According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in Delhi, India went from 75.94 million (end of December 2005) to 149.5 million (December 2006) mobile subscribers. In other words the Indian market gained over 74 million new customers, a 97% increase. The boom is thanks to mobile service operators cutting down the average revenue per user (ARPU) – plans for e-mail and music downloads will get the ARPU back up.
As in many countries with an expanding mobile telephone market, the "fixed-line" telephone market has dropped over the year 2006: from 48.84 million to 40.43 million. The Indian government is aiming to break the 500 million telephone mark by 2010. It is fairly obvious that the majority of this number will be mobile phones.
It is no wonder that foreign mobile telephone operators (which hold 74% of the market) and wireless equipment vendors are so keen on expanding their businesses to the Asian country. Although the Indian government has relaxed rules for foreign businesses, it is strongly promoting local manufacturing in India in order to compensate the hardships semi-skilled workers are going through.