Abstract
India announced its first National Telecom Policy in 1994 and since then its telecommunications Industry has witnessed tremendous growth. At a teledensity of 89.92% (TRAI 2019), it is the second largest telecom market in the world. The policy maker, Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and the regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) have taken several initiatives to ensure affordable services to telecom users. TRAI also drives initiatives to increase the level of awareness about telecom industry among users. To analyse impact of these initiatives by TRAI and DoT, this study presents an objective assessment of user's awareness and their assessment of affordability of telecom services. A structured questionnaire is used to collect data by surveying a sample of 408 telecom users. It was found that half of the respondents were aware of DoT; more than half were aware of the regulator TRAI and Indian governments vision for telecommunications and 85% of survey respondents found telecom services affordable. The level of affordability varied across gender, age group and education levels. Through regression analysis, the study found that awareness about telecom industry influences users' assessment of service affordability. Hence, TRAI and DoT should take actions to increase the level of awareness, which will improve users' perception of affordability and may lead to increased adoption of telecom services. In addition, it is suggested that affordability of female users can be addressed through customized tariff plan and schemes.
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