Pakistan and India Telecommunication industry: a critical analysis
INDIA SIDE
Telecom statistics
November’05 December’ 05 January’06
Total subscribers 119.9mn 123.85mn 129.82mn
Tele-density 11.00 11.43 12.00
Fixed line 48.47mn 48.93mn 49.21mn
Additions during the month 0.28mn 0.46mn 0.28mn
Mobile 71.46mn 75.92mn 80.61mn
Total additions during the month 3.51mn 4.46mn 4.69mn
GSM additions 2.32mn 3.19mn 3.52mn
CDMA additions 1.18mn 1.17mn 1.17mn
India’s tele-density in January 2006 neared 12% with the subscriber base nearing the 130mn mark. During January 2006, record 5mn subscribers were added as against 4.92mn subscribers in December 2005. This strong growth could be attributed to lifetime validity cards launched by almost all operators. During the first 10 months of FY06, 31.41mn subscribers have been added. In the fixed segment, a total of 0.28mn subscribers were added during January 2006, taking the subscriber base of fixed line services to 49.21mn. In the mobile segment, total additions during the month summed up to 4.69mn with highest ever GSM additions of 3.52mn and CDMA additions of 1.17mn. During the first 10 months of FY06, 28.39mn subscribers have been added.
Bharti set to raise FDI limit to 74%
Bharti Tele-Ventures has proposed to raise the foreign direct investment (FDI) ceiling to 74% from the present 49%. The private telephony major has placed a special resolution seeking shareholders' permission. In a letter to shareholders, Bharti said the move was "to comply with the terms and conditions incorporated in the licence agreement by DoT." The government through the press note 5 (2005 series) dated November 3, 2005 has enhanced the FDI ceiling from 49 per cent to 74 per cent in telecom. The company is also mulling over amending its `Article of Association', which states the maximum number of directors cannot exceed 18, so that it can induct three more members. To comply with the listing agreement requirement, FDI guidelines, other statutory requirements and shareholder agreements, the company is required to broaden its base. It is, therefore, proposed to amend article 117(a) of the Article of Association to increase the existing limit of 18 to 21. The existing article will be replaced by a new one, which would state that the company's management will comprise not less than eight and not more than 21 directors, "unless a greater number is required for legal, regulatory, listing requirements or to meet the provisions of the shareholder agreement". However, this is subject to government approval.
Mobile telephony update
Mobile telephony services are rapidly expanding and have contributed approximately 941% to new subscriber additions in January 2006. The segment’s subscriber base grew 5.16% mom to 80.61mn. Of the total subscriber’s added, almost 75% subscribers belonged to the GSM segment and the rest were CDMA segment.
Verizon Wireless cellular service is inelastic because the products and services it offers makes them the dominant leader in the wireless industry; therefore, a 10% change in calling plan prices (monthly access fees) would not affect the quantity demanded. Verizon Wireless can depend on this inelasticity in their pricing model because of the strength of its brand and the wealth of products and services it offers. Verizon Wireless' competitive advantage comes from its ultra-low churn rate (the percentage of customers who disconnect their service is less than one percent of its 60 million customer base). This indicator suggests that customers are satisfied with the service Verizon Wireless offers and a slight price increase probably would not drive its customers to the competition. This data also suggests that customers probably stay with Verizon Wireless because of its continued expansion of new technologies and services such as its all-digital nationwide CDMA network, EVDO' or its advanced data network (used to wireless send and receive email and other data almost anywhere in the US), and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) that they use for their Push to Talk products. Verizon Wireless markets to a nearly all demographics nationwide and most of its services are offered in the smaller rural markets as a direct result of the one billion dollars per quarter it spends on improving its network as well as acquiring smaller wireless networks to make their nationwide network stronger and larger.
In 1990s, ground-based wireless phone service grew rapidly around the world. A key factor in the growth of wireless phones was the adoption of a single standard, known as GSM, in Europe and parts of Asia. There were 480 million cellular subscribers worldwide by January 2000 and it reached more than billions before 2005. The economy of scale that introduced will provide the extent of competitive pressure in the business environment. It helps to stimulate Iridium to consider price-performance tradeoff that offered by the substitutes and the need of product differentiation alternatives in advance.
Mobile is the first order priority device for access because people are connecting with others, finding entertainment, and doing business—all with smart phones. The prices of mobile phones are never over $1,000 in today’s world. They are affordable and accessible. As the result of the changes the worldwide and national business environment has undergone, people own 1-2 cell phones on average. However, the mobile markets in US seems to have been saturated.
The cellular-service industry in the United States has reached maturity with AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile taking the largest share of the market. Each company has
There has been an increasing demand of telecommunication services in the last few decades which has led to an all time high demand of global operations in businesses , their capital investment as well as mobilization of the resources. This has further resulted in a lot of changes in the lifestyle of the people within specific geographies that includes an increasing demand for the latest of technology as well.
