India’s telecommunication network is the second largest in
the world by number of telephone users and has one of the
lowest call tariffs in the world. Major sectors of the Indian
telecommunication industry are telephone, internet and
television broadcast.
Indian telecom industry underwent a high pace of market
liberalisation and growth since the 1990s and now has
become the world’s most competitive and one of the fastest
growing telecom markets. Moreover, telecommunication has
supported the socio-economic development of India and has
played a significant role to narrow down the rural-urban
digital divide to some extent. It has also helped to increase
the transparency of governance with the introduction of egovernance in India. The government has pragmatically used
modern telecommunication facilities to deliver mass
education programmes for the rural folk of India. In context
of the above case:
(a) Why was telecommunication sector reserved for
public sector at the time of independence?
(b) Why was telecommunication sector privatised later
on?
(c) Do you think the consumers have been benefitted
through privatisation of telecommunication sector?
List any two values that the telecommunication sector has
propagated through its working
please answer in manner and in good explainition
Answers & Comments
Answer:
India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world by number of telephone users (both fixed and mobile phone) with 1.1724 billion subscribers as on 31 Dec 2019. It has one of the lowest call tariffs in the world enabled by mega telecom operators and hyper-competition among them.
Total telephone subscribers: 1.1724 billion (Dec 2019)
Mobile subscribers: 1.1514 billion (Dec 2019)
Broadband subscribers: 661.94 million (Dec 2019)
Wireless Subscribers: 86.98%; (Dec 2019)