Over the last ten years the telecommunication industry has experienced incredible growth. The infrastructure has been expanded and more consumers are able to afford phone service because of the economic growth within the country. The largest phone network provider in India is also the 7th largest telecommunication company in the world. BSNL is a state owned phone provider that had little competition until companies like Reliance, Bharti Telecom Tata Indicom and MTNL, entered the market.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) have developed a One India Plan, which covers local and long distance calls within India. The plan is set up on a per minute basis. Indian consumers can call any area of India for 1¢ per minute which includes landline calls as well as mobile calls. BSNL and MTNL also offer 1000 minutes for $19.95. A security deposit is required for all BSNL plans.
Bharti Tele-Ventures has over 19 million customers and is the largest manufacturer of telecom terminals. Vodaphone invested in Bharti and now owns 10% of the company. Bharti offers several plans that include no contracts and no monthly fees. The 1000 minute plan is just $19.95 and other plans offer calls for a flat 2.9¢ per minute. Bharti offers six different plans that require security deposits and installation charges. Reliance has similar rate plans which range from .85¢ to 1.2¢ per pulse. Reliance also has a plan for International calls. India's international country code is 91 and the five different international plans are based on minutes used. All Reliance plans require a security deposit and a phone activation charge.
Tata Indicom also offers competitive prices that range from .9¢ to 1.2¢ per minute. Tata offers 8 different plans. All of Tata's plans are based on a monthly minute commitment and security deposits are not necessary in some plans.
The products and services that these phone networks in India provide include mobile services as well as landline phone service. The plans include Internet and broadband services, data services, calling cards and one rate local and National calls. Value added services like voice mail, call-waiting, SMS messaging, Call forwarding are also included in different plans.
The mobile phone providers in India that are not associated with the landline companies have some great phone service offers, which includes free SMS messaging, free t-shirts and they pay the consumer for incoming calls. Mobile phone companies like Essar Cellphone, AirTel, BPL Mobile, Escotel Mobile, Hutch, Idea, Ushafone and Spice are offering different incentive plans to get a piece of India's lucrative phone provider industry. The estimated number of mobile phone users in India will be over 715 million by the end of 2012.
