Future Service Providers

The State-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd is first off the block and has floated 10 Billion Indian Rupee draft tender to roll out four million mobile lines on 3G technology. The others aren’t just watching. Almost all the Global System for Mobile (GSM)-based operators, including Airtel, Hutch and Idea, have already applied for the radio frequency required to launch 3G services.

India’s wireless services industry is likely to push into 3G services this year as carriers roll out broadband access in big cities and move deeper into untapped rural areas, the head of Ericsson India said.