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networks and to reflect their popularity or position in a peer

group. The attitude of young people towards their mobile phones

is not purely related to device functionality, but rather to their

own individuality or identity. The youth market is an important

predictor of how the future mobile information society will

develop. Service providers and operators alike are looking at better

ways to target this growing market segment. At the same time,

one must ensure that young people are protected from, among

other things, inappropriate content, invasions of privacy, exces-

sive spending, technological addiction (such as gaming

addiction), and any negative health effects (for example seden-

tary lifestyles and cellular radiation).

Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala of the Indian Institute of

Technology in Chennai presented a number of examples from

India of the way in which mobile communications are being used

to provide, for instance, low cost automatic teller machines,

remote education and remote health monitoring services, and

open-access Internet kiosks.

In August 1995, when the first mobile call was made in India,

brick-sized cell phones used to cost INR 45 000 and each call

cost INR 16.5 per minute. The cell phone was a status symbol.

Today, there are over 60 million mobile connections in India

(expected to double in number in next 12 months). A local call

costs around INR 1/minute and a cell phone can be purchased

for less than INR 3 000.

Wireless technology has been a boon for India. In a country

where setting up wired infrastructure is very expensive and time

consuming, wireless is the perfect solution to connect remote

villages.

Cell phones have not been just about technology. They have

brought about a cultural change in the country. SMS is the favourite

means of communication for everybody today. Most television

programmes now come with an associated SMS competition. A

recent headline in a Hindi newspaper read: “Cell phone compa-

nies to ban gayi, ab kaun banega crorepati” (‘Cell phone compa-

nies have already become millionaires, now who wants to be the

next millionaire’), in reference to an SMS contest to gain entry into

Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who Wants to be a Millionaire). Of late,

cell phones have brought the ‘citizen journalism’ revolution to

India, albeit in an unexpected way. Camera phones and multime-

dia messaging have created our own papparazi which spares neither

Bollywood personalities nor corrupt officials.

Urban India has transformed completely in the last ten years.

Indians have demonstrated that they are not afraid to embrace

technology and illiteracy doesn’t hinder adoption of technol-

ogy, provided it is useful to the masses. The revolution in

computing in countries like India will also come through mobile

phones. What the personal computer did to offices and then to

masses in developed countries, mobile phones will do in devel-

oping countries.

India aims to have 250 million telephones and a teledensity of

22 per cent by 2007. Of these phones, around 180-200 million

phones are predicted to be mobiles and the public sector opera-

tors are expected to contribute about 50 per cent. The operators

would cover about 5 000 cities and towns within the next few

months. Thus, wireless phones would play an important role in

achieving the plan objective of telephone on demand. By the end

of 2007, the entire country should be carpeted by telecom

networks and all the villages should be connected by phone.

Internet connections shall increase from 5.45 million in

December 2004 to 18 million by 2007 and further to 40 million

at the end of 2010. By 2007, broadband connections are targeted

to reach nine million, with 20 million expected by 2010.

The introduction of 3G technology will enhance voice capacity,

data speeds, etc., which in turn will facilitate government e-initia-

tives such as e-governance, e-health and e-education. With

increasing competition, it is expected that the tariff rates will fall

further benefiting the consumers at large.

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