India’s rapid mobile revolution

GOA, India – Last week we posted news of a bunch of new handsets tailored at emerging markets, punctuated by Nokia’s recent survey trip in rural India that highlighted a genuine excitement for camera phones. It’s this local enthusiasm when paired with devices and services designed for their environments, that promises to inject serious speed into India’s mobile development.

In fact, predictions of 500 million mobile phone users by 2010 have been voiced D Shivakumar, vice president and managing director of Nokia India.

Telecom Tiger has reported that D Shivakumar went on to say:

“Services provided through mobiles will open a window of opportunity for advertisers in the country. The market will get divided into three sections: the top-end limited to some 50 million customers, the mid-range comprising around 150 million subscribers, and the third tier, claiming to be unique to India, dominated by low-cost basic handsets with minimal functionality.”

Then there’s the Internet side of things:

“Half the number of subscribers will access the Internet through mobile phone.”

TopNews covered the story, reporting:

“About 60 million users would have mobile video capability, while 100 million users will prefer mobile music services.”

In related news, India’s pioneering fusion musician is releasing his new album, Avengi Ja Nahi, exclusively on N-Gage:

“The launch observes the first ever launch of a music album on a mobile device before its worldwide premiere. The yet to be released album, ‚ÄòAvengi Ja Nahi‚Äô, comprises of 9 numbers and will be exclusively available for a month on Nokia Nseries handsets; N95, the N70 Music Edition and the N73 Music Edition.”