Mobile Telephony and Socio-Economic Transformation

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction.  2. Telecom policies and regulatory institutions.  3. Mobile phone sector journey. 4. Economic contribution of mobile phone sector. 5. Socio-economic impact of mobile phone. 6. Future growth drivers of mobile phone. 7. Evaluation of telecom regulatory environment. 8. Conclusions and policy suggestions. Appendices. Bibliography. Subject index.

Indian mobile phone sector has grown exponentially to become the second largest network in the world, with subscribers' base have crossed the one billion. This sector plays a pivotal role in the socio-economic development as there is a positive correlation between the penetration of mobile phone services and internet on the growth of country's GDP and job creation. Digital access provided by mobile phone opens up a plethora of contents and knowledge for associated sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, banking and financial services, public services, e-commerce, healthcare, education, advanced industries, entertainment etc. The government initiatives 'Digital India' is playing a key role in making mobile phone services a necessity for the people in rural and remote areas. This book provides a comprehensive coverage of a range of issues relate to mobile phone services in eight chapters-origins, journey, government policies & regulatory bodies, contribution to economy, socio-economic impact on consumers, future growth drivers and policy suggestions. Two chapters in-depth and valuable perspective of stakeholders such as mobile phone operators, consumers and infrastructure providers, industry associations, policy makers and thought leaders. It is aimed at book to provide a consolidated view of the mobile phone sector to facilitate a healthy discussion amongst the stakeholders to create inputs for the National Telecom Policy- 2018, identify solutions and to alleviate concerns that the sector currently is facing. In the book, advance statistical tools have been used for the analysis to understand the sector performance. Hence, the book is not only useful for the post graduate students, research scholars and other researchers but also guide to policy makers and mobile phone operators in their future policy making.