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Behind the Scenes of the Telecommunications Miracle: An Empirical Analysis of the Indian Market

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  • Sara Biancini

Abstract

We analyze the demand and supply characteristics of the Indian telecommunications market, in order to assess the potential effectiveness of universal access policies in developing countries. We provide some empirical evidence on the supply and demand characteristics, using a small time-series-cross-section dataset on Indian States. We suggest that the price elasticity of demand for mainlines might be sensibly higher than the levels usually found in developed countries, while the crucial role of income and other sociodemographic variables seems to be confirmed. We also study the impact of cellular penetration, identifying a (positive) network effect in low penetration areas and some evidence of substitution (displacement) in the most developed ones. We finally analyze the supply side of the market, trying to assess the impact of market competition on investment: competition seemingly helps stimulating investment in the most developed areas, but has probably no significant impact in the less developed ones.

Suggested Citation

  • Sara Biancini, 2010. "Behind the Scenes of the Telecommunications Miracle: An Empirical Analysis of the Indian Market," CESifo Working Paper Series 3286, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_3286
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    Cited by:

    1. Ünver, Mehmet Bilal & Göktaylar, Yavuz & Tezel, Fatih, 2015. "Regulatory Implications of FMS for Voice Services in Turkey: Analysis of Recent Regulatory Acts on Deregulation and Margin Squeeze," 26th European Regional ITS Conference, Madrid 2015 127186, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    2. Arunabha Mukhopadhyay & Kallol K. Bagchi & Godwin John Udo, 2024. "Exploring the Main Factors Affecting Mobile Phone Growth Rates in Indian States," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(2), pages 5746-5768, June.
    3. Barman, Hemanta & Dutta, Mrinal Kanti & Nath, Hiranya K., 2018. "The telecommunications divide among Indian states," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(7), pages 530-551.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    telecommunications demand; universal service; competition; developing countries; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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