3G Adoption in India

To better understand the attitudes of most Indians with regards to mobile devices, I looked at a study published in June 2010 in the International Journal of Next-Generation Networks. Entitled “The Forecasting of 3G Market in India Based on Revised Technology Acceptance Model,” this study was a collaborative effort by some renowned Indian physicians, professors of engineering, and application developers. They define 3G services to include “wide-area wireless voice telephone, video calls, and wireless data, all in a mobile environment… [3G] allows simultaneous use of speech and data services and higher data rates.” 3G has been made possible in India as a result of 2-8 Mbps bandwidth availability. Some of its applications include (a) Mobile TV, (b) Video Conferencing, (c) Tele-Medicine (where a remote person can be given attention by a doctor located at a distant place), (d) Location-Based Services, and (e) Video On-Demand.

To assess the factors affecting adoption of 3G services in India, the researchers used the following measures: (1) perceived usefulness, (2) perceived risk, (3) perceived ease of use, (4) individual characteristics, (5) cost of adoption, (6) perceived service quality, (7) apprehensiveness, (8) subjective norms, (9) perceived lack of knowledge, and (10) intrinsic motivation. The researches collected their data by surveying, emailing and interviewing students from schools/colleges/institutions in urban areas, employees of Government/Private sector and highly educated housewives who use 3G services. Of the 400 respondents, 65% were male and 45% were female. The respondents were asked to assess the eight listed parameters with a set of statements on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree).

The results were tabulated as follows:

Item	1	2	3	4	5
Perceived Usefulness	12.5	60	25	2.5	0
Perceived Risk	62.5	37.5	0	0	0
Perceived Ease of Use	37.5	50	12.5	0	0
Individual Characteristics	50	25	25	0	0
Cost of Adoption	50	37.5	12.5	0	0
Perceived Service Quality	25	50	25	0	0
Apprehensiveness	50	25	25	0	0
Subjective Norms	0	50	37.5	12.5	0
Perceived Lack of Knowledge	12.5	37.5	25	12.5	12.5
Intrinsic Motivation	37.5	37.5	25	0	0

From the results, it is clear that perceived risk and cost of adoption have the greatest (negative) effect on Indians’ attitudes towards using 3G services. The next two items that has a strong (positive) effect is perceived ease of use and, consequently, perceived usefulness. Intrinsic motivation and perceived service quality play a significant role in determining people’s attitudes as well. Apprehensiveness and individual characteristics are slightly less significant. Surprisingly, subjective norms and perceived lack of knowledge have no effect.

The data presented in this study is useful not just to telecommunication companies, service providers, businesses and banking services, but to the general public too. Yet, there are certain limitations that the researchers themselves note. First, the sample size is relatively small as compared to the number of mobile users in India. Second, alternative models should be considered in future research to make comparisons about which model best represents the typical Indian consumer in relation to the adoption of 3G services. A third shortfall is that this study was limited to urban settings. To truly examine the success story of the telecommunications market, rural penetration and connectivity are important factors to acknowledge as well.