Vodafone CEO Expects Indian Wireless Market to Triple by 2012

Press Release - February 15, 2007

Vodafone CEO, Arun Sarin, is predicting that more than India’s mobile phone market will grow to reach over 500 million customers by the year 2012, from current levels of around 160 million.

Sarin believes that the Indian market’s high growth rate easily justifies Vodafone’s $11.1 billion purchase of a controlling stake in Hutchison Essar, a major wireless operator in the country.

“Our assessment in India is not about increasing the ARPU (average revenue per user), but about increasing penetration,” Sarin explained at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. “You have 15% penetration today, and in four to five years you’ll see 40% penetration, which means 500 million subscribers.”