Telecommunications in Asia

South Asia, which comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, has a combined population of over 1.3 billion people (see Table 1). India is by far the largest South Asian country, in terms of population, economy, and telecommunications network. For a region that makes up over one fifth of the total world population, South Asia accounts for only 2 per cent of world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 2.4 per cent of the total telephone subscribers (fixed and mobile). The region has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the world, about one tenth the world average and is home to four least developed countries (LDC). With 29 per cent of its population living in urban areas, South Asia remains predominantly rural.

With a total of 43.7 million fixed lines in operation and 8.5 million mobile subscribers, South Asia accounted for 4 per cent of the world's fixed lines and less than 1 per cent of cellular subscribers in the year 2001. South Asia's average fixed-line teledensity was 3.2 and the mobile teledensity was 0.63. The compound annual growth rate of fixed lines and mobile subscribers in the period 1996–2001 has been 20 and 78 per cent respectively, while during the same period the world growth rate was only 7 and 48 per cent. When compared with the rest of the world, South Asia is one of the fastest growing markets despite its low telephone penetration.

In 1981, South Asia had a fixed-line teledensity of 0.31, which increased to 0.65 in 1991. Another decade later, this teledensity had increased by over fivefold, reaching 3.2. The telephone network growth rate in South Asia has accelerated for every five-year period for the last two and half decades. For example, between 1976 and 1981, the annual average growth rate was 7 per cent; between 1986–1991 it was 11 per cent and from 1996 to 2001 it was 20 per cent. This continually increasing growth rate is beginning to impact the long-established