Indian telecom services touches Rs 288,832 cr in 2012: CMR

India telecom services and mobile handsets market to grow at 16.7% in 2012 (over 2011) to touch revenues of Rs 288,832 crore (USD 63 billion), forecasts CyberMedia Research (CMR). The report reveals that the telecom services (including mobile and fixed line services) revenue will increase to Rs 2,05,454 Crore (USD 45 billion) in 2012. The India mobile handsets market, that includes featurephones and smartphones, will grow at over 30 per cent during 2012 (over 2011) to touch revenues of Rs 83,377 crore (USD 18 billion).

In the five year period between 2010 and 2014, the India Telecoms industry will grow at a CAGR of 15.8% to touch revenues of Rs 3,77,683 crore or USD 82 billion.

According Mr Anirban Banerjee, Associate Vice President, CyberMedia Research, "The Telecoms growth story will be a function of the enhanced demand for high speed broadband and data services from both enterprises and consumers, as 3G and BWA / WiMax services are rolled out by various operators to cover an increasing number of cities and towns."

The growth in the India domestic mobile handsets market will be fuelled by a more than 150% increment in the value of featurephones and smartphones shipped, from Rs 50,714 Crore in 2010 to Rs 1,28,729 Crore in 2014.

The key highlights of CMR's MarketView 2011 for the India Telecoms Services and Products market are as follows:

1) The major growth drivers for the Telecom Services segments would be launch and roll-out of 3G and BWA / WiMax / LTE services and the consequent growth in usage of high speed broadband, VAS and data services:

Establishment of 3G and BWA (WiMax and Long Term Evolution or LTE) will have a positive impact on the India market; however, broadband content will remain in early stages of development through 2011. With the allocation of 3G and BWA spectrum and rollout of services by private as well as incumbent operators, WiMax/LTE will help in overcoming the infrastructure issues in the country as well as deliver enhanced performance to end-users.

In terms of broadband content, 2011 will witness early stages of development. However, as WiMax / LTE services gain in popularity, content creation and mobile application development will witness increased focus by vendors, developers and service providers looking to build their own portfolio of unique 'apps'.

2) India Telecom Products (mobile handsets) segment will witness a high growth rate of 26.2% CAGR over the period 2010-2014 to touch Rs 1,28,729 Crore in 2014:

The smartphones market in India is expected grow to over 10 million units in 2011 from 6 million units in 2010. The Android Operating System will continue to gain acceptance as a mobile operating system (OS) and 12% of all smartphones shipped in India during 2011 are expected to be based on the Android platform.

The 'early adopter' phenomenon in media tablets will become visible in India in 2011, but will fight shy of becoming mainstream. CyberMedia Research expects over 1,00,000 Tablets to ship in 2011 alone, based on the current portfolio of players like Samsung, Apple, Olive and others. However, media tablets in their present form and currently prevailing price points are unlikely to excite the large majority of consumers. A 'game changer' in this space could happen in late 2011 / early 2012 if a players such as Reliance Infotel introduces a 'mass market' Tablet priced lower than Rs. 10,000 per unit.