History of Mobile Phones in India – HISTORY & STATISTICS

Although India’s telecom sector was liberalized and opened to private
sector participation in 1992, it wasn’t until two years  later that the
license for providing cellular mobile services  in metropolitan cities
such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai received governmental
approval.
Kolkata became the first metro to have a cellular network  in 1995.
Other milestones in India’s telecom history include – the setting up of
the governmental Telecom Regulatory Authority  of India (TRAI) in
1997 followed by announcement of the first National Telecom Policy in
1999. (Cellular Operators  Association of India, 2006) According to
TRAI, at the current levels, “cellular networks cover about 1,700 towns
(out of 5,200), covering 200 million (just about 20%) population. By
2006, the cellular networks  are expected to cover 350,000 (out of
607,000) villages, covering 450 million people.” (Mobile Opportunity,
2006)
Total number of connections over the last 4 years grew at an average
of more than 20 percent. (India Directory: Maps of India, 2006). The
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) predicts that the number
of phone connections  would have increased to 200 million – 150
million of which would be wireless  – by  2007. (Mobile Opportunity,©2006) This  makes  India’s  one of the fastest growing
telecommunications systems in the world.
According to Global Knowledge (2006), “mobile telephony  gained
acceptance faster than legacy  technologies  (like internet) largely
because the marketers  have worked with the government in
influencing policies  and by  adopting aggressive service pricing.”
Currently, there are eight service providers in India with a penetration
level of 6.5%. The shift in technology, to 3G with 3GSM (WCDMA), too
is  reported to be at an advanced phase with 46% increase in the
number of 3GSM (WCDMA). (Cellular Operators Association of India,
2006)