IndiaMobile 2009: India’s largest Mobile Usage study results to be announced shortly.
Wireless Federation will shortly be announcing the availability of the results of India’s largest primary research project undertaken to study Mobile usage in India. The project is titled IndiaMobile 2009.
The survey is one of the most representative, independent enumeration of mobile phone usage in India. Close to 285,000 urban and rural Indians, covering all states and union territories574 districts, 3,175 towns and over 2,800 villages were interviewed. With at least 30 plus sample each from 323 districts and 419 towns, and 100 plus sample each from 184 districts and 155 towns, the study could actually be the World’s largest mobile (telecom) usage study carried out in a single country. The survey was carried out by a reputed local research agency under the guidance of Wireless Federation.
With the Mobile sector in India seeing close to 20% of its market capitalisation knocked off in the last few days and increased momentum in the price war in India, the results from this survey will help the sector understand its customers better in order to re-gain some of its strength back.
Airtel, Aircel, Tata Indicom, Tata DoCoMo, Etisalat, MTS India, Loop Mobile, Reliance Mobile, Idea Cellular, Vodafone, BSNL, MTNL, Telenor, Virgin can all now compare data from each and every circle and each live operator to understand demographic spread, handset usage and analysis as well as detailed psychographic analysis of the Indian mobile consumer.
The Indian mobile industry will be able to plan better based on the results from this study, which is now planned to occur each year. A large majority of mobile operators have expressed keen interest in the results of the study.
By using the IndiaMobile 2009 results, Mobile Operators will be able to further mould the study to better suit their needs from 2010 onwards.
This study will be the de-facto benchmark for Mobile Usage in India, given the thorough nature of the research, the sheer size of the sample and the level of interest from the Mobile Eco-System in utilising the results from this study.
For More information, please write to Audrey [at] WirelessFederation.com for your free copy of the headline results.
India nearly doubles mobile phone use in 2006
InfoWorld writes…India added close to 74 million new mobile telephone subscribers last year, making it one of the most attractive markets for mobile telephone operators and wireless equipment vendors.
The number of wireless subscribers grew 97 percent from 75.94 million at the end of December 2005 to 149.5 million subscribers at the end of December last year, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in Delhi.
The growth in the mobile telephony market has come after deep cuts in tariffs by mobile services operators, which cut into the average revenue per user (ARPU). Mobile service operators are now focusing on new services such as e-mail and music downloads to boost ARPU.
The country added 6.48 million mobile subscribers in December, while in November it added 6.80 million subscribers, TRAI said Monday.
Even as the mobile telephony market in India is booming, the number of fixed-line telephone subscribers dropped, suggesting that first-time users of telephones are opting for mobile phones. The number of fixed-line subscribers was down to 40.43 million in December as compared to 48.84 million a year ago, according to TRAI.
The Indian government is targeting 500 million telephones, both fixed and wireless, by 2010. Based on current trends, most of the demand for new connections is likely to come for mobile services.
The large growth in mobile subscribers in India has attracted foreign companies to invest in providing mobile services in the country. A recent relaxation of government rules allows foreign companies to hold up to 74 percent stake in a mobile services operators.
British mobile services operators Vodafone Group is for example bidding for the majority share of Hutchison Telecommunications International in Indian operator Hutchison Essar. But it may not be easy going for Vodafone, as there are a number of Indian and foreign bidders for Hutchison’s stake.
Multinational wireless equipment makers like Nokia, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, and Motorola have set up manufacturing facilities in India after a large government-owned service provider, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) started insisting that its suppliers manufacture a part of their products locally. The Indian government is keen on promoting local manufacturing in India, as it finds that the business process outsourcing (BPO) and software outsourcing boom in the country has not brought benefits to semi-skilled workers.
