lator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), there were 850 million cell phone subscribers as of August 2011. Overall, 60 percent of the popula- tion has a mobile subscription. However, in urban areas there is a teledensity of 127 percent because some people subscribe to two mobile services and have two telephone numbers; one phone is for incoming calls and the other for low-cost outgoing calls. The largest potential for mobile growth is in rural areas where, according to TRAI, only 27 percent of the population has a mobile handset. Because more than 70 percent of the population lives in rural areas, small villages represent potential growth areas for voice and data services. The Indian government hopes to raise the educational level in part with high-capacity mobile networks based on 3G and 4G technologies. They have also announced plans to subsidize low-cost tablet computers for children (costing less than $35) and provide free tablet computers to schools. Because 65 percent of the population is younger than 35 years of age, lowering poverty levels by improving a child's technical skills can have a large impact. The high density of cell phones in cities and towns is made possible in large part by low prices for mobile services. Prepaid, the leading form of service, has rates of 1c per minute, which is the lowest in the world. A major factor in the low per-minute rates is the intense competition among the many mobile providers. The low rates have made it difficult for carriers to earn profits. To alleviate this problem, the government Asian Market is considering easing rules on mergers such that operators within a circle can merge, as long as there is a minimum of six operators in each circle. The Department of Telecom (DoT) is expected to issue relaxed merger and acqui- sition rules by the end of 2011. The DoT has stated its intention to not let the number of providers drop below six. The DoT in October 2011 announced rules allowing opera- tors to share and trade airwaves. Prior to 1994, telephone servi