Sunday, June 19 2005 10:08 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Singapore: The proposed production unit of Finnish cellular handset maker Nokia in India would roll out products in second half of 2006, said a top company official.

"The Chennai plant would start rolling out handsets after June next year," Nokia's Senior Vice President (Asia Pacific) Rajeev Suri said.

Investment for the 10th global production unit in Chennai has been pegged in the range of $100-150 million.

Nokia is committed to offering high quality handsets to the Indian market, one the main booming markets in Asia Pacific at low cost, Suri said.

In order to ensure low cost voice and data delivery, the company is focussing on site-less base stations in places like Bihar and Rajasthan where telecom density is yet to pick-up.

Though GSM network is still dominant in India, Suri said, the 3G (third generation) mobile communication network is also making rapid inroads in the country.

The majority of voice network growth will come from lower income segments, he said and added, "Growth is driven by lower total cost of ownership."

Nokia estimates 300 million subscribers during 2005-08 in APAC region with Indian market contributing half of this base.

On what would determine dominance in fiercely competitive mobile handset market in India, he said a combination of right pricing with economies of scale in production would be crucial in deciding market dominance.