India to have nearly 1b mobile subs by 2020

India has become the second-largest mobile market in the world, and is on track to reach nearly 1 billion unique subscribers by 2020, according to the GSMA.

A new report from GSMA Intelligence indicates that by the end of June 2016, 616 million unique users had subscribed to mobile services in India, making the country the second-largest mobile market globally.

India is also expected to see a significant increase in mobile subscriptions, broadband and connectivity with almost a billion unique mobile subscribers expected by 2020. This marks a period of rapid development of the country’s mobile economy, according to the study.

The country overtook the US in 2016 to become the world’s second-largest smartphone market with an installed base of 275 million devices.

According to the report, improving affordability, falling device prices and operator investments in network coverage and quality will help deliver an additional 330 million unique subscribers in India by 2020, lifting the country’s penetration rate to 68% per cent of the population, an increase from 47% in 2015.

India is also seeing an technology shift to mobile broadband services. The number of 3G/4G mobile broadband connections is forecast to reach more than 670 million by 2020, 48% of the total connection base.

There will also be an accelerating move to 4G over this period. The number of 4G connections is forecast to grow rapidly, growing from just 3 million at the end of 2015 to 280 million by 2020. In addition, the industry is set to invest heavily, with operator capex growing to $34 billion for the period 2016 to 2020.

“With this report, all signs point to a period of tremendous growth for India’s mobile economy, which will strongly support and enable the government’s ‘Digital India’ initiative aimed at providing broadband connectivity to all,” GSMA director general Mats Granryd said.

“To fully realize India’s tremendous market potential, review and reform in key areas, including modernizing regulation and long-term planning for spectrum allocation, would accelerate mobile broadband access and adoption across the country,” he adds.