According to Gartner, the country?s mobile user base will register a 9 per cent increase this year, to touch 696 million connections.
Moreover, the research firm has estimated the overall mobile services revenue to reach $30 billion in 2016.
Commenting on the findings, Shalini Verma, principal analyst, Consumer Technology and Markets, Gartner said, “The staggering growth of mobile connections has been driven by the expansion of mobile services in semi-urban and rural markets and the availability of cheap mobile devices. However, the other performance indicators of the Indian mobile market seem modest in comparison to those of markets such as China.”
In addition, the research firm feels that India is poised to become the testing ground for innovative delivery and pricing models that could be replicated in other emerging markets. So, Gartner feels, mobile operators will need to focus on sound fundamentals such as improving the quality of service of mobile broadband.
The firm stated, “The industry is pegging its hope on market consolidation, which appears imminent in the aftermath of 2G licence cancellations. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India have a pivotal role to play in removing uncertainties in policy-making, and licence and spectrum management, so that the mobile operators can focus their energies on driving growth.?
