India to become the world’s second largest mobile broadband market in 4 years – GSMA study

According to a recent study by GSMA, India will become the second largest Mobile Broadband market globally within the next four years with 367 million mobile broadband connections by 2016.In doing so, India will overtake US, which will account for 337 million mobile broadband connections by 2016, but will still be second to China, which will have reached 639 million Mobile Broadband connections in the same period.

Since 3G licenses were first awarded to mobile operators in India in September 2010, Mobile Broadband connectivity has grown steadily. There are now more than10 million HSPA connections across the country and this is expected to grow exponentially, by 900%, to more than 100 million connections in 2014. This will make India the largest HSPA market worldwide within the next two years, surpassing China, Japan and the US in the process.

“The mobile industry in India is set for immense growth as Mobile Broadband technologies such as HSPA and LTE start to proliferate, but there is scope for far greater development. To take full advantage of this, the Indian government should facilitate the timely release of additional spectrum in a fair and transparent way for all stakeholders,” said Anne Bouverot, Director General, GSMA.

The study by GSMA Wireless Intelligence service also highlights that despite a large rural population, mobile growth in India is being largely driven by more affluent communities in cities. Net additions in urban areas reached 85 million last year compared to 57 million in rural areas, with mobile penetration increasing by 20% points in urban areas to 161%, against a 6.5% point rise in rural areas to 36.6%.

GSMA also announced the opening of it’s permanent office in New Delhi and appointment of Sandeep Karanwal as  India head.