CELL PHONES - A REVOLUTION IN THE HISTORY OF INDIA'S ECONOMY
The transformation of the mobile phone from yuppie plaything to a tool that drives economic growth in the developing world (read India) is arguably the biggest technology story of the first decade of the 21st century. The mobile revolution that is taking place in India is part of a larger global phenomenon. Use of mobile phones has already eclipsed use of conventional “fixed” telephones which in more than a century never exceeded a global penetration of 20
percent. Today, India is the world’s fastest growing cellular phone market, with an annual compounded growth rate of 42 percent since 2002.
Financially too, the telecom sector in India has shown positive results. Gross revenues for
the sector have grown at a compounded annual rate of 21 percent since 2002 and currently
stand at US$20 billion. This accounts for about two percent of the GDP.Further, the sector has attracted significant domestic and international investments. In
March 2008, the country added another 10.16 million mobile subscribers, bringing the total
to 261 million. This meant that India had become the second largest mobile market in the world, trailing only China.A number of earlier studies have examined the relationship between
telecommunication services and economic growth. There is a positive relationship between GDP per capita and telephone density indicators.India’s telecom story is a shining testament to how policy clarity, political conviction for reforms and private entrepreneurship can deliver outcomes, within a decade, that government intervention and well-intentioned bureaucratic thinking cannot even conceive of.
And within a span of few years, we are far away from the days when if you picked up your phone, there was no guarantee that you would get a dial tone; if you got a dial tone and dialed a number, there was no guarantee that you would reach the number you sought, and you heard an exasperated "wrong number!" more often than a friendly "hello."
CELL PHONES - A REVOLUTION IN THE HISTORY OF INDIA'S ECONOMY
The transformation of the mobile phone from yuppie plaything to a tool that drives economic growth in the developing world (read India) is arguably the biggest technology story of the first decade of the 21st century. The mobile revolution that is taking place in India is part of a larger global phenomenon. Use of mobile phones has already eclipsed use of conventional “fixed” telephones which in more than a century never exceeded a global penetration of 20
percent. Today, India is the world’s fastest growing cellular phone market, with an annual compounded growth rate of 42 percent since 2002.
Financially too, the telecom sector in India has shown positive results. Gross revenues for
the sector have grown at a compounded annual rate of 21 percent since 2002 and currently
stand at US$20 billion. This accounts for about two percent of the GDP.Further, the sector has attracted significant domestic and international investments. In
March 2008, the country added another 10.16 million mobile subscribers, bringing the total
to 261 million. This meant that India had become the second largest mobile market in the world, trailing only China.A number of earlier studies have examined the relationship between
telecommunication services and economic growth. There is a positive relationship between GDP per capita and telephone density indicators.India’s telecom story is a shining testament to how policy clarity, political conviction for reforms and private entrepreneurship can deliver outcomes, within a decade, that government intervention and well-intentioned bureaucratic thinking cannot even conceive of.
And within a span of few years, we are far away from the days when if you picked up your phone, there was no guarantee that you would get a dial tone; if you got a dial tone and dialed a number, there was no guarantee that you would reach the number you sought, and you heard an exasperated "wrong number!" more often than a friendly "hello."
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