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India has the highest data usage per smartphone

thehindu.com

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Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#171

Post by tdhoot »

sneakernets wrote: post #164
treis wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Americans are going to be livid when they learn how cheap data plans are in India. The reason this works is free market, unlike the US where the likes of Comcast have monopoly in the regions they operate. What does Comcast have to do with the price of cellular data?

Because they're Xfinity Mobile. Their plans are $12 per GB of data.

But they don't have a monopoly in any area. Xfinity Mobile is just a Verizon MVNO. Grandparent is simply using the wrong company as an example.

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#172

Post by Scoundreller »

H8crilA wrote: post #154
Danieru wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to learn more on your opinion about these REITs. Looking at the lastest financials report: https://s22.q4cdn.com/758587962/files/doc_financials/quarter... They are reporting a leverage ratio of ~7. My initial hot-take: That's a leverage multiple; not a ratio. Yet reading their formula they are reporting that 7 as DEBT / PRE-DEPRECATION-PROFIT. Thus such a formula is not an LTV but rather a formula one might…

Honestly I have no idea how their financials look like, I'm simply playing trends (I've even bought into BYND and exited at some profit). But one thing I do know is that the stock prices of AMT and SBAC do not look particularly different in the times when rates were going up (Oct 2015 - Dec 2018 [1]). Of course such behaviour could be just long term market delusions, so trade with caution! [1] https://fred.stlouisfed…

My take was, any company like this that survived in 2009 did very well.

Many high debt companies that had their equity almost wiped out ended up with 10x the equity if they could pay their bills again.

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#173

Post by m463 »

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #168
catchmeifyoucan wrote: post #90

I'm from India. I can confirm this. It's because unlimited LTE data costs about rs700 per month or 10 dollars. It can be spotty at times - but it works. Mobile is by far the most used form factor. Search for "Jio" on your app store and you'll see a variety of apps like JioTV, JioCinema, JioNews etc.. That means free news, live tv and movies all for the price of a cell phone subscription. Jio is the name of the servic…

”there's almost no need to buy a TV anymore to watch content.” You’re talking about access. People don’t buy a TV to get access to content, they buy one to watch the content, whether that’s via cable, OTA, streaming services, pirating, etc. Are you saying that people in India are just fine with consuming all of their TV and movies on a tiny phone screen? I know some people who don’t have a TV, but they would rather j…

a few points

- "watching TV" to more and more people is youtube and other online video

- a lot of people in the US don't watch video on their phone because they would blow their data plan in short order. Even unlimited plans throttle in various ways when you go over a certain amount.

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#174

Post by 2T1Qka0rEiPr »

signal11 wrote: post #159
2T1Qka0rEiPr wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. I suppose my question was less about the affordability of a landline connection, but consumption of. Interesting that you said its a marker of wealth - but are you essentially saying that for everyone else it's not that common. At the heart of what I'm asking is: Did India skip this generation of high-landline consumption, and jump straight to mobile internet?

Yes, for now. Jio's rival Airtel owns satellite/cable tv platforms and even supplies wired internet in parts of major cities. No one with any ambition has really tried wired internet in India -- for a long time the only way to get it was via the government-run telecoms provider (who are -- surprise! -- not very good). Jio's parent company produces a lot of movies in India and in Hollywood, including Arrival, Ready Pl…

No, very interesting, thanks

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#175

Post by deepVoid »

catchmeifyoucan wrote: post #90

I'm from India. I can confirm this. It's because unlimited LTE data costs about rs700 per month or 10 dollars. It can be spotty at times - but it works. Mobile is by far the most used form factor. Search for "Jio" on your app store and you'll see a variety of apps like JioTV, JioCinema, JioNews etc.. That means free news, live tv and movies all for the price of a cell phone subscription. Jio is the name of the servic…

In the US, my phone is on Wifi pretty much most of time during the day. When I am at work, my phone is on Wifi. When I get home, it is on Wifi as well. When I go to Starbucks, my phone connects to Wifi automatically. India has very limited wifi access. The overall data usage is still a lot higher in the US than in India.

