I, the Telephone, was first introduced for commercial use in India in 1882. Telephone exchanges, under the Oriental Telephone Company Limited, were being set up at Bombay, Madras, Karachi and Ahmedabad.

Services were nationalised in the 1940s and telephone exchanges were taken over by the Indian Posts and Telegraphs department in 1943. By the time of Independence, all major cities were connected and the number of subscribers stood at 83000.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) was set up in 1986 to provide fixed-line services in Mumbai and Delhi. Remaining parts of the country fell under the purview of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). Today the latter is the seventh largest telecommunication company in the world.

In the 90s, IT companies such as Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services revolutionised the delivery of software services by using me to successfully transact and effect services globally. I became one of the two most important mediums, (the other medium being the internet) to deliver what came to be known as “outsourcing”. The revenues raised from which, served to alter not only India’s perception of its technical abilities but also the world’s perception of India.

1995 was also the year India made her first call from a mobile device. Just 20 years on, today, the country has 1033.20 million cell phone users. In part, this has been possible because Indian tariff rates are amongst the lowest in the world. The sheer scale of operations attracts mobile operators and handset manufacturers alike. Today India has 11 service providers, making it one of the most competitive markets in the Asia Pacific.