India is on track to surpass half a billion mobile subscribers by the end of the year, according to a new GSMA study published today, signaling the start of a new era for the country’s mobile economy. The new report, ‘The Mobile Economy: India 2015’, finds that 13 per cent of the world’s mobile subscribers reside in India and that subscriber growth is forecast to outperform the regional and global averages over the coming years as the country cements its position as the world’s second-largest mobile market behind China.
Some highlights:
- India had 453 million unique mobile subscribers at the end of 2014.
- India is forecast to add a further 250 million subscribers by 2020 to reach 734 million, accounting for almost half of all the subscriber growth expected in the Asia Pacific region over this period.
- Frowth is linked to India’s relatively low mobile subscriber penetration rate, which stood at 36 per cent of the population at the end of 2014, compared to a 50 percent global average.
- The subscriber penetration rate in India is forecast to reach 54 per cent by 2020 as many millions more are connected by mobile.
- Mobile broadband networks (3G/4G) accounted for only 11 per cent of Indian mobile connections in 2014, but are expected to make up 42 percent of the total by 2020.
- More than half a billion new smartphones connections are expected in India between 2015 and 2020, bringing the total to 690 million, up from 149 million in 2014.
- India’s mobile industry made a total contribution of INR7.7 lakh crore (US$116 billion) to the Indian economy in 2014, equivalent to 6.1 per cent of India’s total GDP. This contribution is forecast to almost double to INR14 lakh crore by 2020, which would represent 8.2 per cent of projected GDP by that point.
“India is a unique mobile market and one where the mobile ecosystem is playing a hugely influential role in transforming the lives of its citizens, and driving economic growth,” said Alex Sinclair, Acting Director General and Chief Technology Officer at the GSMA. “The market is now rapidly migrating to mobile broadband technology, which is providing a platform for India to transform into a digitally empowered society and connect many millions of unconnected citizens to the internet over the coming years.”