Archives by Tag '3g-india'
What is the State of 3G Data 2 Years after Launch in India ?
As we bid adieu to 2012, it’s almost 2 years that 3g started rolling out in India. Despite significant price correction of nearly 70%, 3G Data rates yet hover above at an average 2.5 times of 2G GPRS Data packages. This indicates that there is room for further price cuts in 3G services. The key differentiating factor between 2G and 3G is speed implying consumer’s data usage is not depended on 3G technology. While high bandwidth data usage is inconvenient on 2G, 2.5x rates differentials between 2G and 3G are too high to capture data users on 3G and monetise high asset creation in 3G.
Globally 3G penetration has been led by low price arbitration between 2G and 3G. Until data prices are aligned for both technologies, operators will find it difficult to expand 3G services at a mass level. Indian Telecom operators on the contrary are signalling increase in 2G rates to align it with 3G rates. We believe the low data penetration rates will force companies to keep data rates low for a long period to enhance subscriber base.
Coverage of 3G in India vs 2G
As evident from the Chart above, with nearly 2 years from commencement of 3G operations, telecom operators have about 16%-17% of network coverage vs 2G network, which implies that there is vast unutilized network Read the rest of this entry »
3G uptake increasing; LTE to remain niche; Reliance Skips 4G LTE Conference of Qualcomm
Qualcomm India which is partner with Bharti Airtel for rolling out BWA / LTE Services hosted a conference in Delhi on Oct 16th. Find the key takeaways from the conference.
3G Update Increasing Despite 3G subscribers being less than 3% of the India wireless subscribers base, web traffic on cellular data in India has surpassed traffic on desktops. Qualcomm India CEO expects smartphones sales in India to increase from 11 mn in 2011 to 20mn/25mn/100mn respectively in 2012E/2013E/2015E respectively led by declining smartphone prices.
Huawei Launches World’s first TD-LTE smartphone at the Event Huawei launched TD-LTE smartphone working on 2.3GHz (India band). The phone is powered by 1.5 GHz MSM 8960 dual-core processor and has 4 GB internal memory, 1 GB of RAM. At the estimated (GS est.) price of Rs 30,000 (US$ 545). Expect the product to remain niche and is unlikely to gain any traction for Airtel 4G – the only operator to have launched TD-LTE right now.
Reliance Infotel Broadband Building Own PAN India Fiber Network Reliance Infotel the only Indian operator to have a pan Indian LTE license was conspicuous by its absence for a second year in a row at the Qualcomm India LTE Conference. Vendors and industry participants indicated that Reliance Industries Ltd is looking at 2013 for its launch of LTE in Read the rest of this entry »
Avoid Idea 3G Dongle with Cloud Storage / Shared Services – Recommend USB / SkyDrive
Idea Cellular, 3G Data Service provider has jumped into the fight on Cloud Based Storage making it available for FREE of Cost to its 3G Subscribers. Idea for sure has launched this innovative product much on the lines of Microsoft SkyDrive – Single Authentication and access from any device anywhere in the World.
What Idea 3G Cloud Storage Service Offers ?
Free 2GB of Cloud Storage for 12 Months and Cloud Messenger+ an IM service allowing free and unlimited communication between Idea’s cloud users.
How does the 3G Idea Cloud Service Work ?
It basically auto-installs software and the required cloud plugin on any device where you plug in the Idea 3G USB Data Card. The Dongle will cost Rs 1799 and then you will pay regular Idea 3G Tariffs for Data usage.
Why Avoid Idea 3G Dongle with Cloud Storage Solutions ?
Idea 3G wants to make money by making you frequently access its under utilized 3G network and paying them a fat bill. Read the rest of this entry »
Non Voice Revenue Contribution + 3G Data Growth – Slower than Expected
Non-voice as a percentage of revenue has grown from 8-9% to 14-16% for Airtel and Idea over the last 21 quarters. This, however, is lower than market expectations. 3G Data Rates across most circles in India have seen steep cuts in rates recently, still remains higher than 2G rates. Also, the pricing of good quality 3G enabled handsets remains a deterrent in the explosion of data.
Idea scores over Airtel, having increased its contribution from 12.1% to 14.5% in the last four quarters. Idea’s non-voice revenue growth had surged 11-13% sequentially in the three quarters before F1Q13 although we have seen some weakness in the last quarter due to weakening data revenue growth.
The Following Chart Shows Indian Telecom’s Wireless Non-Voice Revenues in Last 3 Years Read the rest of this entry »
Airtel 3G / 4G TD-LTE Data, Vodafone & Idea Strategy – An Insight
Since the launch of 3G in India, 3G data tariffs in India are down by a further 60-75% across various usage buckets. In India data is sold mostly through add-on plans rather than as bundled plans with voice making it easier for subscribers to select the right plans for their usage. For the top three operators by revenue (Airtel, Vodafone and Idea) data tariffs remain largely flat across volume levels. Idea’s lack of 3G spectrum in key data markets (like Delhi and Mumbai), which forces it to lease capacity from Airtel / Vodafone, prevents it from pricing data at a discount to these two operators.
