"Some 7.64 million new phone connections were added in India during September, taking the total number of subscribers to 248.66 million, according to figures from market regulator Trai. That's up 46 percent from 170.02 million in September 2006. In the mobile segment, the number of subscribers rose by 7.80 million to a total 209.08 million, up 61 percent versus 129.54 million a year earlier. In the wireline segment, the subscriber base fell 2 percent to 39.58 million versus 40.48 million a year ago. The overall teledensity increased to 21.85 percent in September from 21.20 percent in August. The number of broadband subscribers reached 2.67 million at the end of September, after an addition of 0.11 million broadband connections during the month"

"Mobile phone subscriber base in India reaches 20.43 Cr out of which 15.33 Cr are GSM subscribers and 5.10 Cr are subscribers of CDMA services. Airtel has the largest market share of 23.92% followed by Reliance (17.44%), Vodaphone (16.45%) and BSNL (14.83%). Both GSM and CDMA services have almost equal growth rate of 3.7% and 3.5% respectively"

*BenQ Wins Five 2007 Good Design Awards*

"BenQ announces that five of its leading lifestyle designed products have been awarded the prestigious 2007 Good Design Awards (the so called “G-mark Award”). The awarded products include LCD monitor, digital camera, mobile phone and digital projector. The 2007 Good Design Awards marks BenQ’s consecutive four-year winnings, adding BenQ’s total Good Design Awards to 34. “The awarded products are recognized for their functionality and design originality, which is a proud brand distinction for BenQ,” said Manfred Wang, Director of BenQ Lifestyle Design Center. “We will continue to create products that bring versatility, functionality and innovative design to meet the expectations of our consumers.”
Within a time span of 6 years, BenQ has received recognitions from the global design community of iF, red dot (Germany), Good Design (Japan) and IDEA (US) design awards respectively, adding the total number of international design awards to 188. The specific BenQ award winners this year include the E1000 digital camera, T33 mobile phone, E72 Smartphone, FP241VW LCD monitor, and CP120 digital projector.

*Nokia chooses India for latest mobile phone launch *

"Nokia chose Delhi, India, for Thursday's launch of seven mobile phones for emerging markets, including two intended for shared use by families or entire villages.

Nokia's 1200 and 1208 models offer call-time tracking and multiple phonebooks, the company said. To help manage airtime costs, the call-time tracking feature allows consumers and village phone entrepreneurs to preset a time or cost limit on individual calls, automatically ending the call after the limit has been reached, it said.

India had 166 million mobile subscribers at the end of March, up 68 percent over a year earlier, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Most of these subscribers are in urban areas. Large mobile service providers have identified the rural market as the next big opportunity. The government is also subsidizing roll-outs of mobile services in rural markets, and has proposed that operators share infrastructure to reduce costs.

A number of multinational mobile phone vendors, including Nokia, have started manufacturing phones in India. Nokia also has other operations in the country including a research and development center and a network operations center.

The Nokia 1200, with a monochrome screen, will be available this quarter with an estimated retail price of about $48 before subsidies or taxes. The Nokia 1208, with a color VGA-resolution screen, will be available in the third quarter of this year with an estimated retail price of $65, Nokia said.

Nokia also launched four other low-cost GSM phones, including the entry-level Nokia 1650 and Nokia 2660, and the Nokia 2630 and 2760 with features such as a built-in camera, an e-mail client, an FM radio and Bluetooth connectivity.

The Nokia 1650 and 2660 will be available this quarter, with the 1650 priced at about $75, and the 2660 at about $115. The Nokia 2630 and Nokia 2760 will be available in the third quarter of this year. The estimated price for the Nokia 2630 will be around $115 and for the Nokia 2760 around $122.

The company also launched Nokia 2505, an entry-level phone based on the CDMA (code division multiple access) standard for markets in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, China, and Latin America. The phone will be available in select markets in this quarter. Nokia did not disclose the pricing of this product.

*Reliance announces Classic Celebrations - Color handsets @ Rs 999*

The redefining price point from Reliance Mobile is a "No Conditions" attached transparent total handset price, available across all pre & post-paid plans. Reliance customers are free to choose from a range of attractive tariff & validity propositions best suited to their needs. The attractively priced Classic 732 scores highly on look, feel and form factor. The Classic 732 has a large phonebook (500 x 3), SMS on call reject, speakerphone and a host of other features that are rarely found in most entry level colour phones.

Reliance Communications had earlier launched Classic monochrome handsets at an iconic price of Rs 777 (sub- $ 20), resulting in a paradigm shift in the affordability levels of entry level, feature-rich handset for the Indian consumer. The Classic range of handsets includes Colour-FM series, Colour display and monochrome handsets with colour film display and are supported by an extensive nationwide after sales service network"