And to cater to the untapped population, existing telecom players like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Vodafone, among others are battling it out hard, providing consumers with the best of the services at lowest prices. The fact that India has the lowest voice call rates in the world has gone a long way in scripting the success story of the Indian telecom sector. Now, with new players like DLF, Unitech and others slated to enter the telecom domain, the prices are set to fall further thus increasing the competition in the sector, ultimately resulting in increased penetration of mobile services in the country.
However, to ensure the smooth sailing of the Indian telecom ship, both operators and regulators must keep a watch on certain factors. As far as operators are concerned, they are confronted with a challenge of sustaining the high growth levels despite such low tariffs and ARPUs (Average Revenue Per User). Low tariffs, not only weigh down the balance sheet of operators, but may also become a disincentive for them, as they won’t be able to fund network expansion and growth to the far-flung areas. More importantly, the Department of Telecom must soon resolve the spectrum row and give a clear diktat over the distribution of spectrum to various operators. “There is a severe paucity of spectrum, which is hampering quality as well as spread of service. While there is a clear subscriber linked roadmap laid down for allotment of additional spectrum for service providers, the same could not be fully implemented due to inadequate availability/ vacation of spectrum by existing user” says Ramachandran.
The need of the hour demands that the operators and the regulator should move beyond existing spectrum rows and instead of fighting amongst each other, gear themselves up to race ahead of, first, the US and ultimately the Chinese telecom sector.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
However, to ensure the smooth sailing of the Indian telecom ship, both operators and regulators must keep a watch on certain factors. As far as operators are concerned, they are confronted with a challenge of sustaining the high growth levels despite such low tariffs and ARPUs (Average Revenue Per User). Low tariffs, not only weigh down the balance sheet of operators, but may also become a disincentive for them, as they won’t be able to fund network expansion and growth to the far-flung areas. More importantly, the Department of Telecom must soon resolve the spectrum row and give a clear diktat over the distribution of spectrum to various operators. “There is a severe paucity of spectrum, which is hampering quality as well as spread of service. While there is a clear subscriber linked roadmap laid down for allotment of additional spectrum for service providers, the same could not be fully implemented due to inadequate availability/ vacation of spectrum by existing user” says Ramachandran.
The need of the hour demands that the operators and the regulator should move beyond existing spectrum rows and instead of fighting amongst each other, gear themselves up to race ahead of, first, the US and ultimately the Chinese telecom sector.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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