 10-11 nos and latest quarterly results. These are consolidated nos including foreign operation of Bharti Airtel. The major contributions to this revenue are as follows: Bharti Airtel 65,060 Reliance Comm 31,468 Idea Cellular 16,936 Tata Comm 11,931 MTNL 4,380 TTML 2,248 BSNL 32,045 Voda 18,376 TataTeleservice 9,200 Aircel 7,968 SSTL 600 Uninor 660 Loop 560 Stel 60 HFCL 204 Videocon Telecom 254 DB Etisalat/ Allianz 47 Grand Total Rs 201,997 Crs contributed by Sanjay Banka, FCA [edit]Telephone On landlines, intra-circle calls are considered local calls while inter-circle are considered long distance calls. Currently Government is working to integrate the whole country in one telecom circle. For long distance calls, the area code prefixed with a zero is dialed first which is then followed by the number (i.e. To call Delhi, 011 would be dialed first followed by the phone number). For international calls, "00" must be dialed first followed by the country code, area code and local phone number. The country code for India is 91. Telephone Subscribers (Wireless and Landline): 885.99 million (June 2011) [5] Land Lines: 34.29 million (June 2011)[5] Cell phones: 851.70 million (June 2011) [5] Monthly Cell phone Addition: 11.41 million (June 2011) [5] Teledensity: 73.97 % (June 2011) [5] Projected Teledensity: 1 billion, 84% of population by 2012.[30] [edit]Mobile

telephones

See also: List of mobile network operators of India and List of mobile network operators With a subscriber base of more than 851 million,[5] the Mobile telecommunications system in India is the second largest in the world and it was thrown open to private players in the 1990s. The country is divided into multiple zones, called circles (roughly along state boundaries). Government and several private players run local and long distance telephone services. Competition has caused prices to drop and calls across India are one of the cheapest in the world.[31] The rates are supposed to go down further with new measures to be taken by the Information Ministry.[32] In September 2004, the number of mobile phone connections crossed the number of fixed-line connections and presently dwarfs the wireline segment by a ratio of around 20:1.[5] The mobile subscriber base has grown by a factor of over a hundred and thirty, from 5 million subscribers in 2001 to over 851 million subscribers as of June 2011 [5] (a period of 10 years) . India primarily follows the GSM mobile system, in the 900 MHz

band. Recent operators also operate in the 1800 MHz band. The dominant players are Airtel, Reliance Infocomm, Vodafone, Idea cellular and BSNL/MTNL. There are many smaller players, with operations in only a few states. International roaming agreements exist between most operators and many foreign carriers. India is divided into 22 telecom circles. They are listed below:[5]

Assam Andhra Pradesh Bihar Delhi & NCR Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Karnataka Kerala Kolkata Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra & Goa Mumbai North East (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, & Tripura) Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh (East) Uttar Pradesh (West) West Bengal

A list of states (including the metros Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai in their respective states and excluding National Capital Territory Delhi) with the largest subscriber base as of Mar 03rd 2011 is given below State Subscriber base[5] Population (01/03/2011) [33] Mobile phones per 1000 population

Uttar Pradesh Maharashtra Tamil Nadu

116,889,074 101,065,519 72,763,544

199,581,477 112,372,972 72,138,958 84,665,533 91,347,736 103,804,637 61,130,704 60,383,628 68,621,012

586 899 1009 739 721 552 838 809 648

Andhra Pradesh 62,560,974 West Bengal Bihar Karnataka Gujarat Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh Delhi Kerala Punjab India 65,829,685 57,336,840 51,221,157 48,818,855 44,473,945

48,134,232

72,597,565

663

41,171,114 32,757,390 30,147,893 851,695,668

16,753,235 33,387,677 27,704,236 1,210,193,422

2,458 981 1,088 704

[edit]Landlines Until the New Telecom Policy was announced in 1999, only the Governmentowned BSNL and MTNL were allowed to provide landline phone services through copper wire in India with MTNL operating inDelhi and Mumbai and BSNL servicing all other areas of the country. Due to the rapid growth of the cellular phone industry in India, landlines are facing stiff competition from cellular operators. This has forced landline service providers to become more efficient and improve their quality of service. Landline connections are now also available on demand, even in high density urban areas. The breakup of wireline subscriber base in India as of September 2009 is given below[34]

