60% decrease in 3G tariff results in 78% growth

In the last seven months, Indian telecos have not touched the pay as you go 2G data tariffs (10 paisa per KB) but in some cases have increased the price of 2G packs

To increase 3G data consumption and lure mobile users towards the third generation mobile services, Indian telecom service providers in May 2012 reduced 3G tariffs by up to 60 per cent. This move by operators has yielded results in terms of growth in consumption of 3G services in India.

According to the MBit Index report, by Nokia Siemens Networks for operators in India, total user base of 3G services have increased by 78 per cent while that of 2G services has increased by 47 per cent during the last seven months.

Interestingly in the last seven months, operators have not touched the pay as you go 2G data tariffs (10 paisa per KB) but in some cases they have increased the price of 2G packs.

The report further said, "While 2G users across the country are consuming three-quarters of the total mobile data traffic on average, 3G users consume four times more data than 2G users."

This finding can be attributed to faster downloading speeds and the availability of smartphones at an affordable price.

A first time 3G user consumes close to 400 MB (megabytes) of data every month compared to about 100 MB consumption over 2G highlighted the report.