Gartner: India Highest Telecom Growth Market In Asia-Pacific

NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- India will remain the highest growth market for telecommunications services in the Asia-Pacific region, with around 35 million new subscribers in 2005 marking an 18% increase from 2004, said Gartner Inc. in a report Tuesday.

The research and advisory company predicted mobile penetration in India would reach 8.2% in 2005 and 14.5% in 2008. Only four in a hundred people in India own mobile phones.

India's total telecom penetration, including mobile and fixed phones, is likely to rise to 19.1% in 2008, from 12.4% in 2005, the report added. India's total telecom penetration is a low 8%.

India, seeing an addition of around two million new users a month, has about 45 million mobile phones, compared with 44 million fixed phone lines.

-By New Delhi Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; 91-11-2307 4020; djn.india@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 7th December 2004