Indian telecom sector to grow to $100 bn by 2015 : BCG

The country's telecom sector will witness up to Rs 2,50,000 crore investments and the market will cross the Rs 4,50,000 crore or $100 billion-mark in 5 years, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) said today.

"Contrary to the general belief that telecom story is over, we believe that the game is still on. The only difference is that voice market is flattening and the growth will be in services," BCG India's Partner and Director, Arvind Subramanian told reporters after the release of a report on the sector.

Subramanian added that BCG has included a wider gamut of markets like digital advertising, handsets, TV distribution, TV sets, mobile data services, wireless, laptops and PCs and wired voice services while arriving at the forecast.

The current size of the market is around Rs 3,00,000 crore, he said, adding that a host of factors like intense competition and the ensuing decline in ARPUs (average revenue per user) have raised question marks over the sector.

Key factors, which will fuel the growth, will be increased access to services thanks to launch of newer telecom technologies like 3G and BWA, better devices, changing consumer behaviour and the emergence of cloud technologies, he said.

Majority of the investments will go into the capital expenditure for setting up newer networks like 3G and developing the backhaul, among other things, Subramanian said.

"The industry will continue to grow at 12-13 per cent annually," he added.