India's burgeoning population is going to get even more well-connected in the days to come. One supposes this is great news for consumers, more so for the telecom sector.

To be precise, India's mobile phone user base is expected to cross 500 million mobile phone users by 2010 -- this according to Nokia. Out of which, 60 million users will have mobile video capability and 100 million will prefer mobile music services.

Speaking at the Goafest Conclave, D Shivakumar, vice president and managing director of Nokia India, predicted that half the subscribers will be accessing the Internet through mobile phones. In his view, services delivered through mobiles will open a window of opportunity for advertisers in the country. He went on to say that the market will be divided into three sections: the top-end limited to some 50 million customers, the mid-range comprising around 150 million subscribers, and the third tier -- claimed to be unique to India -- dominated by low-cost basic handsets with minimal functionality.

While it may be good for India to have so many mobile phone users by 2010, it may be quite another thing for them to experience better network connectivity and cheaper calling rates by that time.