The market for cellular services in India is poised to take off, with a five-million-strong user base bringing in a revenue of over $1 billion by 2005, international marketing consultancy firm Frost & Sullivan has said.
Declining tariffs, entry of a third operator, penetration of prepaid cards, network rollout by circle operators and the calling-party-pays (CPP) regime are expected to drive revenue and subscriber growth, it said in a report on `Strategic analysis and forecasts of Indian cellular services market'.
The subscriber base is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 26.86 per cent in 1995-2005. Revenue is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22.21 per cent. In 1998-99, the market is estimated to have generated a revenue of $309 million, with a subscriber base of 1.17 million.
The growth is expected to hit a high in 2000-01 on the entry of the third oper