Operator

Subscriber base

BSNL

25,378,036

MTNL

3,458,399

Bharti Airtel

3,280,658

Reliance Communications 1,232,060

Tata Teleservices

1,289,179

HFCL Infotel

188,943

Teleservices Ltd

38,037

All India

34,865,312

The list of eight states (including the metros Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai in their respective states) with largest subscriber base as of June 2011 is given below [34] State Maharashtra Tamil Nadu Kerala Uttar Pradesh Subscriber base 5,845,504 3,481,360 3,302,031 2,326,813

Karnataka Delhi West Bengal

2,741,983 2,829,816 2,173,485

Andhra Pradesh 2,376,882 Gujarat 2,286,888

[edit]Internet India has the world's third largest Internet users with over 100 million users (of whom 40 million use the Internet via mobile phones) as of December 2010.[35] Internet penetration in India is one of the lowest in the world which is 8.4% of the population, compared to other nations like United States, Japan or South Korea where Internet penetration is significantly higher than in India.[36] [edit]Broadband The growth in number of broadband connections in India has accelerated since 2006. As of June 2011, total broadband Internet connections in India had reached 12.32 million constituting 0.9% of the population.[34][5] India has one of the lowest penetrations of broadband connectivity in the world.[9][37] A number of private Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer services in India, many with their own local loop and gateway infrastructures. BSNL and MTNL have continued to dominate the ISP market because of their existing massive copper infrastructure in the last-mile across the nation. The current definition of Broadband in India is speeds of 256 kbit/s. TRAI on Dec 2010 has recommended raising this limit to 512 kbit/s.[38] The bulk of Broadband consumers in India fall in this category. India broadband growth is hampered by various challenges, including a complicated tariff structure, metered billing, higher charges for right of way and absence of local-loop unbundling. [edit]Statistics Internet Service Providers (ISPs) & Hosts: 86,571 (2004) Source: CIA World FactBook Country code (Top-level domain): .in [edit]Broadcasting Main article: Media of India

AIR Radio Tower

Radio broadcast stations: AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998), Domestica Radio, Broadcasting Radios: 116 million (1997) Television terrestrial broadcast stations: 562 (of which 82 stations have 1 kW or greater power and 480 stations have less than 1 kW of power) (1997) Televisions: 110 million (2006) In India, only the government owned Doordarshan has the license for terrestrial television broadcast. Over the years, Doordarshan services have grown from a single national channel to six national and eleven regional channels. Satellite/Cable television took off during the first Gulf War with CNN. There are no regulations against ownership of satellite dish antennas, or operation of cable television systems, which led to an explosion of viewership and channels, led by the Star TV group and Zee TV. Initially restricted to music and entertainment channels, viewership grew, giving rise to several channels in regional languages, especially Hindi. The main news channels available were CNN and BBC World. In the late 1990s, many current affairs and news channels sprouted, becoming immensely popular because of the alternative viewpoint they offered compared to Doordarshan. Some of the notable ones are Aaj Tak (means Till Today, run by the India Today group) and STAR News, CNN-IBN, Times Now, initially run by theNDTV group and their lead anchor, Prannoy Roy (NDTV now has its own channels, NDTV 24x7, NDTV Profit and NDTV India).New Delhi TeleVision. Here is a reasonably comprehensive List of Indian television stations.

[edit]Next

generation networks

In the Next Generation Networks, multiple access networks can connect customers to a core network based on IP technology. These access networks include fibre optics or coaxial cable networks connected to fixed locations or customers connected through wi-fi as well as to 3G networks connected to mobile users. As a result, in the future, it would be impossible to identify whether the next generation network is a fixed or mobile network and the wireless access broadband would be used both for fixed and mobile services. It would then be futile to differentiate between fixed and mobile networks both fixed and mobile users will access services through a single core network. Indian telecom networks are not so intensive as developed countrys telecom networks and India's teledensity is low only in rural areas. 670,000 route kilometers (419,000 miles) of optical fibres has been laid in India by the major operators, even in remote areas and the process continues. BSNL alone, has laid optical fibre to 30,000 Telephone Exchanges out of their 36 Exchanges. Keeping in mind the viability of providing services in rural areas, an attractive solution appears to be one which offers multiple service facility at low costs. A rural network based on the extensive optical fibre network, using Internet Protocol and offering a variety of services and the availability of open platforms for service development, viz. the Next Generation Network, appears to be an attractive proposition. Fibre network can be easily converted to Next Generation network and then used for delivering multiple services at cheap cost. [edit]Mobile

Number Portability (MNP)