Airtel offers the lowest 3G data tariffs. Airtel took the lead in above mentioned recent 3G data tariff cuts. Airtel’s 3G data price aggression could be driven by the appearance of 4G TD-LTE over the horizon – With 3G data usage yet to take off and Bharti’s own recent launch of TD-LTE in two circles showing 4G as a credible threat, the company could be aiming to make the most of the time window left before Reliance Infotel Broadband launches 4G services. Airtel has already realigned 3G tariffs closer to 4G.
Monthly ARPUs for various usage scenarios in this report are largely similar for the three operators. Flattish data pricing across usage levels could allow Indian operators to see higher ARPUs at higher usage levels. More importantly, Indian operators have so far resisted offering unlimited 3G plans (though some of the smaller operators like Aircel broke away from this discipline recently).
3G Data ARPU and Margins – What is the Impact ?
Airtel’s smallest 3G data plan comes at Rs101 (US$1.83) per month for Read the rest of this entry »
Limited Spectrum and High Population Density Restricts Operators from 3G Data Tariff War
A section of newspapers [Full of Hype without any Analysis] have reported that Indian Telecom Operators have started a 3G Data Tariff War. Well, we’d like to enlighten the initial cuts in 3G tariffs cannot be termed as a Tariff War like we have seen in the 2G Voice between 2009 and 2011.
Why India Cannot Afford 3G data Tariff War – Mainly due to two reasons as discussed below
1. High Mobile Subscribers Density – Population density is a clear positive in a 2G voice driven environment, as 2G base stations have a comparatively fixed coverage diameter. This implies that a base station in a very dense city will “capture” a higher number of subscribers. 3G base stations operate somewhat differently – There are two key points here. First, the higher speeds are only available much closer to the base station itself. Second, the coverage area actually shrinks as more users use more data. This implies that cell site coverage shrinkage will progressively get worse, leading to requirements for significant base station proliferation over time.
2. Limited Spectrum – 5MHz grant of 3G spectrum in the 2100Mhz band is rather poor when compared to other countries. A single webpage today is approximately 10x the size of a webpage 10 years ago, due to the heavier use of graphics, scripts, and the like. Even if user behavior did not change, this would represent a significant increase in data usage. We also have Rich Multimedia such as Video and Gaming which require higher capacity data channels. A case study of Hyderabad Vs Singapore presented here concludes HIGHER CAPEX for Telecom Operators.
So what is the Potential Solution to India’s 3G problem ? Read the rest of this entry »
Aircel 3G – Pocket Internet Smart Plans go Unlimited – Lowest Pricing
Aircel which revolutionized Pocket Internet Plans in India is back with another disruptive offer but favorable to consumer – All Aircel 3G Pocket Internet Smart Plans come with UNLIMITED Usage, of-course there is a Fair Usage Policy – FUP, but still compared to other 3G Plans in India, Aircel will be the cheapest.
Aircel is in pact with Tata DoCoMo to offer its consumers 3G Data in circles where it has not Won the spectrum. Thus subscribers of Aircel will have seamless coverage of 3G Internet and at places where the same is not available, you will definitely have 2G GPRS Connectivity.
Why Should Consumers opt for Aircel 3G ?
Currently with 3G/2G packs, customer has to keep switching between the networks of 2G / 3G on his phone so that he doesn’t end up using his expensive 3G data in 2G network. With the plans from Aircel, he no longer needs to do this.
Most Operators Offer 3G Plans in Limited Data Usage Capacities. However, with Aircel 3G you have no headache of Billing Shocks or anything as the speed automatically drops to 128 Kbps after exhausting the limit under the plan you have chosen.
Aircel 3G USB Dongle Plans start as low as Rs 198 / Month with 1 GB Data Usage and also their is no restrictions on type of device. You can use Aircel Card on your existing Micromax/ Huawei/ etc. dongles and benefit from these new plans
Even the Lowest Plan of Rs 7 comes with Full 3.6 Mbps Speed without any rider. Here is a summary of the Plans Offered by Aircel 3G, Read the rest of this entry »
What are the Challenges for 3G Adoption in India ?
We have already written on why Indian Consumers are not ye jumping to the 3G Signal 
Summarizing, here are the key challenges for adoption of 3G in India.
2.5G / Edge Data Connection Good Enough – Did you know that Accessing social networking sites such as Facebook.com drives a major chunk of demand for mobile internet in India. Since such websites can be accessed using 2G/EDGE networks reasonably well, demand for 3G would remain subdued until the gap between 2G and 3G tariffs is narrowed substantially. Indeed, we worry that the 3G story could be similar to that of VAS over the last decade, as both VAS and 3G are not essentials like voice, have cheaper substitutes and have smaller addressable markets compared to voice. Industry is consistently bridging the Gap of tariffs between 2.5G EDGE and 3G Data Services.
Mobile Device eco-system – 3G speeds are primarily useful when viewing videos, downloading applications, games, content, etc. However, availability of handsets that can truly leverage such speeds and enhance user experience with wide screen displays has been limited to > 8,000 price points. As handset availability in the country increases, 3G demand is expected to pick up. Industry Read the rest of this entry »
