I have been always a bit apprehensive in terms of weather India can make a mark in terms of data growth in the mobile segment. Cost of GPRS used to be a major bottleneck.
In US, the unlimited GPRS charges vary from around $20 - $25 per month. And in India the charges are around Rs 500 per month ($11-12). The cost is huge for both markets.
But recently I came to know that companies like Airtel do offer unlimited GPRS package for just Rs 99 per month ($2-3 approx.) for corporate plans (companies that offer their employees corporate mobile connections). I think that's a very positive trend and will help in boosting mobile data usage.
One another stuff that's going positive is that atleast Airtel has automated the process of doing settings for GPRS. Last week, I changed my sim card in multiple handsets, and I got sms with the GPRS settings automatically. Six months back I had to call customer care everytime I wanted GPRS connection on a new handset or do a manual sms to get the settings.
I will look forward to the day when GPRS is supported free of cost with every mobile sim card (the cost is included in the carrier's standard package) and the carrier can still make money by providing services based on GPRS.
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