Re: India's Mobile Telephony Tariffs Lowest In Asia

["Tee Emm" <tm@super.net.pk>]

I am no Mobile Telecommunication Expert but as an informed
user of this industry in Pakistan, following might be of
interest when comparing this industry in Pakistan and India:

   1. Pakistan has four cellular operators for quite some time
      now.

   2. Pakistan has a better mix of mobile telecom technologies
      in the form of two GSM operators and two Digital AMP
      operators.

   3. In Pakistan, the CPP (Caller Parties Pays) Regime is
      implemented for over an year now.  No matter on what
      platform (landline, WLL or cellular) you receive a call,
      it wont' cost you anything.  CPP actually makes it
      practical to afford a cellular phone for exactly $7 a
      month for unlimited call-in minutes!

   4. Pakistan already has a functional CDMA network in the
      form of Telecard WLL (Wireless Local Loop) Public Call
      Offices Network.  With limited mobility and residential
      usage allowed in a couple of months time, the CDMA WLL
      network is poised to make a success story.  Data services
      available with the upgrade of CDMA network will enable
      upto 144 kbps of data circuits to be realized over CDMA
      terminals.  This should be a boon in terms of Internet
      availability for rural and infrastructure-challenged
      areas of the country.

- Tariq

Irfan Khan wrote:
> September 24, 2002 
> 
> India's Mobile Telephony Tariffs Lowest In Asia 
>  
>  
> By Ashutosh Sinha
> 
> India has one of the lowest telephony tariffs in Asia-Pacific, said
> the Cellular Operators Association of India (COIA). A monthly
> package for 300 minutes of airtime usage in India costs only US$16
> as compared to US$65.93 in the Philippines, US$53.59 in Pakistan,
> US$42.40 in Indonesia, US$39.47 in Malaysia, US$29.09 in Thailand
> and US$20.86 in China. 
> 
> In the first half of 1999, India's cellular tariffs were hovering
> around US$0.40 per minute but in August 1999, the Indian government
> moved to a revenue sharing scheme that helped drove prices
> downwards. Then, there were two cellular operators in each of the 21
> telecom circles. Now, that has doubled to four.
> 
> All cellular companies in India are using the Global System for
> Mobiles (GSM) standard. But Reliance Infocom will soon be
> introducing the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) standard for
> mobile telephony where incoming calls will be free and outgoing
> calls will be charged at US$0.01 cents per minute. This, analysts
> said, will reduce cellular tariffs further. 
> 
> Industry executives say that companies are paying 35-42 percent of
> their revenues in interconnect charges, spectrum user charges and
> service tax. If these can be reduced further, India's cellular
> tariffs could end up being the lowest in the world. 
> 
> source: 
> http://asia.internet.com/briefs/article/0,3916,4141_1468731,00.html