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#176

Post by bobthepanda »

Frost1x wrote: post #165

I wonder how population density effects price for cellular carriers. One reason wireless is expensive in the US, to my knowledge, is because much of the surface area is sparsely populated with customers requiring more wireless tower infrastructure to cover fewer people (then costs are spread across most the national or regional customer base). In dense cities, I imagine towers can theoretically serve more people. Obv…

IIRC when the original iPhone debuted as an AT&T exclusive in the States, AT&T had a lot of trouble keeping up with demand in New York and San Francisco for 3G services, and this situation persisted for quite a while.

I suspect that while more bodies definitely helps defray costs, the marginal costs of expanding infrastructure once you reach breaking point are by no means cheap.

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#177

Post by notfromhere »

Frost1x wrote: post #165

I wonder how population density effects price for cellular carriers. One reason wireless is expensive in the US, to my knowledge, is because much of the surface area is sparsely populated with customers requiring more wireless tower infrastructure to cover fewer people (then costs are spread across most the national or regional customer base). In dense cities, I imagine towers can theoretically serve more people. Obv…

Something like 90% of the population lives on 15% of the land. We have a telecommunications oligopoly, which is why service is expensive in the U.S.

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#178

Post by vijaybritto »

Shorel wrote: post #128
vijaybritto wrote: post #41

This is so true. My mom watches all her Serials, news and funny vids in her mobile. Our TV is deserted now! Jio forced everyone to bring down the prices. Now all those companies have begun posting quarterly losses and they don't have a humungous cash cow like jio. This is not gonna end well.

Is that good for her eyes? This is a serious question.

Not all day long. Only a couple of hours. Her eyes are fine

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#179

Post by [deleted] »

novok wrote: post #139
catchmeifyoucan wrote: post #90

I'm from India. I can confirm this. It's because unlimited LTE data costs about rs700 per month or 10 dollars. It can be spotty at times - but it works. Mobile is by far the most used form factor. Search for "Jio" on your app store and you'll see a variety of apps like JioTV, JioCinema, JioNews etc.. That means free news, live tv and movies all for the price of a cell phone subscription. Jio is the name of the servic…

Ah this must explain why india has the worst network congestion and reliability out of all countries on apps I’ve worked on (and they are fairly worldwide apps)

[deleted]

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#180

Post by inapis »

signal11 wrote: post #150
inapis wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Isn’t Aadhar (fingerprints + iris scan) needed to have a bank account? If yes, then it’s a bit disingenuous to say there are no privacy issues. Nopes. Govt tried really hard. Attorney General didn't really sound far from Facebook's primary lawyer. But Supreme Court shut it down. >A cursory search will show plenty of press articles re UPI fraud. For instance [1]. I should expand that I meant technical fraud - your ca…

I believe Aadhar is mandatory if you're filing tax in India[1]. And the government earlier in the year passed a bill to undo some of the supreme court protections and facilitate sharing of Aadhar data with third parties[2]. So unless you're too poor to file taxes (or are not an Indian resident), bank accounts can always be linked to Aadhar, even if it happens via the PAN. [1] https://qz.com/india/1351263/supreme-cour…

You're moving goal posts.

Aadhar being necessary for tax filing !== Aadhar is mandatory for operating a bank account, claims which you made in previous posts.

Yes, going backwards government can indeed find your bank accounts because you might quote them on tax forms but having Aadhar is NOT necessary for operating a bank account. I have multiple accounts, none of which have been closed or service being denied for lack of an aadhar number.

>Re Aadhar -- HN readers should note that IndiaStack (indiastack.org, very popular with VCs operating in India) relies a lot on Aadhar, so a lot of people in Indian Startups have a financial interest in not seeing the downsides of Aadhar.

This is exaggerated. People can lead perfectly functional lives without quoting Aadhar to anybody except the taxman. You're pushing it.

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