TRAI announced the rules and regulations to be followed for the Mobile Number Portability in their draft release on 23 September 2009. Mobile Number Portability (MNP) allows users to retain their numbers, while shifting to a different service provider provided they follow the guidelines set by TRAI. Once a customer changes his/her service provider & retaining the same mobile number they are expected to hold the mobile number with a given provider for at least 90 days, before they decide to move to another service provider. This restriction is set in place to keep a check on exploitation of MNP services provided by the service providers.[39] As per news reports, Government of India decided to implement MNP from December 31, 2009 in Metros & category A service areas and by March 20, 2010 in rest of the country. It has been postponed to March 31, 2010 in Metros & category 'A' service areas. However, time and time again, lobbying by the state-run firms, BSNL and MTNL has resulted in innumerable delays in the implementation of Mobile Number portability. The latest reports suggest BSNL and MTNL are finally ready to implement the Mobile Number Portability by October 31, 2010.[40]

A press release by the Department of Telecommunications on 30 June 2010 said "Keeping the complexity and enormity of the testing involved before MNP is implemented and keeping in view the present status of implementation by various operators, it has now been decided to extend the time line for implementation of MNP to 31st October 2010."[41] A news report on 25 November 2010 said Mobile Number Portability (MNP) was finally launched in Haryana. The MNP service inaugurate by the Union Minister of Communications & IT Mr. Kapil Sibal by making the inaugural call to Shri Bhupindrer Singh Hooda, the Chief Minister of Haryana from a ported mobile number in function held at Rohtak city.[42] Another news report said it will be implemented across India on January 20, 2011. Even as DoT has recommended a porting fee of Rs. 19, some operators such as Idea Cellular may consider waiving off the porting charges.[43] [edit]International

Nine satellite earth stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean region).Microwave Nine gateway exchanges operating from Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad and Ernakulam.

[edit]Submarine

cables

LOCOM linking Chennai to Penang, Malaysia India-UAEcable linking Mumbai to Al Fujayrah, UAE. SEA-ME-WE 2 (South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 2) SEA-ME-WE 3 (South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 3) - Landing sites at Cochin and Mumbai. Capacity of 960 Gbit/s. SEA-ME-WE 4 (South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4) - Landing sites at Mumbai and Chennai. Capacity of 1.28 Tbit/s. Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG-FEA) with a landing site at Mumbai (2000). Initial design capacity 10 Gbit/s, upgraded in 2002 to 80 Gbit/s, upgraded to over 1 Tbit/s (2005). TIISCS (Tata Indicom India-Singapore Cable System), also known as TIC (Tata Indicom Cable), Chennai to Singapore. Capacity of 5.12 Tbit/s. i2i - Chennai to Singapore. Capacity of 8.4 Tbit/s. SEACOM From Mumbai to the Mediterranean, via South Africa. It currently joins with SEA-MEWE 4 off the west coast of Spain to carry traffic onward to London (2009). Capacity of 1.28 Tbit/s. I-ME-WE (India-Middle East-Western Europe) with two landing sites at Mumbai (2009). Capacity of 3.84 Tbit/s.

EIG (Europe-India Gateway), landing at Mumbai (due Q2 2010). MENA (Middle East North Africa). TGN-Eurasia (Announced) Landing at Mumbai (due 2010?), Capacity of 1.28 Tbit/s TGN-Gulf (Announced) Landing at Mumbai (due 2011?), Capacity Unknown.

[edit]Telecom

Training in India

The incumbent telecom operators (BSNL & MTNL) have maintained several telecom training centres at regional, circle and district level. BSNL has three national level institutions, namely Advanced Level Telecom Training Centre (ALTTC) at Ghaziabad, UP; Bharat Ratna Bhim Rao Ambedkar Institute Of Telecom Training at Jabalpur, MP; and National Academy of Telecom Finance and Management. MTNL incorporated Centre for Excellence in Telecom Technology and Management (CETTM) in 2003-04. It is the largest telecom training centre in India and one of the biggest in Asia. It provides training in telecom switching, transmission, wireless communication, telecom operations and management to corporates and students besides its own internal employees. Other than the government opearators some private players like Bharti (Bharti School of Telecom Management part of IIT Delhi), Aegis School of Business and Telecommunication(Banglore and Mumbai) and Reliance have started their own training centres. UK based Cable Telecommunications Training Services Ltd CTTS is working with BECIL Broadcasting Engineering Consultancy Limited a government of India company it setting up of training centres across India. [edit]Numbering

scheme

All mobile and landline numbers in India are standardized to 10 digits.[44] [edit]Mobile Access Code Mobile Switching Centre Code Subscriber Number

