India's teledensity has improved from under 4% in March 2001 to around 53% by the end of March 2010. Cellular telephony has emerged as the fastest growing segment in the Indian telecom industry. The mobile subscriber base (GSM and CDMA combined) has grown from under 2 m at the end of FY00 to touch 584 m at the end of March 2010 (average annual growth of nearly 76% during this ten year period). Tariff reduction and decline in handset costs has helped the segment to gain in scale. The cellular segment is playing an important role in the industry by making itself available in the rural and semi urban areas where teledensity is the lowest.

The fixed line segment has actually seen a decline in the subscriber base. It has declined to 36.96 m subscribers in March 2010 from 37.96 m in March 2009. The decline was mainly due to substitution of landlines with mobile phones.

As far as broadband connections (>=256 kbps) are concerned, India currently has a subscriber base of 8.8 m. It has grown at an average annual growth rate of 40% since 2008. The auction for broadband wireless license and spectrum has concluded recently. The government is expected to allocate spectrum before the end of this year. This will further boost the broadband penetration in the country. Key Points
Supply
Intense competition has resulted in prompt service to the subscribers.

Demand
Given the low tariff environment and relatively low rural and semi urban penetration levels, demand will continue to remain higher in the foreseeable future across all the segments.

Barriers to entry
High capital investments, well-established players who have a nationwide network, license fee, continuously evolving technology and lowest tariffs in the world.

Bargaining power of suppliers
Improved competitive scenario and commoditisation of telecom services has led to reduced bargaining power for