3G in India – Gloomy subscription numbers from BSNL and MTNL
200-300 3G subscribers for MTNL and only 2000-3000 subscribers for BSNL (across 24 cities).
While govt. is hell bent on delaying 3G auction (read our coverage of 3G auction in India), BSNL and MTNL have enjoyed the first mover (as well as shaker) advantage – but with dismal result (via).
The lower subscriber numbers are a testimonial to the fact that private players should be allotted spectrum at the earliest – after all, government is losing money by delaying 3G auction and the ones who have been allotted spectrum aren’t able to market/position it to consumers (maybe a function of segment they cater to?).
On top of that, DoT has asked BSNL and MTNL to stop 3G Services over security reasons.
All said and done, government owned companies need serious (and aggressive) competition from private players – otherwise, expect a suboptimal and mediocre 3G story.
Why do you think people aren’t opting for 3G services? Pricing? Or lack of awareness of it’s benefits?
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Related posts:
- DoT asks BSNL and MTNL to stop 3G Services, Auction date Updates..
- BSNL, MTNL to get preferential treatment on 3G allocation
- 3G Updates: Auction – Post Election?, BSNL Launches 3G Data Card
- BSNL, MTNL’s IPTV Service (MyWay) takes on Private DTH Players
- 3G Auction on January 14th, BSNL 3G in Bangalore
About the author - Ashish Sinha is a Startup Mentor/Product Strategy Coach, and the founder/chief editor of pluGGd.in.
He has launched/managed couple of products (consumer as well as enterprise) in US and India, and now consults with startups/small businesses on their product/media strategy. He can be reached at: ashish (at) pluGGd.in [+91 98452 06443]
Reasons according to me:
1. To most users, 3G doesn’t really mean anything.
2. BSNL/ MTNL have not been able to introduce it to users at all. How do you expect people to get to know about a new thing unless you make a noise?
3. Many people in Delhi & Mumbai know about 3G launch but they simply won’t switch to MTNL (everyone knows how they serve). Instead, we’ll wait for Airtel/ Vodafone (any private player for that matter) to launch 3G service. Might be true for BSNL circles as well as corporate users don’t change cell nos. easily.
Irony is, BSNL & MTNL have officially launched 3G services. But it’s Reliance & Tata making all the buzz about their data cards offering 3.1 Mbps (actually 3G version on CDMA network).
How much peneteration have BSNL/MTNL got among really tech savy or business oriented users?
Most of BSNL/MTNL users are cost conscious people so no wonder they are not buying it!
What is the use of buying 3G service in India now?
If i have to just surf net i am much better of with broadband at home.
The point is, 3G service really make difference when there are some cool apps and services built around that platform.Link that to smart phones like Iphone and G1,thats when the real value of 3G is realized.
On same note,3G is a life time golden opportunity for Tech/mobile starup’s to build apps around Indian markets. I dont think people realise this fully.
Ashish,can we have get some figures how big is Symbian/WindowsCe/Andriod/Apple mobile developer community for India?? 3G takes usability to great next level and until we have good size of mobile app developers ,I suspect the cream will be scooped by others app devs serving europe/us (may be before we even realize what we missed !!!!)
I tried this couple of months back, might not be true now. It took me close to 4 hours to get my BSNL SIM GPRS activated and get its settings from some page on bsnl website which probably even google had not indexed then. The customer care was totaly clueless
One reason BSNL/MTNL have not made headway is their poor customer service. Even their own support staff is not trained with all the information. Big-brother’s hand of support will only take you so far these days.
sir,
price of 3g mobile
and what is the function