The price war in the telecom sector is likely to worsen, leading to a ‘dog eats dog’ situation if the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) fails to intervene.
I am wondering whether 14 operators in a telecom circle are harming the players themselves.
‘How many are too many’ is the million-dollar question; too many in the field will lead to mergers and acquisitions if Trai did not regulate the number of operators present in each circle.
“Is the ongoing price war in the telecom sector an indication of future consolidation?”
Referring to the trend, the telecom services’ tariff has been decreasing in the range of 11% to 40%.
The current average call rate of 50 paise a minute is affordable by any standards.
The current average call rate of 50 paise a minute is affordable by any standards.
Besides the long-awaited mobile number portability, the country will soon witness strengthened pre-paid schemes, stronger fixed line telephony, mobile phone advertisements and further penetration of mobile telephony in rural areas.With enhanced service options, the I feel that the mobile service providers must be prepared to deliver 1 billion connections by 2013, as rural India will be the niche area of future expansion.
The country already has 545 million mobile phone connections in urban areas, and going by its expansion rate, India is the fastest growing mobile phone market with low tariffs.
This makes the India market unique in the world. The removal of all entry barriers, such as availability of SIM cards and the downward spiral of handset prices, have spurred the market.
