Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the public-sector telecom company, on Thursday said it was confident of expanding its mobile subscriber base to 25 million from 5 million in a year's time.

"We expect to ramp up our mobile subscriber base in the country to 25 million from the existing 5 million in 12 to 15 months," BSNL chairman and managing director V P Sinha said at the 'Convergence India' conference and exposition in New Delhi.

He said a tender of 15 million lines would be awarded shortly, and an order for 40 lakh (4 million) had already been given.

"It will not take much time to raise the subscriber base to the 25 million level," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Qualcomm Group president Paul Jacobs said, "The opportunities in future are exciting both in terms of new technology and its ability to impact the lives of people by having networks available at the right price point."

"India is poised to lead...there are new technologies here and the youth community are the ones who adopt the latest technology," he added.