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"3G services will still have to compete with 2G services (i.e., voice and low data rate applications) rather than compete with each other with innovative data application offerings."
Dr. Devendra PS Seth,
Former Member, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India,
Even though 3G services were introduced in India last year by two public sector operators, the full thrust has come about in late January, 2011 with several private operators joining in. No authenticated figures of 3G customers are available on the telecom regulator's website but it is understood that most operators have made their customers 3G enabled. As to how many customers are actually using data services on 3G does not seem to be recorded on official website but the industry claims over 9 million subscribers in about 4 or 5 months. Be as it may, it is too early to assess how well the subscribers have received 3G services.
Let us examine what issues have come to the forefront for the industry with the full-fledged introduction of 3G services in India. In terms of expectations, it is reasonable to presume that subscribers expect to be able to access useful multimedia applications with the availability of higher speeds on 3G networks. The experience so far from the limited time that has elapsed since these services were introduced shows that there are several challenges and problems as we go forward which need urgent attention.
While it is claimed that number of minutes of data usage has gone up, we are still far from being able to claim that data services have started contributing enough revenues to operators so that voice services revenue could become significantly less important. In other words, 3G services will still have to compete with 2G services (i.e., voice and low data rate applications) rather than compete with...