India has pipped China to become the world's fastest growing market, thanks to the various "innovative" ways such as infrastructure sharing and network management outsourcing adopted by it that has also helped telecom operators keep the service charge low, says a report.
Terming India as "world's fastest growing (telecom) market", global rating agency Moody's today said in the past 18 months, "India's net additions of 10 million (subscribers) per month have far outpaced China's monthly rate of increase, now below eight million".
About two years ago, China was having the maximum number of new subscribers on a monthly basis.
"Although emerging markets with relatively low penetration continue to have above-average rates of increase in new subscribers, those numbers tend to be slowing, except in India," Moody's said in a statement.
The agency pointed out that Indian telecom players are using "innovative means such as outsourcing network management and sharing mobile infrastructure to keep costs low in extending services to under-served rural areas".Moody's said, mobile operators in India frequently share base stations and partner with other firms or independent cell-tower firms in expanding coverage to under-penetrated rural areas from where much of the growth is coming.