2 Digit

3 Digit

5 Digit

94

120

12345

[edit]Landline

For land-lines, the area code ranges from 2 to 4 digits, depending on the teledensity of the area. Correspondingly, the subscriber's phone number ranges from 8 to 6 digits, such that the total number of digits is always 10.[44]

[edit]See

also

TRAI Indian Telecommunication Service List of Indian wireless communications service providers Telecommunications Statistics in India Mobile phone industry in India List of countries by number of mobile phones in use List of countries by number of Internet users

[edit]References
1. ^ "Union Budget and Economic Survey: Energy, Infrastructure and Communications". Ministry of Finance, Government of India. 2. ^ "India is one of the world's fastest growing and biggest mobile phone markets" (stm). BBC News. 2010-04-07. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 3. ^ "Indian telecommunications industry is one of the fastest growing in the world" (doc). IBEF. Retrieved February 2010. 4. ^ "Telecom companies revive value of the Indian paisa"(doc). Economic Times. 2010-05-18. Retrieved 18 May 2010. 5. ^
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (8 Aug 2011). "Highlights of Telecom

Subscription Data as on 30th June 2011" (PDF). Press release. Retrieved 9 Aug 2011. 6. ^ "Internet Usage Statistics". International Telecommunications Unit: Asian Internet Users. ITU. Retrieved 2011-01-10. 7. ^ 8. ^ 9. ^
a b a b a b

"India will overtake China as world's largest mobile market in 2013". informa telecoms & media. "India will become world's No. 1 mobile market by 2013'". Hindu Business Line. "India to have 'billion plus' mobile users by 2015: executive" (cms). Economic Times. 2009-11-18.

Retrieved 18 November 2009. 10. ^ "India Republic Day Supplement: India: The fastest-growing telecom market" (doc). arab news. Retrieved 1 October 2005.

11. ^

a b

"Indian telecom market to be at 344,921 crore(US$76.9 billion) by 2012" (cms). Economic Times.

2007-11-22. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/Indian-telecommarket-to-be-at-Rs-344921-crore-by-2012/articleshow/2563062.cms. Retrieved 22 November 2007. 12. ^ "India's telecom equipment industry grew 18.6% last fiscal" (cms). Economic Times. 2010-06-10. Retrieved 10 June 2010. 13. ^ "Public Works Department". Pwd.delhigovt.nic.in. Retrieved 2010-09-01. 14. ^ Vatsal Goyal, Premraj Suman. "The Indian Telecom Industry". IIM Calcutta. 15. ^ BSNL 16. ^ "Indian Government". Dot.gov.in. Retrieved 2010-09-01. 17. ^
a b c d

Dash, Kishore. "Veto Players and the Deregulation of State-Owned Enterprises: The Case of

Telecommunications in India" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-06-26. 18. ^ "Draft Information Paper on Dial-up Internet Access"(PDF). Retrieved 2010-09-01. 19. ^ "GSM, CDMA players maintain subscriber growth momentum-Telecom-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. 2009-03-18. Retrieved 2010-07-22. 20. ^ [1]
[dead link]

21. ^ "Govt bans import of Chinese mobiles, dairy products, toys". Times of India. 2009-06-18. 22. ^ Rhys Blakely (2010-05-10). "India blocks deals with Chinese telecoms companies over cyber-spy fears". London: Times Online. 23. ^ "China avoids condemning India over Huawei ZTE ban". Economic Times. 2010-05-17. 24. ^ Mehul Srivastava and Mark Lee. "India Said to Block Orders for China Phone Equipment". Business Week. 25. ^ Payal Malik. "Telecom Regulatory and Policy Environment in India: Results and Analysis of the 2008 TRE Survey".LIRNEasia. 26. ^ Press Release no. 60/2006 issued on 28 June 2006 by TRAI 27. ^ www.hindustantimes.com/India...internet-user/Article1-638366.aspx 28. ^ "Hindu Net". Hinduonnet.com. Retrieved 2010-09-01. 29. ^ Press Release No. no. 35/2006 issued on 10 April 2006 by TRAI 30. ^ "India Telecom market growth and subscribers 2010 | GSM and CDMA operators April 2010 data". Telecomindiaonline.com. Retrieved 2010-07-22. 31. ^ "The death of STD". Indianexpress.com. 2006-10-12. Retrieved 2010-09-01. 32. ^ "Free broadband, rent-free landlines likely: Maran". Rediff.com. 2004-12-31. Retrieved 2010-09-01. 33. ^ http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/DATA_FILES/Final%20PPT%202011_11.PDF 34. ^
a b c

http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/trai/upload/PressReleases/816/Press_release_feb%20-

