WITH 6.6m new subscribers a month, India is in the grip of an unprecedented mobile-phone boom. Figures released in September showed that India had overtaken China in new subscribers per month for the first time. India still lags behind China in total subscribers, with a mere 136m (up from 75m a year ago), compared with China's 449m. But India's government is confident that this gap can be quickly closed, and that it will meet its target of 500m phone subscribers by 2010.see original article
The boom has become the source of much national pride. It is arguably a more widely celebrated example of the “New India” than the high-tech offshoring industry centred on Bangalore, because poorer Indians are participating in it too. Industry bosses are quick to point out that the spread of mobile phones is bringing labourers, farmers and fishermen into the economic mainstream. 'An unemployed person with a phone suddenly feels part of the nation,' says one top executive.
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