Mobile data services revenues seen at Rs 14,760 cr by 2008

Revenues from cellular data services will touch Rs 14,760 crore in 2008 and account for 20.5 per cent of the total cellular services revenue of Rs 71,800 crore, says Gartner, the global IT research house.

Overall, India's mobile services market will grow by a compound annual rate of 28.3 per cent during the next five years, to touch revenues of Rs 71,800 crore in 2008.

Announcing this on the second day Gartner Summit India 2004, the IT research house also advised cellular operators that to achieve higher average revenue per user (ARPU) through data applications will require a change in mindset if they are to succeed in working with users and other players to develop compelling value propositions for consumers and enterprises.

Last year (2003), wireless data services accounted for just 5.4 per cent of cellular service revenues in India, and most of this comprised revenue from SMS traffic.

India's Unified License regime has given an impetus to growth. Regulatory constraints are being eased in response to unrelenting market pressures, creating ideal conditions for a dramatic new phase of growth, investment and consolidation.

Kobita Desai, principal analyst, telecom, Gartner India, said: "Indian cellular operators are realising that voice-only services are not generating adequate revenues and are exploring ways to offer more value-added services to increase the ARPU. EDGE networks will pave the way for UMTS deployments, supporting both data and voice streaming with great efficiency by optimal use of spectrum. E-mail is the driving application for most mobile workers and as it becomes more pervasive, e-mail is also becoming more comprehensive."

EDGE, or Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution is a digital mobile phone technology which acts as a bolt-on enhancement to 2G and 2.5G (a.k.a.GPRS) networks. This technology is compatible with TDMA and GSM networks.

UMTS, or Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems is one of the third-generation (3G) mobile phone technologies. It uses W-CDMA as the underlying standard, is standardised by the 3GPP, and represents the European answer to the ITU IMT-2000 requirements for 3G Cellular radio systems.

UMTS is sometimes marketed as 3GSM, emphasising the combination of the 3G nature of the technology and the GSM standard which it was designed to succeed.

According to Desai, the market has to be supported by devices that not only have sufficient screen real estate for viewing but the input mechanism must allow users to respond in an optimal manner.