As we continue into the twenty-first century, one has to consider the importance of technology and its ever-growing influence in today’s world. Technology has allowed us to eliminate the physical boundaries of geography and create a space where data can be relayed throughout the world in a blink of an eye. In other words, communication has become part of a daily necessity. The use of cellular phones has grown exponentially since it was first made available to the public in 1984, when they were still large, bulky, and expensive. Today, almost everywhere you go, everybody has a cell phone. Sizes, shapes, and features vary, but they grow smaller and faster every year. It is not just the technology of phones that one must analyze, but the mobile service that is provided as well. In the United States, we have three major existing wireless service providers: AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile. These carriers sell their service along with phones that are manufactured by Motorola, LG, Nokia, Blackberry, Apple, Samsung, and many more. We will focus on Verizon Wireless and how they utilize technology. We will also address the role of management, real estate, and future endeavors that lie ahead.
By 2002-03, Indian market has grown highly competitive. Due to fall in ARPU (average monthly revenue per customer unit), players fought to capture new subscribers. With industry consolidation, the focus is switching from having a national footprint to the ability to provide value-added services. Opera...
Cellular phones carry a diverse group of users. In June 1985, there were about 203,000 cellular phone service subscribers. By June 1989, the number had exploded to 2.7 million subscribers, and by June 1995 there were mire than 26 million subscribers. When cell phones were first introduce, only people with a lot of money had them and the service was very expensive. It was a lot cheaper to stop and use the pay phone than it was to use a cell phone. Now, it is almost as cheap to use a cell phone to make a long distance call as it is to make a long distance call using AT&T.
According to mobile industry analysts, the future global market for smartphones will be to reaching more than 650 million in upcoming years. The global smartphone market is dominated by Android, with 61 percent of the total market share and iOS from Apple with 20.5 percent of the global the total market share in 2014. This growth can be determined by factors including less demanding product cost, improved handset design and functionalities, emergence of internet data network technologies, adjustment and upgrade of operating systems. Consumer familiarity about the advantages offered by these devices, especially email and e-transactions, amongst others, would directed to smaller markets in the industry. Smartphones will be facing the concerns of demand in developing countries, especially Asia-Pacific. Emerging countries including will be expected to register significant increase in smartphone usage. (Global Data,
In comparison to other telecommunication companies such as Sprint and AT&T, Verizon has a competitive advantage that is relatively easy to observe. This advantage that they possess is the company’s ability to adapt to the ever changing telecommunications market. In a statement published on the company’s website regarding their industry, “The number of American wireless customers now exceeds 290 million, a penetration rate of approximately 95 percent. “ ("Company Profile.”) They acknowledge that the market for wireless services is now saturated and now they are aiming towards new frontiers in communication.
Telecommunications gained mainstream attention in the early 90’s; however the initial key market was business men and women, who used their phones whilst being on the move and so allowing them to communicate with their companies with ease. Though in the modern era, telecommunication went through segmentation in the market trends, and now in this day and age it would be difficult to find someone who does not own some form of mobile technology. Many phone providers battle to provide the best service for their customers (Figure 1).
The three alternatives to ensure Motorola’s long term success follow the directional strategy. Despite their difficulties in 2006, they are the largest vendor and a leading provider in mission-critical systems worldwide with over 65 years of experience in complex network design, voice and broadband data, sophisticated technology, public and private networks, rugged devices, and optimization and implementation. They are also the leading provider of digital cable boxes in North America. Their strong market position follows the directional strategy for growth and stability in addition to their heavy investment in research and development (Motorola, inc., 2007). The expected growth of Asian Pacific is to reach one billion in phone sales by 2009. The India market should surpass China in 2009 with 139 million units.
There is a slowdown in sales of mobile handsets, in some markets like the UK, as the mature part of the product lifecycle is reached. Customers are exposed to a barrage of different images and messages by mobile phone companies, as the competition gets tougher. Vodafone appeals to new customers and aims to keep its existing ones by emphasising the uniqueness of the brand.
Uganda is a land-locked country located in East Africa, bordered by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan and Tanzania. It is a developing country and with a population of about 36.35 million inhabitants, it is one of the fastest and most consistently growing economies in Africa. Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) is the country’s regulator of the communications sector. According to World Bank’s data, the number of mobile cellular subscriptions in Uganda has been increasing gradually every year; reaching a mobile subscription of 45 (per 100 people) in 2012 from 29 in 2009. This makes 16.35 million mobile subscribers as of 2012 which is forty-five percent of Uganda’s total population. The introduction of mobile telephony has revolutionized the country’s telecommunications industry which is now considered over-crowded with a presence of eight networks in the market. MTN launched its services at Uganda in 1998 and since the recent launch of LTE network in April 2013, MTN it has become one of the leading telecoms in Uganda.
Author Bio – The Author have great interest in handset and technology reviews. Currently he is working with 91mobiles.