242 million mobile subscribers in India

It is estimated that, by 2012, India will have 490 million mobile subscribers.

In contrast, broadband penetration in the country is low, with 3.24 million subscribers. One of the hurdles to the growth of broadband services is not having the right of way, according to telecommunications service provider Reliance Communications.

Fibre optic Wimax could be an option but the spectrum that has been given by the government does not make it a cost-effective proposition.

Reliance Communications runs an operation that is large and complex. The company plans to add 40,000 towers over the next two years. Reliance has several divisions, including Reliance Mobile, the PCO business, Reliance India Call and World Mobile.

Rated among "Asia's Top 5 Most Valuable Telecom Companies", Reliance Communications is India's foremost integrated telecommunications service provider. The company, with a customer base of over 40 million including over 1.3 million individual overseas retail customers, ranks among the Top 10 Asian Telecom companies by number of customers. Reliance Communications' corporate clientele includes 600 Indian and 250 multinational corporations, and over 200 global carriers.