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About Indian Telecom Industry
With a whopping 621. 28 million mobile connections (TRAI figures as on March 2010) the Indian telecommunications industry is the fifth largest and fastest growing in the world!
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL), Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Reliance Communications Limited, Tata Teleservices, SIFY Ltd. are the major telecommunications service providers in India. The wireless technologies currently used are Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA).
3G spectrum boom:
The adoption of 3G services in India has driven the Indian telecom industry in the league of top players in this sector. An e-auction process was carried out to allocate spectrum to private operators. The bid stood at US $ 3. 6 billion with Reliance communication bagging the highest number of 13 circles at US $ 1. 9 billion, followed by Bharti Airtel (12),buy nike shoes online, Idea (11), Vodafone Essar (9) and Tata(9).
Government Initiatives:
 Government has permitted 100 % FDI investment in telecom equipment manufacturing. This may make India 3rd largest in equipment manufacturing after China and South Korea.
 Unified Access Service (UAS) licences have been issued to various companies.
 Government has promised to provide infrastructure support for mobile services.
Global Acclaim:
Recently in March 2010, Sunil Mittal, owner of Bharti Airtel entered into a venture with Kuwait-based Zain by buying the companies African operations for US $ 10. 7 billion, touting Airtel as one of the top ten players in telecom sector. Also, under the automatic rule, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has liberalized investment norms for Indian telecom companies to participate in a consortium with international operators to construct submarine cable systems on co-ownership basis. Exports in the country have increased from US $ 86. 74 million (2002-03) to US $ 23. 7 billion (2009-10).
Bottlenecks to overcome:
 Slow reform process
 Huge initial costs
 Interconnection charges between private and state operators.
 Limited spectrum availability
Rural Telephony and Future:
Even the rural areas have seen a huge growth from 12. 3 million in 2004 to 174. 6 million in Dec 2009. Urban telecom services have already made their mark and the success of India? s telecom sector now lies in the rural services enhancement. It seems the industry will grow at double-digit rates for the coming years as Indian operators have focused significantly on rural telephony in the past few years. India is projected to have 1. 159 billion mobile subscribers by 2103.