| INDIA TODAY - The most widely read newsweekly in South Asia. 
| INDIA TODAY - The most widely read newsweekly in South Asia. | CURRENT ISSUE SEPTEMBER 12, 2005 | | | | BUSINESS & ECONOMY: MOBILE PHONES |  | | | Cellebrating 10 Years
From zero to 60 million mobile users in a decade. The future is even better with the number expected to double in less than three years. | | |  | | |  1994-95
BORN AS A STATUS SYMBOL Eight operators pay a fixed licence fee to the government to start cellular mobile services in Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai. Users pay Rs 16 per minute of talk whether they call or are called. In 1995, 13 companies get licences in 18 telecom circles. Cell phones become the newest toys for the rich and famous of India. Notoriously, Sukh Ram is telecom minister when mobile phone service begins.
| | 36 lakh jobs have been created by the mobile phone industry. | |  1999
THE FIRST BIG SPIKE User charges are halved as under the New Telecom Policy, the industry migrates from the earlier system of fixed licence fee to the revenue sharing regime. This leads to a huge surge in the number of users. Incoming calls continue to be charged. The role of the telecom regulator is strengthened to include arbitration for the resolution of disputes.
| | 4,000 towns and cities and 60,000 villages are on the mobile network. | |  2001
POWER OF CHOICE Options widen for consumers of mobile phones. Each circle gets two new cellular licensees, one of which has to be a public-sector unit. The number of service providers in each circle goes up to four. The fourth cellular licence is issued in 17 circles in July 2001. Text messaging, popularly called SMS (short message service) starts becoming popular. In December 2002, after months of corporate battles and policy wrangles, WLL-based mobile phone service is launched. This leads to further cuts in prices and competition intensifies.
| | Rs 50,000 crore has already been invested in the sector. |  2003
CALLING PARTY PAYS Incoming calls become free, causing the second big jump in subscriber base. Cell phones cease to be gadgets to flaunt. Soon they will become the common man's most visible friend. Cellular industry slashes STD rates by 67 per cent for mobile-to-mobile (M2M) calls beyond 200 km. The rising popularity of WLL-based services, along with the expansion of GSM-based services, creates the need for both services, ending the distinction between the two and increasing competition in the market. | | October 2004 saw the number of mobile phones racing past fixed lines. |  2005
MASS APPEAL DoT issues guidelines for Unified Access Licensing in 2003. With cell phones coming at Rs 2,000 and calling rates falling below Re 1 in some cases, mobiles reach the masses. Service providers and handset manufacturers throw in a plethora of goodies and they become a hit with consumers. | | 1.5-2 million new subscribers are being added each month. | | -Compiled by Puja Mehra Index | | INDIA TODAY - The most widely read newsweekly in South Asia. 
 |  |  |  | | South Asia's most influential and most read newsweekly presents the fourth Conclave India Tomorrow 2005 : Perception vs Reality | | | 
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