A latest forecast put forward by a leading UN agency for information and communication technology issues claims that a relatively great potential is there for growth for telecom companies in India in view of relatively low mobile telephone diffusion rate of about 20% and market liberalization policies. 

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), “India had some 296 million mobile subscribers by end July 2008 but with a relatively low penetration rate of about 20 per cent, the world's second-most populous nation offers great potential for growth.”

ITU informed through a statement that a major role in spreading mobile telephony has been played by market liberalization, since it brought in competition and thus brought down the prices. 

The statement also said, “India's mobile operators increasingly compete for low-income customers and Average-Revenue-Per-User in India has reached around $ 7, one of the lowest in the world.”

ITU, which is Geneva based, also added that by the end of this year, there would a rapid increase in the subscribers of mobile phone all over the world that may reach up to four billion, in the scesne when there is enormous growth going on in developing countries like India and China. 

The ITU informed, “The BRIC economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China are expected to have an increasingly important impact in terms of population, resources and global GDP share. These economies alone are expected to account for over 1.3 billion mobile subscribers by the end of 2008.”

China represents the world’s largest mobile market as it passed the 600 million subscriber mark by mid-2008.