Nokia to tap software from India

NEW DELHI: Finland's Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile phones, plans to increase its market share in India and boost software outsourcing from the country, a top company official said on Thursday.

"We have a very strong market share in India currently," Sari Baldauf, president of Nokia Networks, told reporters in the capital where Nokia launched low-cost cellular handsets and GSM equipment.

"We will certainly aim at making that grow. We are investing a lot in trade and distribution".

Nokia is a leader in India's mobile phone handset market but did not reveal market share.

It competes with Lucent Technologies Inc, Alcatel, Nortel Networks Corp and Motorola Inc to provide telecom gear to Indian companies.

The launch of low-cost cellular handsets and GSM equipment move reflects the increasing importance of developing markets like India and Russia which offer telecom gear makers millions of potential users at a time when sales are slowing in markets like Europe.

Late on Wednesday, Baldauf said she expected the Indian mobile phone market to grow to 100 million users within the next three to four years.

India has nearly 17 million cellular users and more than 3.5 million customers of rival limited mobility services, which work on CDMA technology.

There are more than a dozen cellular services providers in India including the largest player Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd., 16 percent of which, is owned by Singapore Telecommunications -- and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).

Limited radius services are provided by, powerful business groups - Reliance and Tatas. BSNL, India's largest telecom firm by sales, is also a major player in this $4.2 billion segment, which began operations two years ago.

Sari said the telecom giant would also increase its software outsourcing from India's booming software industry.

"We also have a lot of software development in India and I see that growing in future," she said.

(C)Reuters