11.pdf

35. ^ http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-now-third-biggest-internet-user/Article1-638366.aspx 36. ^ "India adds 4.487 cr wireless subscribers in Jan-March". Internetworldstats.com. 2010-06-30. Retrieved 2010-09-01. 37. ^ "Japanese Broadband World's Fastest, Cheapest - Iceland Cools off in Global Broadband Penetration Rankings - US Broadband Penetration Grows to 85.9% Among Active Internet Users November 2007 Bandwidth Report". WebSiteOptimization.com. 2004-03-24. Retrieved 2009-05-30. 38. ^ http://www.tech2buzz.com/internet/trai-512kbps-as-minimum-broadband-speeds-from-jan-2011 39. ^ "ARKA Group is a one of the leading Indias start-ups business with multiple business". Telesutra.com. Retrieved 2010-07-22. 40. ^ "Mobile Number Portability in India by Oct31". www.telecomtalk.info. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 41. ^ Press Release of Department of Telecommunications, No.800-34/2009VAS,http://www.dot.gov.in/as/MNP/MNP_30.06.2010.pdf 42. ^ Mobile Number Portability Launched in Haryana, Pan India by January 20, 25 November 2010, telecom talk,http://telecomtalk.info/mobile-number-portability-launched-in-haryana-pan-india-byjanuary-20/49150/ 43. ^ Mobile Number Portability in India to cost Rs. 19, 26 November 2010, techtree.comhttp://www.techtree.com/India/News/Mobile_Number_Portability_in_India_to_cost_Rs_19/ 551-113581-613.html 44. ^
a b

"National Numbering Plan". Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. April 2003.

Retrieved 2011-09-02.

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India's mobile phone users grow to 729.57 million

PTI Jan 25, 2011, 07.40pm IST

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Vodafone| Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

NEW DELHI: Telecom operators added a whopping 22.88 million mobile subscribers in November 2010, taking the total number of telephone users in the country to 764.76 million, sectoral regulator TRAI today said. According to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the mobile subscriber base increased to 729.57 million by the end of November 2010 from 706.69 million in the preceding month, registering a growth of 3.24 per cent. With this, the overall teledensity (telephones per 100 people) in India touched 64.34 per cent. The growth in the wireless category was led by Vodafone, which added 3.12 million users taking its subscriber base to 121.16 million by end of November 2010. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-01-25/news/28433753_1_subscriber-base-wirelinemarket-user-base

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India to be worlds No.3 in mobile phone users

Reuters
Posted: Jan 21, 2006 at 1233 hrs IST

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Mobile phone companies are taking cheap handsets and life-time prepaid services to India's hundreds of millions of low-income earners in a bid to expand market share and maintain their break-neck rates of growth.

Mobile ownership surged in December -- with a record 4.5 million new users -- after carriers targeted India's poorer citizens with the launch of services that guarantee a number for life for just over $20. In the past, a prepaid number would cease to exist if it was not topped up after a certain period of time. Better-off Indian mobile users are already enjoying the benefits of a no-holds-barred war in the industry that is driving user growth and keeping call prices down. And analysts say the party will only get bigger, with carriers aiming at the two-thirds of India's billion-plus people living in villages and small towns. Already home to the world's lowest local call rates -- under 2 US cents a minute -- the sector should see more mergers, a further fall in call rates, better content and cheaper handsets. Overseas carriers building assets in the world's fastest-growing major cellphone market are bringing a greater emphasis on customer care. "Marketing campaigns are getting more aggressive," said Prashant Singhal, head of telecoms practice at Ernst & Young in Bangalore, India's technology hub. "We'll see about 6 million new additions a month in 2006. The mobile base should double in 2006 to 130 to 140 million." India is widely seen as the last big market for mobile phone growth. Less than 40 per cent of the country's total area is covered by mobile networks, and fewer than eight in every 100 Indians use mobiles, compared with China's 30 per cent. A lack of investment in the infrastructure needed to support landline services means there are only 50 million fixed-line users in the country, leaving the stage set for mobile operators. Aggressive rollouts Carriers like Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd. -- India's No. 1 carrier in which Vodafone Group Plc recently spent $1.5 billion on a near-10-percent stake -- and Tata Teleservices Ltd. are both aggressively pursuing rural India. "By end-2006, all the 5,200 towns and 300,000 villages will be covered," said T.V. Ramachandran, director general at the Cellular Operators' Association of India. At the moment, 4,000 towns and up to a third of India's more than 600,000 villages are connected by wireless services. India's love affair with cellphones started in the mid-1990s, as the mobile revolution took hold and India had just 10 million mobile and landline connections. Growth then soared in the last four years due to regulatory change and falling costs of calls and handsets. But the break-neck pace has also led to jammed airways and a drop in service quality, so the government is working on releasing scarce spectrum to ease congestion. While cheaper pre-paid phones are cutting churn, as users stick with one carrier, they bring in lower revenues per user in an industry where profit margins are already razor thin.

