The Indian telecom industry reached a major milestone when it crossed the historical figure of 100 million subscribers in April this year. It is a big leap indeed for a country where teledensity was at abysmal levels just a couple of years ago. The subscriber base has been swelling by around 2 million subscribers every month. While the wireline subscribers outnumbered the wireless subscribers until a few years ago, it is the wireless subscriber base that is seeing high growth levels now.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), fixed line subscribers are growing at a rate of 8%, whereas, the wireless subscribers have been growing at 50%. According to TRAI figures for June 2005, the total number of telephone subscribers stood at 105.38 mn, propelling the tele density to a high of 9.70% from the 0.8% it had a decade ago. The industry’s growth levels are attracting many foreign players to enter the market, which is expected to become even more lucrative in the coming years. According to a report released by Gartner, the worth of the Indian telecom industry would be around $14 bn by the year 2006. Further, study by Ernst & Young reveals that the
industry’s revenues could reach $25 bn by 2007.

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