These days, it is not enough to have a phone that makes and receives calls and text messages. Mobile apps — games and add-ons — are becoming immensely popular. At present, the mobile phone market is dominated by smartphones. Many handset players are working towards bringing the best-in-technology smartphone.

For a good long period, the people of India bore the brunt of a service provided by an old and poorly operated telecom set-up. Installation and restoration of landlines was a cumbersome experience with consumers making many trips to the complaint centres before any problem could be effectively fixed. Hefty national and international calling prices, coupled with poor quality and mismanagement, made Indian telecom one of the most disliked utilities in India. But all that became history with the deregulation of the telecommunication sector in India at the last decade of the last century.

The deregulation of the telecommunication sector in India was meant to help mostly the customers and businessmen in India. The substantial population of Indians was a key incentive for mobile phone and cellular companies all over the world.

Mobile call prices decreased quickly as the competition increased and services like incoming calls, which were in the past charged heftily, became free. Other services like text or SMS messages became really easy on the pocket and emerged as a fresh and highly frequent kind of interaction. Teenagers and youngsters just could not get their fill. To further appeal to a younger consumer base, special low prices were introduced for late night calls with additional concessions available for a personally picked number on the same net. Internet surfing capabilities on cellphones and picture messaging soon made their debut as well. “Young generation has also played an important role in driving India's mobile phone revolution. Handset manufacturers have started targeting different age groups by launching varied handsets with good design and appearance. Now, there are cellphones at almost all range and unique features,” says Anil Arora.

Fuelling the growth of mobile phone was the tremendous improvement in mobile phone equipment, allowing mobile phone users to carry compact, more manageable phones that were fairly easy on the pocket. Globally known phones like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung, Blackberry and Apple’s iPhone were all easily available and the market was glut with a wide array of cellphones to accommodate each and every individual's requirements and price range. Chains of cellphone sellers sprang up all over the country with the up-to-the-minute styles obtainable a short time after their international debut. Chinese and resold stolen phones were also widespread at significantly lower prices with entire malls selling these phones. People, who had not subscribed to a landline in their generation, now had access to economical and high quality mobile phone communication.

The service providers in India gave customers a substantial number of pricing choices and packages. Many companies offered a pre-paid and post-paid billing choice, with several convenient locations to pay for bills or buy credit. Scratch cards made their presence and were obtainable in nearly all retails shops, large and small.

The recent growth in mobile telephony shows that India has become a mobile-dominated telecom market. Mobile services have been the flywheel of telecom growth in India, which is the fastest in the world. The Government of India expects 500 million mobile phone users by the year 2010. India has registered more than 8 million new connections in the month of August alone, taking the total number in the country to more than 200 million, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). It is expected that the Government's projection of half-a-billion could be hit. The mobile phone growth is being driven almost entirely by lower-income groups.

The prices of handsets and calls in India are among the lowest in the world. Having mobile phones is no more a status symbol, and it is increasingly becoming a necessity like water and electricity. Despite the rise in mobile phone users, the growth is still largely confined to cities. It is said that a huge market in rural areas, where nearly 70% of India's 1.1 billion population lives, remains untapped. Telephone penetration in urban India is around 25 per 100 people, but just 1.6 in rural areas. The country's total "teledensity" – the number of people owning a telephone out of every 100 people – also remains low at 21.2% in August 2007. But mobile phone companies are rolling out coverage to rural and remote areas too. Landline networks are not considered very effective in many of these places. Mobile phones are a big necessity in rural areas. It is not an indicator of wealth anymore. A mobile phone is now a tool that is likely to improve productivity dramatically.

India has outpaced China to become the world's fastest-growing telecom market, thanks to the various “innovative” ways such as infrastructure sharing and network management outsourcing adopted by it that has also helped operators keep the service charge low, according to global rating agency Moody.

“India's net additions of 10 million (subscribers) per month have far outpaced China's monthly rate of increase, now below eight million,” says Moody. About two years ago, China was having the highest number of new subscribers on a monthly basis.

“Although emerging markets with relatively low penetration continue to have above-average rates of increase in new subscribers, those numbers tend to be slowing, except in India,” Moody's said in a statement.

The agency said that Indian telecom players were using “innovative means such as outsourcing network management and sharing mobile infrastructure to keep costs low in extending services to under-served rural areas”.

Moody's said, “Mobile operators in India frequently shared base stations and partners with other firms or independent cell-tower firms in expanding coverage to under-penetrated rural areas from where much of the growth was coming.”

The agency said divestment of non-core assets like selling or sharing cellphone towers as a way to control costs and optimize capital expenditure had helped Indian operators in expanding coverage.

For the telecom sector in the Asia-Pacific region, Moody's has assigned a “stable outlook” and noted that this market presents attractive investment opportunities.

The agency said the revenue growth for the region would drop sharply by year-end 2009 from the double-digit growth rates of last five years.However, the full-year revenue growth for the industry this year will remain marginally positive.

“Revenues from voice service and SMS are expected to fall, but data revenue should continue to grow,” Moody's said.

