Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Union Minister for Communications Manoj Sinha on September 27, 2017, said that India is currently the second largest telecommunication market in the world with over 1.2 billion subscriber base and approximately 450 million internet users.
Delivering the inaugural speech at the India Mobile Congress-2017 here, the Minister said that driven by the adoption of smartphones and exponential increase in data consumption, telecom industry is expected to generate revenue of approximately up to USD 38.25 billion by 2017, registering a CAGR of 5.2% during the period 2014 to 2017. He said that investment into the sector has increased by approximately 220% in last four years and to enhance and expand mobile coverage, operators have rolled out more than 0.2 million sites in the last 15 months and every 3 minutes a new site is being put up, according to a PIB release.
Sinha said that it is also expected that the telecom industry generates approximately 4 million direct and in-direct job opportunities on account of continued focus of government and telcos in the rural market and continued surge in the sale of mobile phones and data usage. Traffic from mobile devices contributes to 70% of overall e-commerce traffic. Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow 2.8 times by 2021 to USD 125 billion and mobile devices will drive this growth, said the PIB release.
He said the fundamental to the goals of digital India is the country’s communications industry that has not just connected people, but also created jobs, become a tool for knowledge, contributed to the exchequer and the economic growth and amplified financial inclusion. The Minister said that the Telecom and IT presently contribute 16.5 % to the GDP, and there are immense possibilities for increasing its share even as other sector also show robust growth.