Direct to satellite

A glaring lack of infrastructure at times encourages adoption of latest technology since it would be more expensive to start from scratch to support older methods. India has seen this in a big way with the growth in cellular coverage and penetration.

The country is on its way to becoming the second largest cellular market in the world, with cellphones crossing landlines a few years ago. Landlines have actually started declining now. ATMs are another example driven by the urge to avoid contact with workers stuck in a different era.

The leapfrogging is also happening in other small but interesting ways. For too long Indians had to be content with babble on state-run radios. Private FMs were allowed, but reluctantly, with the government controlling the markets they could operate in. Then came satellite radio, specifically Worldspace. Despite its seemingly high cost (at least by Indian standards), people are taking to it in droves. The choice of high-quality, ad-free, 24-hour channels without the government-drivel is just too appealing. From individual homes to restaurants, WorldSpace seems to have become the default radio.

Now, if only some cellphone maker could bundle a satellite radio into a newer model!

BTW, Worldspace is a public company, and trades under WRSP on the Nasdaq.