Remarkable telecom industry in India

As India becomes one of the fastest-growing telecom markets in the world, it is interesting to trace the momentous journey of the Indian telecom ecosystem as it evolved into the giant entrepreneurial venture that it is now.

Its growth into a significant contributor to India’s GDP (about 5.3%) was mainly because of the unforeseen hike of teledensity and the sudden decline in tariffs. The telecommunication sector has helped accelerate the growth of other areas of the Indian economy, along with the IT sector.

Industry has come a long way
The Indian telecom industry was first established in 1851 in Calcutta, as it was an essential city in the British Raj. It was in 1881 that telephone services were first introduced in the country. The call rates were insanely high at that time, as we did not have enough phone lines laid, and it was a rarity for families to have a landline in their houses. India saw calls transition from an absurd rate of Rs. 16 per minute to the unlimited calls pack that exists today.

Development of mobile devices
The size of the devices itself has undergone tremendous change. The iconic Nokia phones that you would find in everybody’s pocket were huge, with a weight of around a kilogram, and were virtually indestructible. This is a sharp contrast to the extremely light and fragile smartphones that we carry around these days.

The mobile device itself was a strange new thing for a long time – its alternatives at that time were pagers. Cameras, music devices, and calculators were all sold separately, back, before the telecom industry blew up. Now, in a single device, we can do a plethora of functions that negates the need for any other device whatsoever.

Wireless connections – now and then
Wireless connections have come a long way too. Back in the day, if you had an indoor BTS (Base Transceiver Station) for a wireless device, you would have to provide it with enough care, including an air conditioning system, to keep it running efficiently. India was the first to use a BTS.

The Indian companies quickly moved to outdoor BTS, which were cheaper on capex or opex. This was mainly due to high energy cost in India.

India saw the journey from a system where it was just two to three operators per circle to a system that allowed up to nine to eleven operators. But it came down again to only three operators.

Rise and fall of VAS
The telecom market also the rise and fall of value-added services (VAS). These were the non-core services that your telecom company offers you, such as dial tones, ringback tones, premium talk services, and so on. For a while, companies offered VAS at absurd rates and reaped enormous profits from the unwary Indian populace. Now, with the rise of better connections and access to more awareness about these plans, the prices have gone back to normal.

Advent of mobile data
These days, we cannot imagine life without mobile data. Data on our phone lets us play games, send and receive social media messages, and helps us keep our life together on our smartphones.

Data does not cost much these days, but there was a time when customers got bills that would put them in crippling debt if they forgot to switch their data off. Of course, this only happened when the plans were post-paid, but these days you can get amazing offers like an inclusive international pack for just three thousand bucks a month.

How telecommunication aids the common man?
Handheld devices and the advent of cheap smartphones have allowed Indians to access more information and entertainment than ever thought possible before. Cheap data enables them to consume content that was previously reserved for the elite upper-class society. The progress of the telecom market has made the general public more informed.

How the media is affected?
This level of influence the telecom market has on the Indian film and music industry is remarkable. We put out a lot of content has daily, with tens of thousands of artists across the country. The growth of Internet provision in the nation has helped small artists and creators in India impressive levels of popularity.

With over 110 million connections, the Indian telecom industry is the fifth-largest in the world and will only get bigger. Hopefully, its pattern of progress continues and helps the general public of the nation develop to its fullest.

- Arvind Bali

-- The author is CEO, Videocon Telecom.