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People like to think big. After waves of political revolution came technological and information revolutions – but these days, all talk is about a communications revolution. For instance, ten years after their introduction in India, mobile phones stood poised to surpass the number of fixed-line phones. However, as of January 2008 (marking almost 15 years of Indian mobile phones), the figures for mobiles to land lines stood at a whopping discrepancy of 242.4 million to 39.2 million. Talk about revolutionary!
While the 1994 introduction of the mobile phone to India, the market consisted of only a few service providers, such as AirTel. Expensive handsets, prohibitive licences and hefty call charges restricted the use of mobile phones to an elite few. As more operators entered the market, such as Orange, Reliance, BPL and Tata, a better deal on mobile phones became available to customers. The rest, as you can see, is history. With a phenomenal surge in popularity and accessibility, it is possible for blue-collar workers to have a mobile phone just like their white-collar counterparts.
Mobile phones are also providing a sort of rural lifeline. This is evident not only in rural India, but also rural China, according to the mobile phone industry body, the GSMA. This allows families in regions where there are no fixed-line services to keep in contact with any relatives in the cities and urban centres. It also encourages the establishment and development of small businesses. Furthermore, GSMA stats reveal that of the million daily new mobile phone subscribers, approximately 85% live in emerging markets. These figures are remarkable and truly indicative of all that’s on offer on mobile phone today.
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