Making 3G mainstream in India

At present, India’s population of more than 1.2 billion is spread in a 30:70 ratio between urban and rural markets. The penetration in rural markets is very low compared to the urban markets in the country. 3G will bring efficient voice and rich data services to Indian consumers and drive proliferation of mobile broadband in rural areas of the country, opening hitherto untapped markets. Going forward, CDMA2000/EV-DO and WCDMA/HSPA will drive telecom and broadband connectivity in India. Indian mobile companies have been obsessed with the voice subscription game. It’s time to look at value-added services that can significantly transform society. 3G wireless broadband is an opportunity coming their way to make high-speed wireless internet access more widely available and affordable.

There is great opportunity in India for the 3G device market and we will have 3G entry level devices, as well as feature-rich phones, starting from Rs 5000 all the way up to Rs 35,000. Globally, 3G handset prices are now below US$100, putting them within the reach of the mass market in developing countries. We expect 3G smartphones will be rolled out in the second half of 2009 with an entry-level price tag of Rs 10,000. We are in talks with our operator and OEM partners to explore how this space can be penetrated so as to increase the addressable market.

Globally, 2G is transitioning to 3G and we will drive a similar trend and bring in affordable tiered solutions to stimulate mass market adoptions. While the key application of all 3G handsets will be no-compromise-access to mobile Internet, various price points will provide experiences of different kinds. 3G feature phones will bring better voice clarity and multimedia experience to users, opening new services revenue streams for wireless operators. 3G USB modems, dongles and data cards will bring ‘always on’ wireless broadband connectivity to laptops and desktops that are already experiencing accelerated growth and affordable 3G smart phones will bring in a new dimension to enterprise connectivity.

By Kanwalinder Singh