Broadband penetration in India hits 11 mln in 2010 - study

With overall 2010 broadband penetration at 11 million subscribers who are mostly using DSL, there is a growth opportunity for the broadband wireless sector in India, according to a study by Maravedis. The 3G subscriber base in India will reach 41 million by the end of this year. Bharti Airtel is expected to lead the market in terms of the number of 3G subscribers. 3G players have moved ahead with their rollouts while BWA licence holders are lagging behind evaluating various technologies such as Wimax and TD-LTE. India represents a USD 4 billion capex opportunity for TD-LTE by 2016. The TD-LTE subscriber base in India will reach 2.25 million by the end of 2012, and by 21 million by the end of 2016. By the end of this year, 3G-enabled handsets will dominate the device category with an 80 percent market share.

Source: www.telecompaper.com

Price War is Bad for Broadband Internet Companies – Qubee Chief

We have seen call rates decrease with extensive price wars in Pakistan’s cellular mobile domain, resulting in low ARPUs for the industry. Recently a price war has also begun among Broadband Internet companies. In an interview with The Express Tribune, Mubashir Naqvi, Chief Executive Qubee Pakistan expressed that Broadband companies cannot afford price wars as they may affect the quality of service. Below is the excerpt of the interview.

While commenting on the growth of broadband internet market he says that a phenomenal growth has been seen and is still underway. “I do not think there is any saturation in the market. Companies that improve their services, technology and products will succeed,” he asserted. “Owing to the demanding nature of business, we call it 3D business which is different, difficult and dynamic.”

Speaking about possible mergers and acquisitions, Naqvi said he expected mergers and acquisitions in the local broadband market. “Technology kills technology, companies do not kill companies,” he said. At present, there are four broadband internet service providers in Pakistan.

With almost a 52 percent market share, DSL internet is still the most popular in the local internet market. However, broadband internet users have grown continuously over the last three years and companies have acquired a 28 per cent market share. The remaining market share is divided between EvDo (15 per cent) and HFC (4 per cent), according to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) data.

Modified From: www.telecompk.net