The ‘India Telecommunications Report – Q1 2012’ by Business Monitor International (BMI) has forecast strong broadband subscriber growth by 2016.
“BMI forecasts a market of almost 16.9 million broadband subscribers at the end of 2012 and now predicts that this number will increase to 38.3 million by 2016; this is equivalent to a penetration rate of almost 3%,” the report stated.
The report provides a comprehensive overview of the latest developments to occur within the country’s mobile, fixed-line telephony and Internet sectors.
BMI expects mobile market growth to fall to around 18% in 2012. The slowing growth trajectory envisaged by BMI’s forecast takes account of the slowdown in urban subscriber growth.
“At the same time, the pace of Indian mobile operators’ rural expansion plans remains moderate. By the end of 2016, BMI anticipates a total market of about 1.59 billion mobile subscribers,” the report stated.
The report also states that the continued expansion of 3G services will have a positive impact on ARPU levels by 2016. BMI predicts that by the end of 2012 India’s blended GSM ARPU should reach $1.69. BMI expects this to fall to around $1.57 by 2016. Similarly, it forecasts the country’s blended CDMA ARPU to reach $1.12 in 2012 and fall to $1.02 by 2016
