BARCELONA, Feb 16: At least two companies headed by Indians who took part in the 3GSM World Congress-2007, which ended here on Thursday, want to invest in Pakistan's growing cellphone sector.

Senior officials of the two companies told Dawn that their representatives would be visiting Pakistan soon to look for opportunities as well as for partners.

In their view, the sector, with more than 46 million cellphone users, will grow at a rapid pace because there's still a lot of untapped potential in the country.

Hungama Mobile — which specialises in mobile entertainment and which made waves at the mega event as much by launching unique products as by inviting Lara Datta and Sania Mirza — plans to send Ali Hussein, their assistant general manager, to Pakistan.

The other Indian-led company — PocketSurfer, which is based in Canada — will have its chief executive officer, Suneet Singh Tuli, come over to Pakistan.

Mr Tuli thinks that the hand-held device his company has developed will find popularity among Pakistanis who love to browse the internet but who cannot afford computers. His internet browser could be marketed at a low price provided the cellphone operators — in Pakistan's case the Pakistan Telecommunication Company and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority — pick up some of the bills involved.

"We think that hand-held browsers can strike it big in developing countries, like Pakistan," he remarked.

"You see, in Pakistan and India not many people can afford to buy computers. But they can own pocket browsers as they can cellphones."

Mr Tuli was of the opinion that his PocketSurfer, which was launched at the 3GSM Congress, could become particularly popular among students. The full potential of the market could not be gauged properly until the hand-held browser was introduced into it, he claimed.

“We need to provide the right tools to our people. And only afterwards can we judge whether something will catch on or not."

He informed this reporter that he had sent a proposal over the launch of his device to the state government of Bengal in India a few months ago. "We plan to do the same with the Pakistani government."

Ali Hussein of the Hungama Mobile said his company had a lot of experience in the Indian market. "We have worked hard there. The market was a poor one a few years ago vis-a-vis copyright laws etc.

"We have not only marketed products in that messy market but also have managed to help clean it up. We may do the same in your country, but we need to find the right partners there."