India 2009: Viral Growth Market for Mobile Voice & Data Subscribers

If you’re seeking a growth market for mobile voice and data subscribers, look to India where carriers acquire ten million new subscribers a month, according to blogger Rajesh Jain.

The Wall Street Journal reported in a recent article that Indians, most without landlines or Internet access, wait with great anticipation for cell phone towers to rise near them. Farmers and other business owners, who realize the power of cellular communications to save wasted trips to market, “call ahead” hundreds of miles away to see if their crops will sell.

While many Indians live in poverty, they use their cell phones to learn about the world. For example, they know who Obama is and have heard about the poor world economy by talking with friends and relatives. In such a huge country, those with access to mobile phones–especially those with Internet access–gain knowledge of world events, even in rural areas where mobile Internet access is limited.

The Indian people, who are challenged to buy clothes and food,  realize that for only 2 cents a minute, they can run their businesses and keep track of world events–without newspapers, radio or television. Naturally, mobile carriers are spending billions to install cell phone towers in this huge country, knowing  there’s a ready market for voice and information services.

In the U.S., where 80% of all Americans now have a cell phone,  carriers must convince Americans to buy data plans and more expensive handsets to make a profit. Not so in India where cell phone penetration is still quite low.

Jain, who recently wrote a blog post on India’s mobile growth, predicts that mobile will emerge as the next advertising and marketing medium for advertisers who want to highly target their audiences. The “red market,” representing India’s top 40 cities with 100-150 million subscribers and the larger “blue market”–the rest of India with a one billion subscriber potential–make MVNO’s (mobile computing operators) drool.

Although the mobile Internet is most prevalent in the larger cities, rural mobile users are prime candidates for mobile content and cell phone applications as flat rate data plans emerge. Mobile banking and other forms of commerce are already prevalent in larger cities.

Similar to President Obama’s use of mobile phones and the Internet to create communities with shared values, Indians, despite low annual incomes, are ready for enhanced wireless communications. Dot mobi websites, already exceeding one million, will continue increasing exponentially as the mobile Internet flourishes.

Here are Jain’s 10 predictions for mobile in Indian in 2009:

1. Subscriber growth in India will continue, driven by rural expansion, entry of newer operators, 3G and cheaper handsets.
2. Incumbent operators will face challenges (and opportunities) on four fronts: new operators, mobile number portability, 3G and MVNOs.
3. Focus on Value-added Services and Data will increase in saturated, urban markets.
4. Mobile VAS operators which build direct-to-consumer relationships will start emerging.
5. Flat-rate Data Plans will accelerate the use of the Mobile Internet, Social Media and Rich Media.
6. Operators and/or handset players will launch App Stores to drive usage, innovation and revenues.
7. Mobile Payments and Commerce will come into vogue.
8. Companies will create multi-faceted mobile presence to deepen customer relationships and drive permission-based interaction and engagement.
9. The Mobile will emerge as the next advertising and marketing medium – and be seen as capable of not just mass reach but also allow a high degree of targeting.
10. The 2009 general elections will be an inflection point in the usage of mobiles in many different ways.

Check out the rest of his post for further details.