Content providers with high hopes for rich pickings in India may need to think again as they may soon have less operators than they though to do business with.

Speaking in the FT Bharti Airtel chief exec Manoj Kohli said at least half of the country's 12 operators to sell or go out of business within three years, with overseas networks stepping up their interest in the market.

Last week Japan's DoCoMo paid $2.7 billion for a 26 per cent stake in sixth ranked Indian operator Tata.

Kohli said: “The Indian market is so attractive. It is a party dream. I am sure a lot of large telcos are analysing the Indian market. They are looking at valuations. Some people may be interested; some people may think it’s too late."

Of course with 315 million mobile users, India is also going to be a huge market regardless of how many operators it has. It just be a little tougher to get those distribution deals.