India is the fastest growing cellular market in the world. Over 260 million people in India now own mobile phones & this is expected to reach 500 million by 2010. As a mobile base, India is recognized as the second biggest mobile growth market after China with over 278 million subscribers, a subscription base that is set to exceed 737 million connections by 2012. This figure is forecasted to increase by 36% to 775 million by the end of 2012. India will have some 730 million mobile phone customers by 2012 and every fifth among this user base will be using a 3G connection.

3G is expected to facilitate the implementation of important e-initiatives such as e-governance, e-education, and tele-medicine to name few. 3G is expected to bridge the digital divide than any other measure or policy introduced by the government. 3G can also be instrumental in alleviating the severe spectrum crunch being faced by many operators, especially in the metros and big cities, where there is not enough 2G spectrum to fuel the aggressive growth. Because of its higher voice capacity, 3G could also facilitate the delivery of far more cost-effective voice services.

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