mobile penetration & usage in india 2014 report

Mobile Penetration & Usage in India 2014Mobile Fact book

Report Published On: November 2013

By

eStatsIndia.com

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Mobile Penetration and Usage in India 2014

EstatsIndia.com View

The Indian telecommunications market has experienced a considerable number of challenges in the last few years due to constant regulatory disputes and a hostile business environment, which includes an aggressive price war that has eroded operators ' profitability. Despite the country ' s significant growth potential, the industry is struggling to capitalize on the opportunities, which will remain the central theme in the near future as we do not expect the market to reach a swift resolution of these complicated issues.

Key Data Trends

By March 2013 this year, the Indian mobile subscriber base was back on a gradual upward trend. By end-2013, we envisage 891mn subscribers.

We expect ARPU levels to trend higher due to 3G and value-added services; the industry is prone to downside risks such as aggressive price competition, with a number of key operators having recently slashed their 2G data charges.

Looking longer term, proposed legislation to allow foreign operators to have up to 100% stake in local telecom companies would inject much-needed funds to rollout the nation's 3G network infrastructure.

We forecast slow but steady fixed broadband subscriber growth as operators and consumers opt for cheaper and more convenient mobile solutions.

Risk/Reward Ratings

India is in 13th position in the Asia Pacific Telecoms Risk/Reward Ratings, with a Telecoms rating score of 46.5 in Q313 as per BMI.

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Key Trends and Developments: A Background

Operators

In June 2013 this year, Vodafone India announced an initiative to cut its 2G data charges by 80% as part of a broader strategy to accelerate mobile internet adoption, consumption and value addition. The company clearly hopes the move will lead to further rapid growth in revenue from browsing-related data services - its fastest area of growth in FY2013 - and this additional revenue could be used to finance its heavy investments in infrastructure and spectrum.

Later the same month, Bharti Airtel and IDEA Cellular followed Vodafone India's lead by drastically reducing 2G mobile data rates in a bid to encourage more consumers to use premium non-voice services. Both companies claim that greater affordability, combined with the growing ubiquity of wireless data-enabled devices such as smartphones and tablets, will usher in a new wave of mobile data growth.

In July 2013, India's Telecom Commission backed a new proposal to allow foreign operators to have up to 100% stake in local telecom companies. At present, foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector is limited to 74% of an Indian operator.

Also in July 2013, it was reported that Vodafone India had offered to pay INR40bn (US$680mn) to extend the commercial lives of its operating licenses covering the metropolitan circles of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. The 20-year licenses, which expire in November 2014, were to have been auctioned but attracted no bids. Although the offer is 1.3 times that of the prevailing market value for 1800MHz spectrum, it is as much as 70% lower than the reserve prices that had been set in the aborted auction.

Also In July 2013, it was reported that India's Telecom Commission had approved the use of Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) to expand mobile phone coverage in rural areas. This could drive new growth for the large mobile operators given falling ARPU and oversaturated mobile penetration (145.8%) in cities.

Mobile Users

Mobile users on the other hand will demand limited textual content and more audio-visual content because of the small screen size of their devices. Furthermore, it will become essential for entrepreneurs and innovators to make their applications or services compatible for users with a basic mobile device, in order to target those in the rural population who might not be able to afford a sophisticated Smartphone.

Future Growth

Lastly, we predict the mobile sector will increase by an average of 6.0% between 2013 and 2016. Subscriber growth opportunities have to come from rural region given that urban mobile penetration rate is more than 160%.


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Table 1: Mobile- Subscribers Data and Forecasts (‘000)

Current Status

3G

3G Users in IndiaFigure 1: Mobile Users Share by Region and by Telecom Users 2013(Total 3G Users=44 million)

Table 2: Mobile- ARPU Data and Forecasts, (INR)

Mobile Users Penetration & Demographics

Table 3: India’s Population & Mobile Subscribers by Age Group, 2013 (‘000)

Table 4: Active Population & Mobile Subscribers in the Active Population 2013 (‘000)

Table 5: Youth Population & Mobile Subscribers 2013 (‘000)

Table 6: BPL Population & Mobile Subscribers 2013 (millions)

Table 7: India’s Rural and Urban Population Splits 2013 (‘000)

Table 8: Urban and Rural Mobile Subscribers 2013 (‘000)

Table 9: Gender Composition of Population by Residence & Mobile Subscribers-India 2013 (‘000)

Table 10: Dual SIM Users in India 2013; Total Live SIMs & Unique (Active) SIMs Users; Year End 2013

Mobile Internet Users

Table 11: Mobile Internet Users (2.5G & 3G) 2013 (millions)

Table 12: 3G Access Devices Smartphone and Tablets (millions)

Table 13: Smartphone Subscribers 2013


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Table 14: Mobile Internet Users (millions) Active on 3G Access Devices (Smartphone and Tablets)

Table 15: Mobile Internet Users Splits (Urban and Rural) 2013 (millions)

Table 16: Mobile Internet Users Splits (Males vs. Females) 2013 (millions)

Table 17: Mobile Internet Users Youth (15 to 44 Years) 2013 (millions)

Table 18: Mobile Internet Users BPL 2013 (millions)

Mobile Dark Regions

Table 19: Total Number of Villages Uncovered (Dark Areas) in India 2013

TELECOM CIRCLES MOSTLY SILENT ON DATA CONSUMPTION ON MOBILES ARE AS FOLLOWS

Mobile Data Consumption Data Consumption

4G


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Table 20: Mobile Users Generated Significantly More Traffic after introduction of tiered pricing;

Growth Rate Did Not Slow

Table 21: One Percent of Mobile Data Users Consume 5 GB per Month


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