Spurred by infrastructure upgrades, information technology and telecom market, in the Asia Pacific region, would grow by 11 per cent each in 2003 over the previous year, which will be worth $81 billion, says the International Data Corporation survey.

These were among the top 10 predictions by IDC for the IT and communications sector, which also states that top Indian services companies -- TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Satyam Computers will emerge as key global players riding the global wave of cost-cutting.

Wireless LAN, digital imaging, online gaming, converged devices, networked attached storage, VOIP and Linux will make important gains in the year ahead, it said.

"IDC expects a cautious gradual IT market recovery to take place in the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan) in 2003, driven by infrastruture upgrades", Piyush Singh, MD, IDC, Asia Pacific said.

Growth in software will be driven via modular implemetation and by software that simplifies operation.

IDC said over the next 12 years there would be more than 100 million PCs and 40 million cellular phones in the region outside Japan.

There will be more than 165 million Internet users and 25 million mobile Internet users by the end of 2003.