2006年VOA标准英语-Indian Telecoms Seek to Expand Their Mobil

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
12 February 2006

CEO, Times Global Broadcasting Company Ltd. Sunil Lulla, left, and Mahesh Prasad, president of Content and Application Solution Group, Reliance Infocom  pose with Reliance phones to launch Times Now, January 23, 2006
  
  
The mobile phone industry in India is trying to expand its reach to low-income earners and the country's vast rural areas. India is already one of the world's biggest mobile phone markets.

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The state-owned telecommunications company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited recently announced what it called its "One-India Rate." The company's chairman, A.K. Sinha, says the scheme will allow people to call anywhere in the country for less than two cents a minute on both land lines and mobile phones.

"This will be one of the most affordable¹, customer-friendly and innovative² schemes for long distance calls," he said. "It marks the death of distance [rates]."

The company says the move targets the common man, and will make telephone services affordable for the country's low-income earners. Analysts³ say it is also a bid to increase market share in an industry that is growing at a breakneck pace, and becoming fiercely competitive.

Much of the explosive growth in the telecom industry has come in the mobile phone sector⁴, where calling prices have been steadily⁵ reduced, bringing millions of new customers on board. There are now more than 75 million mobile phone users in the country, up from just 10 million three years ago.

But in a country of a billion-plus people, there is still a huge market waiting to be tapped, and much of that lies in the country's vast rural areas, where two-thirds of the people live. So far, wireless⁶ services only cover about one-third of India's 600,000 villages. By the end of the year, they are expected to cover the entire country.

As a result, mobile phone companies have begun aggressively pursuing rural India, by offering cheap handsets and innovative subscription⁷ schemes. Recently, they have offered customers a phone number for life, for a one-time fee of about $20.

Prashant Singhal, head of telecom analysis at Ernst and Young in Bangalore, says mobile phone ownership has surged in the wake of such schemes.

"In terms of subscribers, this month of January was the highest addition, which has been in the industry, at about four-and-a-half to five million subscribers," said Singhal. "I think that is the rate, which should continue for a month, close to four-odd million."

However, Prashant Singhal says revenue from these new users is likely to be low, and operators will increasingly depend on peripheral⁸ services to increase revenue, such as the sale of ring tones and wireless games.

But optimism pervades⁹ the market, and several foreign companies have increased their stake in India, after the government raised the foreign direct investment limit in telecommunications from 49 percent to 74 percent last year. Britain's Vodafone bought a 10 percent stake in India's largest wireless company, Bharti Tele-ventures, for $1.5 billion, and Malaysia's Maxis Communications has acquired a stake in Aircel for more than $1 billion.

Analysts say, by the end of this year, India could be the world's third largest mobile phone market, behind China and the United States.

1 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

2 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

6 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

7 subscription   

n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方）

参考例句：

• We paid a subscription of 5 pounds yearly.我们按年度缴纳5英镑的订阅费。
• Subscription selling bloomed splendidly.订阅销售量激增。

8 peripheral   

adj.周边的，外围的

参考例句：

• We dealt with the peripheral aspects of a cost reduction program.我们谈到了降低成本计划的一些外围问题。
• The hotel provides the clerk the service and the peripheral traveling consultation.旅舍提供票务服务和周边旅游咨询。

9 pervades   

v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• An unpleasant smell pervades the house. 一种难闻的气味弥漫了全屋。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• An atmosphere of pessimism pervades the economy. 悲观的气氛笼罩着整个经济。 来自辞典例句