India's 3G enabled data subscriber base (notebooks, modems and dongles) will reach 40 million by 2015 and 4G subscriber base including 802.1e and TD-LTE adopters will reach 33 million subscribers in 2015, says a report.

Deployments of 3G and WiMAX networks will generate a profitable user base over the next 5 year period, before noticeable LTE deployments begin to make an impact in India, according to the latest research by Maravedis and Tonse Telecom.

Sridhar Pai, co-author of the report and founder of Tonse Telecom, says, "The recent auctioning of 3G and 4G spectrum will unleash a broadband economic driver thus far evasive to India. The unmet demand for broadband resulting from poor wire-line infrastructure will be met by a combination of 3G and 4G technologies, including WCDMA/ HSPA, 802.16e and TD-LTE, over the next five years.”

The India telecom market will transform from a voice-centric industry to a data-economy and This transformation will be accompanied by structural changes in the carrier space including a consolidation wave which could strike as early as 2011, says Adlane Fellah, Research Director at Maravedis. 

Analyst says that a vibrant device eco-system, a rich native content value-chain, an extensive service distribution network, and high-tenancy passive infrastructure-sharing combined with rock-bottom voice ARPUs and high-spectrum investments have created a heady mix pushing operators to move into the 3G/4G opportunity as their next growth engine.