As more and more regions coming under the ‘mobile umbrella’, rural parts of India are no different. The mobile penetration is increasing in this world’s fastest growing telecom market and the RNCOS report “Emerging Rural Mobile Market in India” provides extensive research on the growing marketplace for mobile industry in rural India. It report provides detailed analysis on the rural India mobile industry, its current performance and the future prospects. The study looks at how new mobility could be used to bridge the growing economic and social divide between rural and urban areas. This report helps clients to have an insight into the mobile industry in rural India, giving its forecasted future size including subscribers’ growth, handset sales, market share, market penetration, opportunities, and roadblocks.
India's telecommunication sector is witnessing an explosive growth, as falling tariffs and rising incomes are bringing mobile phones within the the reach of millions of new customers. Mobile industry players are eyeing rural India as their new area of opportunity. The companies are getting a boost with the fact that the mobile users are expected to cross 230 Million by 2007 end and 500 Million by 2010 with an addition of about 5 to 6 Million subscribers every month. Cellular service providers seem to be answering the call of the wild as they are entering the so far ignored rural market. Although a huge market in the urban segment remains tapped, most of the cellular operators have turned towards Rural India to broaden their base and reach. So the real growth is expected from this geography in near future.
The low population density in rural areas has necessitated more towers of higher altitudes raising the costs further. Language is another problem and there are many dialects that had no alphabet in rural India. To meet these challenges, operators must come up with solutions like simplifying product access, offering customer centric solutions (like songs, music, hello tunes that are popular), and infrastructure sharing.
Key Findings
- With saturation in the urban market, growth in Indian mobile market will be driven by an increased focus on the rural market, aggressive promotions, and handset bundle offers.
- As of March 2007, mobile subscribers in rural India accounted just 20% of the Indian mobile subscriber base. However, it is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of more than 47% during 2007 to 2010.
- In order to remain competitive, the mobile industry could see several mergers and acquisitions, roll out obligation and substantiate equity holding in more than one telecom company.
- The major growth in mobile phone subscribers will be seen in C’ Circle and B’ Circle in short-term.
- Enormous opportunities are emerging for the low cost handset manufacturers along wth low tariffs, infrastructure development for mobile communication.
- Rural India will account for around 35-38% of the total mobile handset sales by 2010.
Key Issues
- What is the current scenario of the Indian mobile industry?
- What is the need of mobile telephony services in India?
- What is the market share of Urban/Rural mobile market in India?
- Why is the rural mobile market gaining attention of telecom players?
- What should be the players’ strategies to hit the rural mobile market?
- How are infrastructure development/sharing emerging as a huge opportunity to tap rural market?
- Which are the states/circle having greater potential of growth in rural India?
- What are various opportunities emerging for the horizontal segment in the Indian mobile industry?
- What will be the handset market size in rural India in future?
- Who are the key players in Indian mobile industry (including both handset manufacturers and service providers)?
Research Methodology Used
Information Sources
Information has been sourced from various credible sources like books, newspapers, trade journals, and white papers, industry portals, government agencies, trade associations, monitoring industry news and developments, and through access to more than 3000 paid databases.
Analysis Methods
The analysis methods include ratio analysis, historical trend analysis, linear regression analysis using software tools, judgmental forecasting, and cause and effect analysis.
