BANGALORE, India: As mobile phones threaten to outpace the growth of desktops, Indian software firms are looking to take on the world in the emerging markets of mobile commerce (m-commerce) and wireless communications.

The global wireless technology market is expected to be worth nearly US$10 trillion in five years and m-commerce, analysts say, would open new business avenues for Indian firms.

"Indians have an equal chance in the m-commerce and wireless area to prove our technological competence in building software, as it is still a happening thing in the US," said Santosh Xavier, senior manager of Silicon Automation Systems.

"We were left behind in the Internet revolution, but we will make sure that we will emerge on top of this one," Xavier told reporters.

Companies such as Silicon Automation, some dotcom firms and other Indian Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) start-ups are putting together core teams of skilled engineers to tap the growing m-commerce market.

"We are focussing on building WAP gateways to enable people to access the Internet. WAP's main function is for accessing Internet through mobiles," Xavier said.

Silicon Automation - the only Indian member of the 600-strong international WAP Forum - is eyeing Europe and the United States, as well as the China market which has 22 million mobile and smart devices.

"We will be testing our first product in China shortly. Indian software experts can deliver and contribute to a host of applications in m-commerce and WAP," Xavier said.

An Indian consortium, comprised of the state government of Karnataka and other bodies, launched a WAP initiative last week aimed at forging a leading role for India in the development of future Internet technologies and their deployment.