Mobile services mkt in India to reach $21.4 bn this yr: Report

The mobile services market in the country will reach USD 21.4 billion this year on the back of increasing use of cellular services on data-centric devices like tablets and notebooks, Gartner said today.
"Spending (in constant USD) on mobile services will grow 4 per cent to reach USD 21.4 billion in 2015," Gartner said in a statement.
Spending on mobile services will be driven by data services which is expected to grow 15 per cent to reach USD 6.5 million in 2015, it added.
"A large chunk of this growth will be driven by the increasing use of cellular services on data-centric devices, such as tablets and notebooks, through either embedded cellular modems or USB sticks," Gartner said.

Mobile connections in India will grow to 880 million in 2015, an increase of 5 per cent from 837 million connections in 2014, according to Gartner.
In India, the rise in spending on data-only connections will be driven by two user scenarios - first, to complement their fixed broadband connectivity, so they can use their larger-screen data-centric devices on the go, said Neha Gupta, senior research analyst at Gartner.

In other use cases, data-only connections will be the way for consumers to access broadband connectivity because of a lack of fixed networks, Gupta added.
Gartner said newer and faster networks, rise in number of users of these networks, and more affordable smartphones will help to increase spending on data services.

"Mobile data provides a substantial revenue opportunity in India. Communication service providers (CSPs) will need to focus on creating new pricing, with a focus on data access, such as shared plans," Gupta said.