3G needs more time, say experts

Mumbai: Although 3G services launched by private telecom companies have seen a good traction so far, it will take about six months to a year for the network to mature and be robust, feel officials with telcos and analysts.

Operators are not only focused on getting a blanket 3G coverage in circles where they have won spectrum, but also on getting a pan-India 3G footprint. While they have invested heavily in getting 3G licenses, they are also devising small sachet plans to get low average revenue per user (arpu) subscribers to use these services.

3G Attracts 9 Million Users In 4 Months

The third generation (3G) has created a rage since its launch four months ago, garnering at least 9 million active users ever since. This number holds special significance taken into consideration that till date, there are only 11 million wireline broadband customers.

Bharti Airtel leads the 3G race with with 3 million active subscribers closely followed by Tata DoCoMo with 1.5 million subscribers. BSNL, Idea Cellular and Vodafone have about a million 3G subscribers each. Reliance communications was reluctant to disclose the numbers, but reliable sources revealed that it also had close to a million subscribers.

3G Launch in India – Analysis of Services Rollout and Key Players Strategies

3G services have been launched by all the carriers (except STel) in India with multiple services and various sachet & usage-based tariff plans, with varying uptake. Globally, 3G services have been available for a long time (almost ten years in Japan). Carriers in various international markets have adopted different strategies while launching 3G services. While carriers in developed markets primarily focused on enterprise customers, carriers in developing markets (launching 3G relatively later) targeted retail consumers and offered the high speed wireless technology as a potential broadband option to the consumers.

Indian carriers (especially incumbent carriers) currently face multiple structural challenges such as congested networks and limited available spectrum (5MHz) to offer 3G enabled data optimized services at launch. Also, carriers’ “walled garden” approach to value added services and prevalent piracy and Indian consumers’ lack of willingness to pay for such services pose a huge challenge for immediate uptake of 3G services. However, once the 3G device prices decrease and the tariffs stabilize in the first two years, Knowledgefaber believes that the 3G uptake will rise in 2013 and reach over 90 million by March 2014.