It was way back in the late 90′s and in the begining of the 21st century, that I saw the first CELL-PHONE. Yes, its the small thing vibrating near your heart ( in your pockets )
I still wonder what economics tells us the reason behind the ultimate success of this gadget. This small thing has become an integral part of every Indian pocket. If I can remember, those days when the internet was not so popular, the silly mobile recharge where the code was given like the way a banker provides us the PIN number.
Before I start, let me put a few facts before you, you will be delighted to see them too.
The Indian telecommunications industry is the world’s fastest growing telecommunications industry, with 706.37 Million telephone (landlines and mobile) subscribers and 670.60 Million mobile phone connections as of Aug2010 . It is also the second largest telecommunication network in the world in terms of number of wireless connections after China. The Indian Mobile subscriber base has increased in size by a factor of more than one-hundred since 2001 when the number of subscribers in the country was approximately 5 million to 670.60 Million in Aug 2010.As the fastest growing telecommunications industry in the world, it is projected that India will have 1.159 billion mobile subscribers by 2013.Furthermore, projections by several leading global consultancies indicate that the total number of subscribers in India will exceed the total subscriber count in the China by 2013. The industry is expected to reach a size of 344,921 crore (US$ 78.3 billion) by 2012 at a growth rate of over 26 per cent, and generate employment opportunities for about 10 million people during the same period. According to analysts, the sector would create direct employment for 2.8 million people and for 7 million indirectly. In 2008-09 the overall telecom equipments revenue in India stood at 136,833 crore (US$ 31.06 billion) during the fiscal, as against 115,382 crore (US$ 26.19 billion) a year before.
Having told that, let me tell you one more interesting thing, Guess which state is having the highest number of mobile users per 1000 people ??
TAMIL NADU !!!! ( 881 per thousand people)
The industry has been experiencing some handsome changes in its cycle., the present stage being the Growth stage.
I am back to the good old days when my father started using his first mobile. Let me remember all of that,
Yea.. The first mobile was a white one from Samsung, it demanded a handsome sum of Rs 31,000 in those days. One can get a Blackberry for the same amount now 
, But, this one was no good- it was’nt a color phone, or had radio and all other features. It was just a mini telephone circuit in the pocket, and it was TATA Cellular that provided the mobile service . And guess what incoming was charged at Rs 4/min and outgoing at Rs 8 / min . Similar phones continued to rule the pockets until the Color phone was launched. My friends and relatives used to gaze at the small gizmo. The cell phone ruins kicked off with the “Nokia Effect”
Coming back to the present, one can find a person without a cell phone at one end of the street. The interesting story of the total transmission is somewhat like this.
The launch of Nokia and the rise of the Ambanis : The mobile device prices showed a sharp decline, the begining of the mobile revolution in India. The demand in the mobile devices pressurised the telephone operators to come up with new alternatives for the telecommunication industry. Companies like Indicom, Bharti followed suite to attain success. Bharti Airtel emerges as leader with the highest market share.
Launch of Docomo : If the first turnaround was due to technology, the biggest Kick of the whole industry was the launch of Docomo offering call charges at just 1 paise per second. The revolution changed the whole scale of call charges. The present scenario is the mighty consequence of the same.
From select departmental stores to roadside shops, every sale point has become recharge centres and the gaining access to internet has been taking shape. All the past comes back to my head when I look down at my own mobile phone and recollecting those days where we used to gaze at the World in our pockets.
Thanks to you Mr.Martin Cooper
Your small step in tele-communications was a giant leap in Mankind !!
Conclusions :
- Just like any other success story, the mobile phone has its own. Its now ruling the Indian industry.
- The reason for the extraordinary success is’nt very much theoritical, Indians respect luxury that is affordable.
- The prices have become so very much affordable that even the Middle class is able to get a descent phone from their wallets
- Added to that, the constantly improving life conditions, decrease in call tariffs have imposed a huge demand on the economy
- There will be one time in the future where the industry attains complete maturity, and only the people who do the talking will understand how much its going to cost them for all that talking
