By Himanshu Kapania, MD and CEO, Idea Cellular
India continues to be a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy global economy. A thriving mobile telecom industry is one of the key ingredients in a successful economy. In the past years, the Indian telecom sector has been the engine that has continuously driven the Indian economy forward, contributing over 2% to national GDP directly. Today, besides being the bedrock on which India stays connected and realises vast productivity gains, it is also the genesis of the new-age economy. Flagship programmes like Digital India and Startup India have provided immense impetus to the sector.
Against this high growth backdrop, it is counter-intuitive that the mobile sector has had a dismal year. The mobile telecom industry’s contribution to the national GDP has slipped to under 1.5%, lower than the global average of 4%. With regulatory headwinds such as changes in inter-connect usage charges and roaming charges pegging down revenue growth, the sector is battling profitability pressures.