Low 4G uptake: Every telco wants a piece of the 4G market, but where’s the cake?

It is fairly well-known and well-accepted that the uptake of 4G LTE services launched by various telecom providers like Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, and Vodafone India is not impressive at all. While it is too early to pass the verdict, it is likely to be an area of concern for Reliance Jio as well. The low uptake will definitely be giving sleepless nights to the senior management of the company. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio has already invested more than Rs. 75,000 crore in setting up the state-of-the-art network.

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Mobile broadband is growing for most of the telcos, but the same cannot be said about 3G and 4G networks. There is a dichotomy here. There is not an iota of doubt that there is a strong demand for mobile network, so what’s the reason that the uptake of 3G and 4G isn’t enough? There are various reasons, and the most important reason is that 3G never really took off. No, no it is not as confusing as it sounds. In the consumer perception, they want to wait and watch before opting for a 4G device and SIM.

Remember that consumers were promised high speeds and better mobile broadband quality with the launch of 3G? Instead, what they received were inflated bills. This time around, they don’t want to take a chance till 4G network gets stabilised and till time time telcos put all the nuts and bolts in place. Combine this with the never-ending call drops problem, and customers are not wrong in taking every claim from Indian telcos with a pinch of salt. Furthermore, a consumer thinks in terms of bill amount. In their mind, more the speed, more the consumption, which indirectly leads to high bill amounts. Thus, the reluctance to adopt 4G services.