South Asia making great progress in mobile connectivity

New Delhi: South Asia is making rapid progress in the field of telephony, specially mobiles, with even smaller countries in the region throwing up some unexpected facts and figures.

The island-nation Maldives, Asia's smallest country in terms of population, has more than 100 SIM cards per 100 people and all the major islands are covered. Maldives is spread over 26 atolls and 1,192 islets, out of which around 250 are inhabited.

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Bangladesh has 98 percent of the population covered by mobile telephone signals. Nepal is seen as a "laggard" though, according to a South Asian ICT (information and communication technologies) policy and regulation think tank called LIRNEasia.

Sri Lanka, with a 20 million population, has over eight million mobiles, under a million copper-wire conventional telephones, and close to two million CDMA-based 'fixed' phones that share many qualities of mobiles including the ability to handle short messaging service (SMS).

"Given very rapid roll-out, and based on extrapolations from LIRNEasia/AC Nielsen research, we estimate that 72 percent of households will have some kind of phone in 2008," said Rohan Samarajiva, executive director of the Colombo-based LIRNEasia.

Samarajiva said according to the Sri Lankan Central Bank, some 47 percent of households had some kind of phone in 2006.

"In addition, LIRNEasia research showed that over 92 percent of those approached had made or received a call shortly before the 2006 survey was conducted. Therefore, even if people do not own phones, they have shared access," he said.

"Pakistan has around 50 mobile SIMs per 100 population, but it has a greater problem in coverage and access because some areas are very remote. India's numbers are lower in terms of percentage, but growing very fast," Samarajiva said.

India has 300 million mobile subscribers already and the government is aiming at 650 million by 2012. Some 90 percent of the population is covered by a mobile signal.

India is already considered the second largest wireless market in the world behind China, and the number of mobile phones it adds each month - in real terms - is currently the largest among any country.

Samarajiva acknowledged that Afghanistan has obvious problems, even though mobile telephony is growing fast there as well. After the introduction of a second operator, Bhutan's growth has picked up too.
Source: IANS