Unlike the real estate, auto, banking and financial services sectors, which have been severely battered by the credit crisis, the telecom sector in India has been barely hit. The inherent strength of this sector, coupled with under-leveraged position of most of the telecom service providers, their less-dependence on external funding and, not the least, the friendly regulations and the conducive government policies have worked in favor of this sector even during this down cycle. The Indian telecom sector now savors the unique distinction of being the fastest growing sector in the world with an addition of nearly nine million subscribers per month and is the second largest wireless network in the world after China with over 315 million mobile connections. However, despite this humongous figure, the tele-density is merely around 27%, which implies that still there lies huge untapped potential in the telecom space in India. There is a hugely unexplored rural sector of India, which is certainly an advantage to the telcos who are eyeing the lucrative Indian market. Currently, 70% of the telecom market in India lies in rural regions, with over 3.2 lakh villages still untapped. And, this is the kind of opportunity that both the government and private operators are eyeing covetously.
Apart from the basic telephone services, there is an enormous potential for various Value-Added Services (VAS) with many new features like personalized radio, mobile blogging and social networking. In addition to that, forthcoming technology services such as 3G and WiMAX (Worldwide Microwave Access) will surely add more pitch to this already tuned up industry. Above all, the world's leading telecom handsets manufacturers such as Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and LG have crowded into this sector, along with leading global service companies and infrastructure majors, such as Vodafone, AT&T, Ericsson, Alcatel, Singapore Telecom and Siemens, making the Indian telecom industry perfectly poised for bigger action. Whatsoever, eight telecommunications services companies have figured in The Analyst 500 ranking of 2008 based on Net Sales. Out of those eight companies, the top three places have been grabbed by Bharti Airtel Ltd., Reliance Communications Ltd. and Idea Cellular Ltd., in that order. |
