Cal-Comp officials said the company plans to set up a joint venture with the client to manufacture handsets in India, with the planned investment project likely to be carried out in the first half of 2008.

With the entry of Cal-Comp into handsets manufacture 51 million handsets likely to be made in India this year. India produced nearly 31 million mobile phones in 2006 worth about $5 billion.

The move to place a large handset order and enter into a JV with an established player will help RCOM preempt Vodafone-Essar, which plans to launch a series of ultra low-cost bundled handsets (mobile connection and a handset) in collaboration with China''s ZTE to get a bigger pie of rural India and increase its market share. Vodafone''s low-cost handsets are expected to be priced between Rs1,000 and Rs1,600.

RCOM sold over a million units of the Classic range within a week of its launch. RCOM followed it up with the launch of colour handsets beginning at Rs1,234 and sold over a half a million in the first 10 days. Subsequently, RCOM introduced FM radio mobiles at Rs1,888 and Rs1,919.