The outlook is based on expectations from telecom operators in the Asia-Pacific region across Singapore, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Pakistan and Indonesia.

It did not include any Indian operator, though NTT Docomo and Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) which have partnerships in India were included. With a population of more than 1.1 billion people, India represents a market with enormous potential for the Mobbile handset makers.

“In recent years, India has witnessed a lot of mobile penetration. Far from being a style statement, mobile phones have become a necessity today. Consumers need a handset that can perform various allied activities – professional as well as personal. With an increasing demand of mobile phones, this market has shown a great potential in terms of growth and revenue,” says Mr Anil Arora, Business Group Marketing Head, Mobile Communications, LGEIL.

Consumers today have become very choosy about purchasing a cellphone as these gadgets have become an extremely personal commodity and are seen as a style statement and an extension of one’s personality. Naturally, form factor takes precedence over almost everything else. However, there are a number of other things that customers consider before opting for a particular handset.

Smartphone market is rapidly taking over and the trend is gaining a lot of strength. It is all about enriching the experience of a mobile user. Use of various platforms and interfaces have given way for sleek phones with large displays. At present, there is an increasing demand for large displays. The trend in recent years has changed a lot. “Earlier, consumers looked for small devices, whereas now most of the consumers prefer using phones with large displays that helps them in emailing, Internet browsing, video messaging, etc.,” says Anil Arora.

Brands differentiate on the basis of uniqueness of products and the type of technology involved. Factors like consumer demand have increased the number of other mobile players.

At present, the mobile phone market is dominated by smartphones. Many handset players are working towards bringing the best-in-technology smartphone. “Recently, we have added LG GM730 to our list smartphones in India. Based on Qualcomm’s MSM 7201A chipset, the GM730 is the latest offering by LG, with 3D S class user interface and convenience of Windows Mobile 6.1 version,” says Anil Arora.

The Indian mobile handset market is dominated by scores of mobile vendors who continue to introduce innovative and useful features in mobile phones to lure the consumers.

Mobile behemoth LG provides a range of value-added services, including Internet access, mobile games, video recording, mega pixel cameras, etc.Since the opening of its economy, India is fast emerging as a significant market in terms of investment on technology. This was cottoned on to by Nokia way back and made its foray into the Indian market. The move has stood the mobile giant in good stead. SAP is eyeing to capture a bigger share of the Indian market in its fight to gain a stronger foothold against its competitors.
India is key for Nokia’s expanding global business as the country is an integral part of the company’s emerging market growth. The company occupies a dominant place in the mobile market.

“At LG, we have always developed products considering the needs and demand of consumers. In terms of sales, all the latest handsets have shown a good response from the market. And, we hope to keep up the mark of introducing latest in technology handsets and strengthen the market position with the same.”

In India, there is a need for more specific, targeted output. The local content is in great demand.

The recent growth of the mobile market is driven by an increased focus on the rural segment. Mobile manufacturers are exploring opportunities to come up with very low-cost handsets and also focussing on high-end accessories which have become the hot selling products in the market. There is a wide scope for growth in the rural market. Handset manufacturers have already forayed into the rural market and have specially designed devices catering to the demand in the region.

“At LG, we strive to launch products that suit the needs of Indian consumers. We have launched a variety of phones during the last fiscal that cater to various audiences,” says Anil Arora.

“We have always been aggressive with our strategy for the Indian market. We have been spending a huge sum on R&D, rework on our distribution strategy and always strive for developing innovative technology. Such planning and methodology has enabled us to provide handsets in various segments at an affordable price range.”

“From our portfolio, we have recently launched various smartphones such as LG Arena – S Class User Interface mobile, LG Viewty Smart – features 8MP camera and LG GM730 – Windows mobile version 6.1. We are sure that LG's innovative technology will bring a new revolution in the mobile technology.”

“We keep introducing various exciting schemes on a regular basis which surely give good returns to our channel partners as the purchasing power increases. LG proudly claims to be a channel-friendly company. All our channel programmes are designed keeping the profitability of our channel partners in mind. LG has been offering structured channel programmes since many years which has yielded good profits for our partners.”

Since India is a price-sensitive yet information-hungry market, consumers want to get the maximum number of value-added services at the minimum cost possible. Operators keep themselves attuned to these factors and come up with schemes and packages to suit various budgets and requirements. So, bundled offers play an important role in customers’ buying decisions. It helps customers enjoy various schemes and they see value for money in such bundled offers.

Recently, Samsung announced that sales of the Samsung Star, its hugely popular touchscreen mobile phone, surpassed the 5-million mark. The Star (model number S5230), launched in May, is the fastest model in Samsung’s history to reach the milestone.

Launched first in Europe, one million of these touchscreen devices were said to have been sold in the first month alone, after which the company expanded sales efforts to include markets in CIS, Southeast and Southwest Asia, East-Central Africa, China, and Central America.

More than 700,000 units of the Star were sold in May and June. The total sale amounted to more than 900,000 units. Monthly sales in July and August were 1.6 million and 1.8 million, respectively. Based on the current trend, Samsung projects total cumulative sales to reach 10 million globally by November.

