India is growing !

I recently changed my mobile number. It's from the all new Tata Docomo service provider. One strange fact is that the number begins with 8.
This is how i texted my friends & relatives.

Hi all, as i moved to bangalore, +91 8123345334 will be my new mobile number.

There is no surprise in seeing the following replies.
"Viki, Why did you buy a landline phone ?"
"Vignesh, you mis-typed the first digit..It's 8 instead of 9."
"Your mobile number is weird dude !"

Mobile phone users in India are becoming unexpectedly ubiquitous. So Next time when you ask your friend or colleague his/her mobile number then don’t get confused or surprised if they speak out mobile numbers starting with the digits “8″. Yes, the long proposed “8″ series mobile numbers are finally rolled out in India and Vodafone is the first operator to make them available for its customers in the state of Bihar and Jharkhand.

The number of mobile subscribers in India is expected to grow from just over 10 crore (100 million) to more than 35 crore (350 million) by 2010, an addition of 25 crore (250 million) subscribers in just four years, according to the latest report from The Diffusion Group.

Mobile phone companies are taking cheap handsets and life-time prepaid services to India's hundreds of millions of low-income earners in a bid to expand market share and maintain their break-neck rates of growth.

Everyone is talking and numbers. I see only one thing.
India is growing !