In the good old days, Indians would wait for years for a telephone line to be installed in their homes and workplaces.
Until the early 1990s, a phone was seen as a luxury.
But today, India's vast underclass is almost as well connected as the rich in what is hailed as a telecom revolution that has delivered mobile telephony to nearly 600 million people in just a little over a decade.
The nation is now preparing for another giant leap into the digital world as it auctions off its airwaves for third-generation (3G) services to enable super-fast multimedia streaming on wireless networks.
Industry leaders Vodafone Essar, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Telecom and six other companies began bidding last week for slots in 22 zones -- called circles -- of India's telecom market.
The auction, with a reserve price of $787 million, is being held online on a secure Web site, according to officials.
The process is expected to run for days or weeks. The government has not set a closing date for the auction.
The government wants to award the 3G frequency space later this year, said Satyendra Prakash, a spokesman for the communications ministry. - CNN
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Topic: India on 3G Network (Read 593 times)