Telecom sector revenues to touch $35 bln by 2010

New Delhi, May 23 (UNI) Continuing the growth trajectory, country's telecom sector is likely to achieve revenues to the tune of 35 billion dollars by 2010.

A joint study by industry body Assocham and international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers points out that the country's telecom sector has grown rapidly over the last few years and clocking revenues of over 22 billion dollars in FY07.

It added that even though the profit margins of the telecom operators might seem to have dipped, India is poised to nearly double its subscriber base to 500 million by 2010.

Currently, India is the second largest global wireless market, after China, with the subscriber base of nearly 250 million.

The study said that during the 11th Plan Period, the sector would attract investment to the tune of 76.6 billion dollars.

And with rollout of services like 3G and WiMax, the sector would get further boost as it would make high speed data transfers possible, it added.

The study said the sector is still faced with challenges like low rural tele-density, limited bandwidth and infrastructure, despite the sector moving into the high growth trajectory and the government's decisions would play a crucial role in the further growth of the sector.

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