Will 3G make its mark in India?

India
March 7, 2009 6:22am CST
Will 3G make its mark in India? Its a big question! Can Indian Telecos get more subscribers under 3G? Voice your opinions.. -- I feel its really difficult to get the Indian Masses to use 3G.. India just has about 12% mobile penetration, and out of this almost 9% people have very basic low end black and white models.. Out of the remaining 3% its highly unlikely anyone will subscribe for 3G given its high pricing for Indian standards... India is a country where people give more "Missed Calls" than they actually call, leave alone 3G even GPRS has not made a mark yet..
2 responses
agmamayo
@agmamayo (804)
• Philippines
9 Mar 09
Well I may not know anything about the trend of mobile phones in India, because im from the Philippines. However, the same happened here before, long ago, mopbile phones has been to pricy for the average Filipino, but as more models came out, the older ones got much cheaper and the growth of new cell providers have made people embrace the mobile phone as part of there everyday life. Now almost all people ranging from the youngest age of 5 to the oldest knows how to use cellphones. There are some people who have about 3 units at home. At first,new trends like 3G services are too expensive really, even here in the Philippines its not yet that popular, though its been here for about 5 years. Maybe it will make its mark on the market as soon as cheaper 3G and GPRS capable phones are readily available. Same trend would happen there in India if availability of cheap 3G and GPRS capable phones are at the market. When this happens, certainly the service will be cheaper now because more people will utilize it. Time can tell when will 3G make its mark on the Indian public.
vishnus90
@vishnus90 (80)
• India
9 Mar 09
hey.. actually the problem here in india is not with the handset.. u can see people having a N95 ot N96 and they still give Miss Calls, don't use GPRS, GPS or even simple .sis apps.... lets just see what happens... nyways, thanks for your response
agmamayo
@agmamayo (804)
• Philippines
10 Mar 09
Well I think the main reason would be the expensive prices for the service itself. Like here in the Philippines, few subscribers utilize 3G or GPRS services because of the high service fee, although most cellphone users here have prepaid subscription, cost of such 3G services are not that popular still. Instead, most resort to free calls or simple MMs or SMS services provided.
EliteUser
@EliteUser (3964)
• Australia
18 Sep 09
Hello, I think that India will eventually be able to have 3G maybe, but I'm not exactly sure though, no one is sure just yet. Hopefully India will, because even I use 3G Internet, and it makes a huge difference, better coverage too. Make sure you have a good day, Happy Lotting!!