<p>Gaining popularity among all sections of the society are the dual and triple SIM card phones which are available on the market at a starting price of Rs 1,200 with an in-built mp3 player and camera. With service providers luring customers with attractive offers, people are buying multiple SIM cards to suit their needs.<br /><br />According to Naveen Mishra, Lead Telecoms Analyst, IDC India, “The Indian mobile market saw a unique trend of multi SIM phones capturing 38.5 per cent of the market. This could be attributed to several new service providers responding with highly competitive tariff plans to a price sensitive mobile telephony user market.”<br /><br />With increasing of usage of the internet on mobile, youngsters are on the lookout for connections which provide faster connection. Student of Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Suhas remarks, “Some of the service providers give wonderful offers for making calls or messages, but their internet services are really poor. So I use one SIM for making calls and another for surfing the internet. He said, “Sometimes using the net becomes essential especially when we are doing our projects, so the best way is to use the mobile to get the information quickly.”<br /><br />Another reason why people go for multiple SIMs is due to the offers provided by cellular service providers. Chitra said, “A few providers give unlimited calls to one particular number. So you can use that number for calling home and use another SIM card to send messages or call other friends.”<br /><br />Marketing executive Ravi says that persons in top managerial positions who frequently travel abroad can use these dual SIM phones effectively. He said that international sim card provide attractive offers which people move globally can use to their advantage. <br /><br />Another reason he observes is that sometimes the company provides an official SIM to its employees. “But I would also like to retain my personal number so that I don’t lose my contacts,” he says.<br /><br />Employee of an IT company, Akash said that he owns both pre- and post-paid connections. Explaining the use, Akash said, “My postpaid connection gives me free calls, while my prepaid SIM gives me messages at a lower cost.”<br /><br />With the increasing mobile service providers and cellular phones the customers are spoilt for choice and the dual SIM phones are bound to make a mark on the mobile sales.<br /><br />Mobile stats<br /><br />According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) the total wireless subscribers reached 652.42 million in the country by the end of July.<br /><br />Market intelligence and advisory firm IDC India said that mobile handset sales grew to 38.63 million units during April-June 2010, up 6.3 per cent over the previous quarter. Multi Sim mobile phones account for 38.5 per cent of total sales during April-June 2010, up from a mere one per cent in April-June 2009 quarter.<br /></p>
<p>Gaining popularity among all sections of the society are the dual and triple SIM card phones which are available on the market at a starting price of Rs 1,200 with an in-built mp3 player and camera. With service providers luring customers with attractive offers, people are buying multiple SIM cards to suit their needs.<br /><br />According to Naveen Mishra, Lead Telecoms Analyst, IDC India, “The Indian mobile market saw a unique trend of multi SIM phones capturing 38.5 per cent of the market. This could be attributed to several new service providers responding with highly competitive tariff plans to a price sensitive mobile telephony user market.”<br /><br />With increasing of usage of the internet on mobile, youngsters are on the lookout for connections which provide faster connection. Student of Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Suhas remarks, “Some of the service providers give wonderful offers for making calls or messages, but their internet services are really poor. So I use one SIM for making calls and another for surfing the internet. He said, “Sometimes using the net becomes essential especially when we are doing our projects, so the best way is to use the mobile to get the information quickly.”<br /><br />Another reason why people go for multiple SIMs is due to the offers provided by cellular service providers. Chitra said, “A few providers give unlimited calls to one particular number. So you can use that number for calling home and use another SIM card to send messages or call other friends.”<br /><br />Marketing executive Ravi says that persons in top managerial positions who frequently travel abroad can use these dual SIM phones effectively. He said that international sim card provide attractive offers which people move globally can use to their advantage. <br /><br />Another reason he observes is that sometimes the company provides an official SIM to its employees. “But I would also like to retain my personal number so that I don’t lose my contacts,” he says.<br /><br />Employee of an IT company, Akash said that he owns both pre- and post-paid connections. Explaining the use, Akash said, “My postpaid connection gives me free calls, while my prepaid SIM gives me messages at a lower cost.”<br /><br />With the increasing mobile service providers and cellular phones the customers are spoilt for choice and the dual SIM phones are bound to make a mark on the mobile sales.<br /><br />Mobile stats<br /><br />According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) the total wireless subscribers reached 652.42 million in the country by the end of July.<br /><br />Market intelligence and advisory firm IDC India said that mobile handset sales grew to 38.63 million units during April-June 2010, up 6.3 per cent over the previous quarter. Multi Sim mobile phones account for 38.5 per cent of total sales during April-June 2010, up from a mere one per cent in April-June 2009 quarter.<br /></p>
