Mobile expo in Delhi next week  ( October '15,2005, HBL)

DURING the first six months of the current fiscal, the cell phone subscriber base grew by 12.83 million in the country. The total number of users at the end of September stood at 65.05 million, up from five million in 2001, said Mr Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director, Nokia India, at a press conference here on Friday to announce Mobile Expo 2005.

This spells a 53.5 per cent jump in subscriber base since September 2004. Mr Sharma further said that the total investments in the sector stood at over Rs 50,000 crore and the industry generated Rs 14,500 crore per annum for the Government. Mobile Expo 2005, a platform for the mobile industry players to interact with one another and also with end consumers, would be jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Indian Cellular Association from October 21-24 in the Capital.

Participating companies include Airtel, America Online, Imate, LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, Reliance Infocomm, Sagem, Sony Ericsson and Tata Indicom, among others. Besides mobile handset manufacturers and network operators, large number of related services providers and equipment manufacturers would also participate in the expo.

About two lakh people are expected to visit the expo, said the chamber.