India is expected to launch its 3G mobile services by late 2007, says its Communication Minister.

According to Indian minister for Communications and Information Technology, Dayanidhi Maran, India is expected to introduce 3G mobile services by 2nd half of the coming year. He said that the process required for launching 3G has already been started in India

India has recently given approval to four main operators including Airtel, for testing 3G mobile equipments.

Operators can therefore offer better Web access, on-demand movies and high-end gaming services to their customers using 3G technology. Maran also unveiled plans of govt. to provide a mobile phone in every 2 rural homes by 2010 accounting to around 80 million mobile connections.

"India's mobile phone subscriber base is growing at a rate of 82.2%. The Internet Access Market in India is all set to grow twice the existing value what with the increase in de-regularization, literacy level, increasing consumer awareness, PC penetration etc. Broadband Wireless Market in India is all set to take off in a big way. Over 70% of the households in India have no access to wired lines and the number of mobile phone users far outnumbers PC owners. Such a scenario presents a very good opportunity for Wireless Broadband Services", as per the report "Indian Telecom Sector Analysis (2006-2007)" published by RNCOS.

Maran added that all villages with population over 1,000 would be provided with mobile access by 2007. He saw the non-involvement of rural population as a major limitation towards growth of mobile industry in India, which is presently unable to benefit from mobile phones due to insufficient coverage. He also aimed at increasing Internet access to villages in India, identifying the inability to read & understand English as a major hurdle.