-India Telecom Market- Gradually shifting to Duopoly Structure, Is Customer due for a Rough Ride-
If you look at the India Mobile and Broadband market evolution in the last 2 years there is a visible shift towards Duopoly. This is evident from the increase in subscriber share of key players with two taking the lion's share. The reasons for the downfall for some players are many including quality of service, poor infrastructure, but the real hammer has been the AGR, Adjusted Gross Revenue, the issue causing huge liabilities on few key players, with one facing deep financial stress. The matter is pending for final decision with the highest court with little hope of a sizeable respite.
For the Customer the issue is much bigger as the choice of the operators is gradually pushed down to two (Duopoly) which is not a good development. For information, the broadband market share captured by the two top players is around 80% while the wireless/mobile services held by the same two operators have reached 66% in May 2021 (Source TRAI press release July 29, 2021). This scenario is not good in any open market and is definitely a setback considering the fact that we successfully opened the economy almost 3 decades back in the early 1990s.
The question is Who will suffer the most- the Customer who will be taken for a ride, especially on pricing. The price rise looks on the card (in fact 20% increase is already seen in the family plan). The challenges remain, the number-porting in itself is a serious barrier (not an easy task), moreover, the available choice does not help.
Mobile and broadband services are absolutely essential and have become an integral part of our lives, and demand would only grow in the future especially with entertainment gradually shifting to the consumption of bits and bytes.
Be ready to Enjoy the future, which is likely to make every use of bits and bytes a bigger hole in your pocket unless we see revival (seems possible) of existing players or entry of new players (looks unlikely).
Your comments and feedback are most welcome.
Have A Happy life..
#Duopoly #competition #telcom #mobile #wirelesscommunications #customersatisfaction
