India to have 600 mn mobile subscribers by month end: Kamat

Minister of state for communications and information technology Gurudas Kamat said on Tuesday that India is expected to have 600 million mobile phone subscribers by the end of this month.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of Convergence India 2010, Kamat said that the mobile subscriber base, at a teledensity of 47.88 per cent, has reached the expected level. He added that both regulatory regime and innovation, and the enterprise of India’s private players have made it possible for the industry to witness such huge growth in the mobile subscriber base.
As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the number of mobile phone subscribers stood at about 545 million at the end of January. Wireless teledensity was close to 46.4 per cent at that time.
The minister also said, “While formulating the policies, we keep in mind that the best telecom technologies are available to underprivileged sections also. The rural teledensity was 21.19 per cent at the end of 2009.” He added that availability of cheaper handsets can prove to be a boon for people with low income and can enrich their lives. Kamat also emphasised the need for region friendly services to enable greater penetration of mobile services.
Commenting on the need for more spectrum, he said that providing the desired spectrum will enable service providers to increase their subscriber base and added that it is important to use the spectrum judiciously.