CDMA2000 set to scale new heights

Mumbi: Six CDMA2000 operators — Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL), HFCL Infotel, Mahangar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), Reliance Infocomm, Shyam Telecom and Tata Teleservices (TTSL) are on a aggressive selling spree. Together they are creating the ability not just to bridge the digital divide, but to do so with the world's most powerful and comprehensive solution that economically converges telecommunications with information technology, consumer electronics and multimedia.

The CDMA Development Group (CDG) that these companies are a part of reports that from July 2005 to July 2006, 12.7 million new users subscribed to CDMA2000 services in India, attaining a cumulative subscriber base of 35.2 million. In the same period, CDMA2000 maintained its 30 per cent market share, while the total India subscriber base grew to 112 million users.

In July 2006, over 1.59 million new users subscribed to CDMA, with Reliance adding the bulk of the subscribers after signing up 929,941 new users, up from 874,000 new (net) subscribers in June. Meanwhile, Tata Teleservices has been acquiring up to 40 per cent of all new users in Delhi and the national capital region by leveraging its retail network, and introducing new and more affordable service packages and a full-line of devices for entry-level and high-end users.

The CDG also reports that within a year after CDMA2000 was first introduced in 2002, wireless tariffs dropped by 42 per cent and teledensity rose by 1.7 per cent. Within three years after CDMA2000 was introduced, wireless tariffs dropped by 75 per cent and teledensity rose by 7.1 per cent. Today's 112--million wireless subscribers in India represent an approximate 14 per cent total teledensity and 0.7 per cent Internet penetration.

India's increasing teledensity also will help raise the country's per-capita gross domestic product (GDP). According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a country's per-capita GDP increases by an average of $240 for every 1 per cent increase in mobile telephony penetration. A country's per-capita GDP increases by an average of US$593 for every 1 per cent increase in internet penetration.