India’s biggest telecom service provider, the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) network is slated to launch Apple’s darling device by December this year.

This will give them a direct lead over the current carriers Vodafone and Bharati Airtel since the country is also expecting the launch of the 3G network by that time.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) will be providing the 3G network base, to start with, 1.5 million lines in the capital Delhi and Mumbai alone. The Delhi base should be ready in the next two months and the Mumbai base in the next four months.

While this excludes majority of Indian cities this government supported carrier will enjoy certain other facilities over their private counterparts such as spectrum allotment on a pro-rata basis and revenue-sharing based tie up with various content providers.

Looks like Apple might finally get a facelift in the world’s fastest going mobile market, albeit a bit late.