Monday December 29, 10:22 AM

Source: Indian Express Finance

Mobiles are like roti, kapda and makaan

This year has been a phenomenal year for Indian telecom. We have added more than 100 million customers during the year. As the sector remains buoyant adding more than 10 million customers every month, I have every reason to believe that telecom will remain one of the rare bright spots as the economy grapples with slowdown in 2009. Five years back, I would perhaps have been more than a little worried at the prospect of a slowdown as serious as the current one. Today however, mobile telephony having graduated from it s elitist status to be one among the essentials, a la roti, kapda and makaan for a large section of the population, I am not unduly disturbed. Perceived return on investment on a mobile connection continues to be higher vis- -vis other forms of investment/expenditure. One more reason why I am optimistic about future growth even when sector after sector is coming out with depressing growth figures in the recent quarters lies in the wide spectrum of socio-economic categories from which demand for telecom services is emerging. From industrial workers to farmers, from entrepreneurs to government employees, from housewives to students, subscribers are coming from every conceivable segments. Given this reality, I strongly believe a temporary dip in demand from a few customer segments, is unlikely to impact the overall demand for telecom services in the economy. Mobile companies are going to remain particularly bullish with demand coming out of rural India. On the new products front, mobile money transfer and mobile commerce are likely to gain ground. As for demand emerging out of the business enterprise segment, there could be some bright sparks in the shape of increased demand for services like videoconferencing. I strongly believe 3G is going to be the next big thing in Indian telephony. Services like high-speed internet and video calls on the mobile phone will be a reality. Rural development initiatives like e-governance, e-health and e-education will receive a significant impetus. It s commendable that the government is considering allowing infrastructure funding vehicle, India Infrastructure Finance Company to finance telecom companies 3G spectrum bids. An overhang of uncertainty on the economy is perhaps understandable but I am fairly optimistic that various sectoral packages being introduced by the government are going to positively impact the overall growth process in the economy. And telecom is going to play the role of a critical anchor in this. The writer is Jt MD and CEO, Bharti Airtel (BHARTIARTL.BO : 319.9 +0.55)