Twenty years ago this day India began its date with mobile telephony. The Chief Minister of West Bengal Jyoti Basu made the first mobile call to the telecom minister Sukh Ram. India today boasts of about a billion wireless subscribers next only to China. This is nothing short of a revolution made possible primarily by an open regulatory framework and enterprising India Inc. India grows on an average 2.5 crore subscribers a month. At the centre of the revolution is the consumer who has shown an undying appetite for mobility. But there is a catch and lots of catching up to do: Urban wireless density is about 145% as against about 50% for rural India. This merits an urgent correction. Failure to do so would turn much publicized projects likes Digital India, Skill India, and Make In India, into big duds.
140wordz 