“Samsung is betting big on touchscreen mobile phones, targeting a 20-per cent value share in the domestic handset market this year. “We expect our touchscreen models to contribute around 20 per cent of our total sales this year. The overall market for touchscreen handsets this year is expected to be around two million handsets, up from 800,000 units in 2008,” said Asim Warsi, General Manager (Marketing), after launching the new touchscreen handset named Samsung Corby. Samsung is aiming to corner 20- per cent share in India’s mobile handset market.

According to Asim Warsi, the overall handset market is expected to touch 90 million this year. For Samsung, 10 per cent of its Indian sales come from touchscreen models and with the launch of new models targeting the youth segment the company hopes to increase that figure.

Recently, Lava International Ltd. has entered a mid-priced segment cellphone handset manufacturing segment in India. The company has launched four different cellphone handsets and plans a major foray in the western Indian region. While two of these models come with dual SIM technology, the others support a very high-performance camera. The cellphones are priced at Rs.2,599 onwards, which is the key for acquiring a good market share.

According to analysts firm IDC, Indian mobile consumers are rapidly opening up to explore the new brands entering the country thereby increasing consolidation of such players in the Indian telecom space. According to the analyst firm, with the new vendors numbering 26 during the quarter their contribution to the overall mobile handset shipments touched 6.3% as compared to 1.2% during the June 2008 quarter when the new vendors totalled 11.

Lava is planning to have a national presence with a special emphasis on India’s tier-II, tier-III and even smaller towns. "We plan to upgrade the present low-end basic mobile handset users to a feature-loaded alternative. The phones are powered with a dual SIM feature, long-lasting battery, dual LED powerful torch, camera, games, Bluetooth and support up to 8GB memory. The phones also provide FM radio, recording, one touch music player, dual stereo speakers, dual charging point, GPRS and speakerphones, which at the given price is very attractive," said S. N. Rai, Co-Founder & Director, Lava International.

The Indian mobile phone handset market is estimated at around 8 million per month and is growing rapidly, which makes it a big opportunity for a new serious player like Lava. Our research has shown that smaller cities are growing rapidly and we have decided to tap the growing demand in these markets along with the major metros," Rai stated.

Elaborating on the company marketing strategy, Lava’s Sales Head Praveen Srivastava said, "Pune, in particular, has always been one of the most lucrative markets for mobile phones. Lava is looking at capturing a major market share in Nagpur, Solapur, Thane, Nashik and Aurangabad mobile handset market. To cater to this part of the country, Lava is in the process of setting up a strong distribution network for the easy availability of Lava mobile phones."

India's mobile phone market continues to be unaffected by the economic slowdown, with 11.9 million new mobile subscribers in April, i.e. a 45% greater increase than in the same month last year, according to data released Monday by India's Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Handygo Ltd., a leading wireless solution provider in Mobile and Value Added services is sharing weather forecast with the farmers. They are providing meteorological information through Interactive Voice response system (IVRS) and GPRS in the rural sector. The technology will empower the farmers to have information along with weather forecast, an advice on agricultural inputs on various kinds of crops prepared by agricultural experts on their mobile phones.

After signing a memorandum with the Indian Meteorological Department, Handygo has extensively researched and gathered information about the various regions, its locale and its agriculture. Agricultural scientists at Handygo process the technical data into information which is easily accessible and understandable by every rural farmer. The information is updated twice on a weekly basis. Information on selection of crops and their varieties, proper sowing time, pest and disease control, choosing optimum time and dose of fertilizer, post-harvesting advice, irrigation management and other weather based farm decision-making is also a part of their service.

Commenting on this, Mr Praveen Rajpal, CEO of Handygo Pvt. Ltd., says, “Our vision is to expand our services in every region and every district. At Handygo, our prime motive is to see every farmer’s dream coming true. With the technical content support by IMD, which has strong back up given by State Agricultural Universities and ICAR institutions, we tailor the services and reach every farmer’s doorsteps.” Mr Dr. L. S. Rathore, Head Agromet & Additional Director General of Meteorology from IMD, says, “Our association with Handygo is vital and their contribution in the rural sector is overwhelming. We are proud to have such associates in the wireless markets. Also, it is a good example of PPP (public-private partnership) to render service for rural India.”

Recently, Handygo launched their service in 21 districts of Punjab and 20 districts of Haryana. Handygo is expanding its services all across India and its major focus is on Andhra Pradesh where they are covering 23 districts. They are also expanding their focus in Gujarat, West Bengal and Maharashtra. Ultimately, the service will be expanded pan-India in a phased manner.

Thanks to the surge of mobile communications in India, the customers were not the solitary beneficiaries of the telecommunication success in India. The profits to the Government from the communication sector also rose substantially as well. Cellular phone communication providers are diversifying into correlated technologies, such as wireless high-speed Internet, as well.

This means more profits for these firms and higher prices and service dependability for the customers.

The Indian market is getting further crowded, especially in the lower- and mid-market segments. At the same time, an accelerated evolution of the market is at work, as the rising competition forces vendors to offer newer, richer features at attractive price points.