News

Competition is fierce in one of the world's largest and fastest growing telecom markets. The Indian mobile market is defined by weak profit margins, falling ARPU and declining call rates, as operators battle for market share.



Despite losing 8% of profits in the last quarter, one of the country's largest operators, Bharti Airtel, says that the price wars are over and that it has recorded a rise in average minutes of usage per user after reporting a decline for six consecutive quarters.



Many new operators have opened up in India in the last year, including Telenor's joint venture Uninor, all looking to cash in on the Indian market which has low penetration and amongst the best growth potential of any telecom market.



Meanwhile Bharti is looking for opportunities to grow outside India after its failed attempt to merge with South Africa's MTN last year. The company has recently secured USD8.3 billion to purchase most of the African assets of the Kuwait-based Zain.