India's growing demand for wireless telephony has attracted a leading global manufacturer of wireless telephones to launch a subsidiary in Bangalore that will help its expansion plans in the region.

Kyocera Wireless Corp, manufacturer of CDMA wireless phones, headquartered in Japan, has announced the establishment of Kyocera Wireless India that will comprise engineering and production resources in India.

"The creation of Kyocera Wireless India is important because it gives Kyocera a regional wireless presence in mainland Asia, placing us strategically among several of the fastest growing wireless markets in the world," Tsuyoshi Mano, President, Kyocera Wireless, said in a statement.

KWI has started operating as a team of 50 engineers headed by Managing Director Samartha Nagabhushanam. KWI plans to grow the staff quickly by combining engineering, research and development, and marketing and sales departments to help the group complement Kyocera's existing wireless business hubs in North America and Japan.

"India offers an excellent business climate and Samartha has assembled a motivated team with great expertise. KWI will help us strengthen Kyocera as a global brand of choice in the wireless industry," Mano said.

India's wireless subscriber base grew 102 percent from 2002 to 2003 and is expected to rise from 14 million to more than 120 million subscribers by 2008.

Kyocera's presence in India has been strengthened by its relationship with Indian shipping and assembly partner XL Telecom Ltd headquartered in Secunderabad. Current collaboration between XL and Kyocera includes complete product approval and quality validation, technical support for Indian carriers, customer management and exclusive operation of the company's authorized India service center network.

Kyocera, which has established relation with state-run telecom firms like Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd, recently won a tender from BSNL to provide 80,000 handsets for use throughout India across BSNL networks.

It has also got a tender to provide 75,000 handsets to MTNL for use in Delhi and Mumbai areas.

Nagabhushanam said that one of the immediate goals of the Indian subsidiary is to enlist the right talent and build on its existing engineering strengths. "To become one of the leading handset manufacturers in India, it is crucial to have a dedicated team that is in the same time zone as the carriers and one that truly understands the Indian CDMA market needs," he said.