Slashed calling rates, cheaper handsets and innumerable service providers allow the Indian consumer to celebrate connectivity like never before.
An intrinsic expression of India's phenomenal economic growth is the giant strides it is taking in adopting new technology. The use of mobile phones and computers is widespread, and as they grow in popularity and accessibility they will penetrate lower groups, giving them access to new opportunities for wealth creation.
Wireless technology is already an integral part of urban living. But the very fact that its spread into the rural hinterland is being viewed as a phenomenon, speaks volumes about the maturing Indian telecom sector.
According to a report on India's wireless market released by Datacomm Research Company, India's mobile phone market is growing so rapidly that it threatens to soon surpass Russia and the United States in the number of subscribers.
"The number of mobile phone subscribers added each month in India has more than tripled over the past year," says Chetan Sharma, the report's author. The number of Indians connecting to the internet through the cell phone has also more than doubled to 38 million from 16 million, points out a report by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). "Mobile internet is increasingly becoming a popular feature in India today," notes Diptarup Chakraborti, principal analyst at Gartner Research. India is the world's fastest-growing mobile-phone market with more than 200 million people using mobile phones and 7 million added every month.
The wireless web is also making a strident presence. According to TRAI the number of internet connections through the computer declined for the first time, from 9.27 million in the first quarter to 9.22 million in the second quarter of 2007.
In the same period, state-run telecom-service providers Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL) which account for about 54 per cent of India's internet customers, lost almost 3 per cent of their subscribers. Private players such as Bharti Airtel and Tata Indicom among others, offer wireless as well as fixed-line connections to the web right off store shelves.
The wireless web, in particular, is ideal for the rural tracts of India. According to P. S. Parasuram, head of new product development and content at Bharti Airtel, "the mobile is the first internet experience for rural folks." Farmers can now use a handset to gather information on land records, feed prices, and weather reports.
Catering to the growing rural demand, Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and others are working on inexpensive mobile phones. Vodafone has entered the handset market through its $11.1 billion (about Dh40.76 billion) purchase of Li Ka-Shing's 67 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar, and in a partnership with China's ZTE.
Falling handset prices, network upgrades, and more disposable income are also making the wireless web increasingly popular. Propelled by a young populace, the need for daily horoscopes, stock market quotes, headlines, cricket scores, music, blind dating and a variety of fun downloads is growing by the day.
To make all this happen, almost 90 per cent of phones being sold in India operate on the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) system that provides wireless internet access. Downloadable ring tones are already a $45 million (about Dh165.2 million) annual business that is expected to grow at a double-digit rate through 2010.
For Bharti, Reliance Communications, Tata, and Vodafone, ring tones account for nearly half of all non-voice revenue. "But the GPRS is a largely dysfunctional way of accessing the internet," says Shubham Majumdar, associate director of research at Macquarie Securities, a division of Macquarie Bank. Despite his assertion, the Indian Cellular Association (ICA) expects 200 million people to use the internet with their mobile phones by 2010.
Aggressive marketing
"Relevant mobile content and aggressive marketing by companies is boosting mobile internet usage," confirms Pankaj Mohindroo, president of the Indian Cellular Association (ICA). What's more, the personal computer boom also continues unabated.
Vanu, Inc., a leader in the development of software radio solutions for cellular operators, has opened a research and development centre in Bangalore. "India is extremely important both as a growth market and as a centre for high quality research and development," says Dr. Vanu Bose, CEO of Vanu, Inc. "Our technology changes the wireless industry from a hardware-based industry into a software industry The high level of skill and experience of Indian developers in applications software and networking make India an ideal place to grow our development teams. I am also excited by the prospect that our shared infrastructure product may provide a cost effective way to bring cellular telephony to the hundreds of millions of people in rural India."
"The high level of skill and experience of Indian developers in applications software and networking make India an ideal place to grow our development teams.
The wireless business is also about being cutting edge when it comes to technology. Emerson Process Management, a business of Emerson with annual sales of $22.6 billion (about Dh82.9 billion), and Cisco, a global leader in IT networking for industrial and business management applications, are collaborating on a product called Smart Wireless Solutions (SWS).
"This is the first time such a process automation application has been introduced in India. We intend to provide this application to our existing customers that include Reliance, ONGC and many more," says Sunil Khanna, managing director, Emerson Process Management India.
The SWS network helps maximise production output and can be deployed in several areas such as oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, metal and mining and so on. Emerson Group has targeted a turnover of Rs40,000 million in India by 2011.
Without doubt, internet connectivity could play a key role in ensuring India's economic edge. To make this happen the Indian government has a mission called the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) which is a comprehensive and integrated flagship programme to make available, by 2010, universal elementary education (UEE) in India for children between six and 14. A few NGOs and foundations of IT companies such as Satyam's Byrraju Foundation and the Azim Premji Foundation have pitched in to digitise education.
Kerala, India's most literate state, was one of the pioneers in e-literacy with its Akshaya programme. Started as early as 2002, it has made tremendous headway. In Rajasthan the state government is rolling out the UN's Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GESCI) partnering technology companies such as Microsoft, Intel and Cisco, and West Bengal has tied up with IBM to take eLearning to students.
The Uttaranchal government is also aiming for universal computer literacy with support from Intel and Microsoft. Recognising the need for mass connectivity, several other states have joined the drive.
India is the world's fastest-growing mobile market with a total of close to 220 million wireless subscribers. Over the next two or three years, about 50,000 wireless towers will be built with the Indian government targeting 500 million mobile subscribers by 2010.
Along with this is a growing computer penetration. According to Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, mobile telephony has been growing at an annual rate of over 90 per cent since 2003 and will play a catalytic role in India's development process.
"I am very happy that the telecom department has ambitious targets for the future — 500 million telephone connections, 40 million internet connections and 20 million broadband connections," says Singh.
He adds: "We have emphasised rural telecom connectivity in our Bharat Nirman programme. There will be multiple benefits from it. At a micro level, the sector will benefit. On a larger plane, there will be multiplier effects for the entire rural economy.
"As better telecom connectivity and better IT connectivity become a reality, India's rural hinterland will become more integrated with the rapid growth processes now taking place."
