ASSOCHAM AND FROST & SULLIVAN have projected that total broadband subscriber count will reach around 275 million by FY-2015 from approximately 9 million as of now as submarine cable capacity is expected to grow and supply of capacities is likely to increase significantly with adoption of wireless broadband (BWA).

The overall broadband subscribers base stands at around 9 million in Indian market as of now and is seen to be significantly under-penetrated, says the paper on ‘Dawn of the Digital Decade’, jointly brought out by ASSOCHAM and Frost & Sullivan.

Releasing its findings, Chairman, ASSOCHAM Convergence Committee, Mr. C.S. Rao pointed out that this under-penetration in India is due to factors such as insufficient wire line infrastructure, fragmented Local Cable operators Network, lack of a broadband policy to regulate pricing of rental and usage rates and delays in awarding spectrum to wireless broadband deployments.

However, the paper claims that recent broadband wireless auctions in which operators were allocated spectrum for wireless broadband deployments comes as a much needed respite for future of broadband adoption in India. It is expected that total broadband subscribers will reach about 275 million in next 5 years. This is due to the fact that submarine cable capacity would grow substantially and supply of capacity will shoot-up since adoption of BWA would become more popular. The two institutions expect that deployment of BWA would begin in this fiscal itself, added Mr. Rao.

Leveraging on broadband technologies, the paper says that excessively high right way charges, fragmented cable operators, non cooperation in last mile copper unbundling and low data ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) has made operators in India to realize, that Wireless is the most effective way to provide affordable broadband to masses in country. With around 43% of internet subscribers still using dial-up connections at the end of 2009, there is potential to migrate existing subscribers to high-speed services.

On the issue of advent of 3G to fuel Enterprise Mobility Market, the paper points out that with heightened pressures for the telecom service providers to augment their stagnating mobile voice revenues, there is a keen focus on 3G mobile services being the driver for greater mobile data applications adoption. Indeed, the major mobile players have obtained 3G spectrum in those telecom circles comprising a significant number of enterprises, which can potentially be targeted for mobile data services.

Presently, the Enterprise Mobile Data market consists of telecom service provider revenues generated via Value Added Services (VAS), Data Cards and GPRS. These three segments comprise approximately 17.1 percent of the total Enterprise Mobile Voice and Data market.

Mobile email is the most dominant application utilized by enterprises in India today, constituting approximately 91.7 percent of the total Enterprise Mobility market of 452.94 crores in FY 10. However, with the advent of 3G networks bringing in higher speed and enhanced bandwidth, more enterprise customers are expected to adopt bandwidth intensive applications on mobile.

The Enterprise Mobility market is expected to reach INR 1386.23 crores by FY 14, and 3G is expected to play a significant role in this high growth. With increasing number of enterprises providing reimbursements for mobile data usage to the employees, and with the proliferation of 3G networks; the enterprise mobile data services are likely to grow in popularity and usage.

The paper further adds that 3G will increase consumer mobile data usage as and when the roll-out of 3G networks in the various telecom circles occurs, it is anticipated that this will be a major tipping point for several stakeholders besides the telecom service providers. The mobile handset manufacturers in particular, can look forward to a high volume opportunity when the telecom service providers commence commercial 3G services in some of the tier 2 or 3 cities in India. Such a scenario can prove vital in increasing mobile data usage via 3G-enabled handsets amongst the tier 2 and 3 cities in India.

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