The government today said the upcoming auction of radiowaves for the third generation mobile

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services will open the doors for foreign players to make an entry into fast growing Indian telecom market.

The Economic Survey 2009-10 tabled in Parliament today said that "... This (launch of 3G technology) will provide existing operators a good opportunity as also foreign players to make an entry into the Indian market and bring in new technology and innovation."

There is no cap on the number of service providers in each circle. For the 3G telephony, the government is planning to allow three to four private players in each circle depending upon the spectrum availability.

The auction of 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum scheduled to be held on April 9. The government had earlier indicated that interested foreign entities could take part in the auction directly.

The Survey said that the introduction of BWA services will enhance the broadband penetration in the country. The broadband subscriber base stood at 7.98 million by the end of December 2009.

Terming the growth of wireless mobile telephony in the country "spectacular", the Survey said the target of having 600 million subscribers by the end of 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12) has been achieved before the end of 2012.