During the last ten years, the HCL-Nokia relationship has witnessed strong growth in the Indian GSM handset market resulting in a significant market share gain for Nokia, and the increased need for a distribution network that will meet the projected market growth of 200 million subscribers by 2007. The relationship with Nokia has been a very satisfying one, and the agreement between Nokia and HCL reaffirms Nokia's commitment to the growing Indian market, to ensure that mobile devices are accessible to more consumers in cities and towns across India.

Mobile penetration is getting into the next phase of growth of which a major portion is expected to come from smaller towns & remote locations. There is a clear pick up in demand. The challenges ahead would be to penetrate deeper, preserve market share & address competitive pressure. Owing to this exponential growth in the market and in order to have much greater depth, align to global policy of balanced channel mix and also to ensure that all possible channels are included, and channel partners are well served so that growth opportunities are captured, HCL & Nokia have decided to jointly address GSM distribution in the country i.e. Nokia & HCL would co-exist as distributors.

Nokia has expressed that it is their intention to ensure that Nokia & HCL continue to benefit from a long term relationship. The two companies have extended their agreement for another five years.