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Indian mobile users most talkative: PwC study
By agencies
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Wednesday, 27 April 2005, 19:30 IST
NEW DELHI:Indian cellular phone users are among the highest talkers compared to their counterparts in other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
A study by Pricewaterhouse Coopers said that average minutes of usage a month is 287 minutes per subscriber compared to 239 minutes in Singapore and 236 minutes per month per Chinese mobile user.
The study, done for Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) also said that when it comes to average revenue per user (ARPU), India is at the bottom with Indian operators realizing only $8 per month per subscriber compared to $33 earned by Australian service operators and $32 earned by Chinese mobile companies.
However this is balanced out with Indian operators enjoying lower cost of operations. Compared to the $14 spent by the Australian operators per subscribers, Indian service providers have to spend only $5. In Singapore the cost is $11.
PwC says cellular growth in south India has overtaken north India. in 2004,, south Indian states added 5.1 million new subscribers compared to 4.9 million in north India. The growth in prepaid card segment ahs declined for the first time. The proportion of prepaid card users declined from 80 percent of the total users base to in 2003 to 74 percent in 2004.
This trend is getting reflected across all categories of networks and is an indicator of the maturing of the subscriber base and the reduction of gap of post paid and prepaid tariffs, said Deepak Kapoor, Executive Director of PwC.