ST. LOUIS—The number of mobile subscribers in India is growing by leaps and bounds, according to Datacomm Research Co., as the number of new subscribers per month in India has tripled over the past year.
According to Datacomm, the boom in India is directly related to government decisions that favor competition in the areas of regulation, network infrastructure, handsets and value-added service innovations.
The Datacomm report offers further evidence for the emerging-but-aspirational market model. Though Indian consumers are snapping up low-cost handsets, some priced as low as $40, subscribers are willing to spend incrementally more to have features such as music and games. They pay $0.03 per minute for voice services, typically amounting to less than $10 per month. Wireless data provides operators with greater margins, thus the incentive to offer affordable text, music and video services, according to the market analysis firm.
