India to become third largest telecom market in 2010

India is on its way to being the third-largest telecom and ICT market by 2010 Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). Mobile phone subscriptions have reached 41 mln in over 2,000 cities, with GSM and CDMA segments topping 32 mln and nine mln subscriptions respectively, Modi stated. The figure amounts to around two mln new mobile-phone subscriptions every month, compared to 300,000 a month in 2002, Modi stated. By 2007, subscriptions are expected to climb to 100 mln. India currently has 45 mln fixed-line telephone subscriptions, accounting for about 4.5% of the population.