Prompted by a move by the Indian government to open up the airwaves to fixed-line businesses to bolster the level of teledensity across the country by 2010, Reliance plans to use Qualcomm’s CDMA2000 1x technology to offer mobile services starting in June. It expects to sign up at least 5.1 million users by the end of the year and 35 million users within the first three years.

Presently, Reliance’s telecom presence is limited to cellular phone services using GSM technology in six provinces with a total of 334, 319 subscribers as of December of last year.

"With recent positive regulatory policy changes in India that allow the provision of limited mobility wireless services under a basic telephone license, CDMA is an attractive solution for Wireless Local Loop (WLL) operators," said Jeff Jacobs, president of global development for Qualcomm.

With a diverse population and low teledensity, CDMA is considered an ideal technology, according to Qualcomm. CDMA technology is advantageous not only in densely populated areas, where lying of cable is neither easy nor economically viable, but also in remote rural areas where subscriber density is low.

"CDMA2000 1x handsets are expected to be introduced in India soon," said Mukesh Ambani, vice chairman of Reliance Industries Limited. " For the first time, Indian consumers will have the choice of wide-screen, color display, multi-feature rich handsets at attractive prices."