PM Modi commemorates 25 years of mobile telephony: 'Connectivity is a tool of empowerment'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lauded the telecom industry for completing 25 years of 'mobile telephony' in the country. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) organised a special online event "Desh Ki Digital Udaan" to commemorate the silver jubilee.

“When the first mobile call was made in India on 31 July 1995, very few would have known the possibilities that it could usher in. Indeed, reality has painted the picture of a digitally connected world better than we could have imagined,” said the PM in a letter.

"The telecom sector's achievements also fit in with the government's Digital India initiative and the JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobility) programme," he said.

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Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Bharti Mittal at the event

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, who was also a part of the event, said, "Mobility has changed India in four ways. First connectivity has become affordable. As a result, it ceased to be a rich man's monopoly long ago. Indeed, no other technological tool in human history has erased the rich, poor, divide the way mobile telephony has. Now with cell phones becoming multifunctional with mobile internet, it opened the floodgates of human creativity. Lastly, it has become a catalyst for enrichment and empowerment of common Indians in ways unthinkable 25 years ago."

Speaking at the event, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Airtel said, "Twenty-five years ago, Airtel along with others started the mobile journey. In the next 25 years, what we really are looking forward to is IoT, low-latency connectivity, a full 5G-enabled network ensuring digital payments."

Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash highlighted the role that telecom played during the COVID-19 crisis iterating that telecom services kept everybody connected and on the move even during the pandemic. 

Lt Gen Dr. SP Kochhar, Director General, COAI, in his opening remarks said, "During the last 25 years, technological progress, innovation, and market dynamics have had a profound impact on the industry and contributed to the accelerated liberalization of the sector. There are many sectors doing good work in their fields but without telecom linkages, they would be isolated specks. Telecom interconnects and helps societies to be connected. It is like the nervous system of the human body. Taking inspiration from this memorable journey, the industry is committed to working towards creating a truly world-class digital ecosystem of the future with the help of our all stakeholders, especially the government."

The concept of mobile phone was first introduced on July 31, 1995 when the erstwhile chief minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu made the first call in the country to then Telecom Minister Sukh Ram. During those times, the cost of a call was Rs 24 per-minute—Rs 16 for the caller and Rs 8 for the receiver of the call. However, voice calls have now become free, without any time limit.

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