The growth rate of the structured cabling segment also experienced slowdown, tripping from 42% in FY 2007-08 to 12.9% in the last financial year. Some of the badly hit segments under the enterprise equipment category were router, switch, and modem. The growth rate for router came down to 10.5% in FY 2008-09 from 26% in FY 2007-08; and for switch the growth rate fell from 17% to 1.5% over the same period.

The modem industry saw a deceleration and the revenues slumped to Rs 356 crore from Rs 390 crore, a fall of 8.7%. Network integration grew at 10%, while the growth rate for the segment in FY 2007-08 was 20%.

Mobile phones continued to eat into the fixed phones' growth. Since most of the wireless subscribers came from semi-urban and rural areas, mobile handsets revenues showed single digit growth at 7.9%. This is in line with market expectations.

Losing to mobile, the fixed market has been shrinking over a couple of years. During FY 2008-09, the fixed phones market declined to Rs 760 crore from Rs 1,200 crore in the previous fiscal. This predictable observation can be best explained by the current market trend. The Indian telecom industry is witnessing frantic growth in the wireless space. Also, new technologies like 3G and WiMax have been fuelling the growth of mobile in the country. Availability of feature-rich mid-range handsets in the market is the secret behind an explosive growth in the mobile industry.