Mobile connections in India will grow by 27.3% in 2010 to cross 660 million connections, while its mobile service revenues are expected to reach $19.8bn by the end of 2010, up 19.7% from 2009, according to a IT research and advisory firm Gartner.
Gartner said that mobile penetration in India is projected to grow by 55.9% in 2010, and expects mobile industry to grow at double-digit rates by the end of 2012.
The research firm expects mobile penetration in India to increase by 72.5% in 2012, and by 82% by the end of 2014. Increased focus of the service providers on the rural market and lower handset prices will fuel the mobile market penetration.
According to Gartner, by the end of 2014, total mobile services revenue in India is forecast to exceed $23bn, and India is expected to remain the world’s second largest wireless market after China in terms of mobile connections.
Neha Gupta, senior research analyst at Gartner, said: "The arrival of new players in the Indian mobile sector has led to fierce competition which has sustained the strong subscriber growth we saw in 2009.
"Furthermore, with mobile penetration standing at 44.5% at the end of 2009, there is still ample room for growth in 2010 and beyond."
