Government initiatives like Smart City & increasing foreign interest driving India's networks market: IDC

NEW DELHI: Government programs such as the Smart City initiative and increasing foreign interest in infrastructural development are driving the growth in networks segment in India, US-based research firm International Data Corporation ( IDC) said in a report.

The Ethernet Switch market stood at $ 131.2 million (in terms of end-user revenue) during the third quarter of 2014, growing 2.1% on-quarter and 18.7% on-year, IDC’s APeJ quarterly finding said.

Education, professional services and communication and media verticals topped the list in contributing to the India wireless local area network (WLAN) market during the quarter.

"The recent announcement to have 25 hotspot enabled cities by June 2015, the WLAN revenues are expected to touch the roof during the coming quarters,” Suman Bisht, Market Analyst – Enterprise Networking said.

Bisht also said that the market is increasingly getting defined by the telco deals for 3G and LTE backhauls and expansions.

India’s WLAN market has witnessed a 12.3% growth quarter-on-quarter and 25.4% year-on-year during Q3 2014, and registered $43.2 million as end-user revenue, according to IDC.

"Government announcement of smart cities, Wi-Fi at stations and other places are sure to boost business in this market in the coming quarters." Gaurav Sharma, Research Manager – IDC Enterprise (India) said.