India cuts levy on Mobile Phone rates – telecom revolution and satellite communication can spur growth to an unprecedented level
Sonia Chopra, Special Correspondent
January 07, 2005

Cell phone in India is considered as something essential. The country has just jumped the landline revolution and overtook the other developing nations by 40 years. The country side of India is experiencing cell phone revolution in regions that never had any land lines.

Satellite communication and cell phone revolution is bringing the whole country together. This can potentially create a scenario where the country spurs into 20% annual growth unseen anywhere anytime in the world. 

The need for improvements in physical transportation infrastructure is the biggest stumble block for India. The Government has announced plans that it will use the unprecedented level of Foreign Exchange growth in improving power and transportation infrastructure.

But the country with its robust domestic economy is not waiting for the Government to improve the transportation infrastructure. It is partially jumping forward and crossing that hurdle also through the use of cell phones.

Government had no choices but to reduce the levy on cell phone use. India’s regulators have slashed a levy that private mobile phone providers pay to state-owned carrier BSNL, a tariff reform that is set to make local phone call rates among the world's cheapest.

The Indian Government reduced the cell phone levy from Rs0.80 to Rs0.30 per minute, from February 1. Mobile phone tariffs in India average less than Rs1.50 ($0.03, €0.02, £0.01) per minute.