Analysts estimate average revenue per user will fall sharply from the current $8 per month and players like Reliance Infocomm Ltd. will increasingly depend on services such as ringtones, gaming, and mobile commerce to maintain or raise margins. Revenue from such value-added services (VAS) in India stands at around 15 per cent of the $6.5 billion generated from mobile services. With text, picture and video messaging taking off, VAS revenue could grow 30 to 40 per cent this year, Ramachandran said. World No.3 Cities such as Delhi and Mumbai boast phone penetration rates of about 40 per cent, similar to East Asian levels, and by the end of 2006, India is expected to be the world's third-largest mobile market by number of users, behind China and the United States. "There will be an influx of funds as global investment communities and carriers look towards increasing their shareholder value by investing in India's growth," said Kobita Desai, principal analyst at research firm Gartner. To fuel growth, the government raised foreign ownership limits in telecoms service providers to 74 per cent from 49 per cent, sparking global interest in the fragmented market. "Cash-rich European carriers are likely to make their presence felt in India. We see more foreign investment in this space, and are seeing a lot of interest from the Asia-Pacific region," Ernst & Young's Singhal said. Last month, Maxis Communications Bhd., Malaysia's biggest cellular firm, and an Indian partner bought midsize operator Aircel Ltd. for $1.08 billion. Other suitors included Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd., which already has a flourishing Indian unit, and Russia's AFK Sistema.

http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=61762

600 Million Mobile Phone Subscribers in India

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A new study coming from the Centre for Telecoms Research (CTR) in London reached the conclusion that the number o mobile phone subscribers will be of 600 million by 2011.

The result of the study reveals a large number of expected subscriptions, as there are currently more than 100 million such phone contract currently closed. Still, nearly 3 million phone users add to this number every month, which explains the high expectations that are to be reached b this market in the next 5 years

The result of the study reveals the fact that the mobile phone market inIndia is one of the most profitable ones. The reason is that an extremel large number of people here are subscribing for their first mobile phone. They make excellent buyers for the low-end cellulars that have bee recently released especially for this market. Even more, the income of the 300 million middle class representants is growing. This translates int more buying power and the need for a cellular

Raj Modi, Research Director at Centre for Telecoms Research said that "The phenomenal growth in the Indian mobile phone market has largely bee driven by urban consumption. We expect this to continue with urban geographies achieving saturation levels similar to current Western Europea markets in the next five years."

At this moment, the density of mobile phone users in India is of 8.5 at every 100 people. By year 2011, it is expected to reach 20 percent of th population, as it is currently the case in China

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Comment #1 by: Allan Ferreira on 03 May 2010, 03:10 UTC reply to this comment

How come 600M mobiles only account to 8.5% Are we saying about 85-100m people are using all of these 600M mobiles? That's questionable?

density

in

India???

http://news.softpedia.com/news/600-Million-Mobile-Phone-Subscribers-in-India-54047.shtml

China approaches 900 million mobile phone users, India's market is the fastest-growing
By Dana Wollman posted Apr 25th 2011 8:30PM

Even if everyone and their dog in the US bought a cell phone, the total number of mobile users would still pale in comparison to China's. The country is on the verge of becoming the first with 900 million cell phone owners, according to stats collected by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The number of mobile subscribers reached 889 million at the end of March, up 30 million, or a modest 3.5 percent, from the previous quarter. That would put China on track to exceed 900 million sometime in May. Just to put that in context, the US is home to 303 million subscribers, and there's not a ton of room for growth. China's wireless subscribers, meanwhile, surpassed the total US population four years ago. But, notes PCWorld, India remains the fastest growing mobile market with 791 million users in late February -- a 15 percent boost over the 687 million reported just five months earlier. Which will hit one billion first? Place your bets!
PCWorld Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (translated) http://mobile.engadget.com/2011/04/25/china-approaches-900-millon-mobile-phone-users-indias-market-i/