In 2007, India hosted about 100,000 telecom towers, considerably less than the current tower count of 450,000-500,000. Over the past seven years, operators and independent tower companies have built an average of 50,000 new towers per year and, as a result, telecom coverage now extends to 90% of the Indian territory.
From 2010 to 2012, dozens of new mobile network operators entered the Indian market attracted by its growth potential and frivolous license regime. In the meantime, towercos kept themselves busy building thousands of towers every year. However, fierce competition among carriers, often relying on cut-throat offers to attract subscribers, forced several players to exit the Indian market.
