The day was July 24th, 1991, Dr.Manmohan Singh (current PM) then finance minister of India, read out his budget speech, opening the gates to foreign investors and liberalizing economic policies. Some of the major milestones achieved in the field of IT & Telecommunications are,
- 1991 – Private TV Channel gets the nod. Telephone subscriber base is at 4 Million.
- 1992 – ZEE TV is the first private channel operator in India. 0.41 Million homes with Cable TVs
- 1994 – Bids invited by Govt from private telecom operators to provide mobile services.
- 1995 – Government formulates Cable TV networks regulation act.
- 1996 – Private companies get into FM radio
- 1997 – TRAI comes into existence. Total TV homes in India reaches 60 Million
- 2001 – Government allows DTH. Permites 20% FDI in Telecom and 22 private FM stations launched. PC prices crash.
- 2002 – Mobile subscriber base is at 13 Million. Bandwidth prices are reduced by 25%.
- 2003 – Government issues DTH licenses and tables comprehensive Broadband and Convergence bill.
- 2004 – Zee becomes the first DTH services provider in India. Mobile phone subscribes base at 2.6 million.
- 2005 – Government clears FM Radio expansion. CDMA mobile service providers begin operations. Total mobile subscriber base around 80 Million
- 2006 – VoIP is legalized.Indian media and entertainment industry values at Rs35,300 crores($7.6 Billion). 65 Million cable and satellite TV homes. 110 Million TV homes. 8 Million DTH subscribers. FM radio licenses cross 300 mark. Mobile subscriber base at record level of 105 Million. ILD/ISD charges have come down to round Rs3.0/Minute via calling card. Check out for all the updates on Telecom and Mobile in India during 2006.