Low data price boosting 4G device sales: Airtel

According to a report, import of 4G enabled data card recorded a substantial growth of 179% during first three months of 2015

Telecom operator Airtel said it witnessed strong demand for fourth generation (4G) internet devices such as dongles and Wi-Fi hotspot after its announcements earlier this month of offering high-speed internet service at 3G rates.

“With the advent of pan India 4G services and our proposition to offer 4G speeds at 3G prices we have seen growing interest for our 4G dongles amongst both existing and new customers. We have seen an encouraging response for our wi-fi dongles and 4G hotspots,” the company said in an email without divulging numbers indicating demand for such devices other than smartphones.

Airtel, which became the first telecom subscriber in the country to roll out all India 4G services on August 6 this year, offers 4G services on smartphones as well as other internet-only devices such as dongles and wi-fi hotspots. It had started offering 4G services in select circles such as Kolkata and Bangalore since December 2013.

Though the company did not specify the demand figures, import shipment of 4G data card  earlier this year showed a spike in demand for 4G plug and play internet devices.

According to market intelligence informer 6Wreserch, import of 4G enabled data card recorded a substantial growth of 179 per cent  during first three months of 2015 calendar year over the same period last year. Among the key suppliers of 4G data card in India, ZTE managed to stay ahead of its competitions Huawei and Alcatel, the report said.

In the data card market, Huawei and ZTE together have a market share of 87 per cent in India. AIrtel buys data cards from both Huawei and ZTE to offer 3G and 4G data cards across the country. Other players such as Reliance Jio has said it will roll out 4G services only towards end of this year.

Despite the phenomenal growth, shipment of 4G data cards were only six per cent of total data cards during January-March period, while others were for 3G devices. The demand for 4G internet dongles and wi-fi dongles will continue to remain subdued because consumers still prefer to use mobile phones as a wi-fi device via mobile hotspot feature, the report suggested.

“India data card market which was previously commanded by 3G and 2G devices is now experiencing a paradigm shift towards the 4G data cards devices. However, mobile hotspot remains the major hindrance in the growth of India 4G data card market,” the research report said.