India to Hold 3G Auctions Soon
India is the world’s second-largest mobile phone market with 287 million phone users (and one of the fastest-growing), and none of them are using 3G technology. But that may all change soon as India’s government has announced plans to begin auctioning off 3G licenses.
Up to this point there has been little demand for high-end multimedia services because 90% of the phones in the country are used as pre-paid.
The auction, set to begin within the next few months, will require a minimum price of 20 billion rupees ($472 million US) to compete. According to Financial Times, aggressive bidding is expected from several leading firms and telecom companies in competing for key cities.
Questions still remain about how profitable this may be for telecom but it’s now or never. Mobile providers realize the need to take a risk in order to continue forward, even if it means pushing through a few years with low demand.
via FT via Engadget Mobile
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