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Journalism of Courage
All those writing off Indian telecom on the basis of falling revenues per minute Arpu and lower talktime,would do well to examine the impact of the Internet or 3G services once they become available over the next year or so. A McKinsey report says that India is Asias digital sleeper,with only 81 million or 7 of the total population connected to the Internet. The report projects that the number of Internet users will increase almost fivefold by 2015,to more than 350 million or around 28 of the population. More than half of those accessing the Web will be doing this through mobile phones.
The report estimates that revenue from access services alone would grow from 1 billion in 2009 to 9 billion by 2015 and from 2 billion to 5 billion in the case of content or services. To tap such growing opportunities,companies will have to roll out both wired and wireless networks more aggressively. And 3G will play an important role in making smartphones and network access more affordable.
On an average,the report notes,Indians spend more than four hours a day accessing online and offline content. Indians spend a lot of time e-mailing and downloading videos and music on computers,often in cyber cafes. As there is a significant pent-up demand for more convenient and personalised Internet access in the country,the void could be filled by mobile Web.
