Mobile Phone Industry in India Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mobile Phone Industry in India - Research Paper Example The country was a close-door economy until 1991 and languishing at the low GDP growth rate ever since independence. The country faced severe balance of payments problem in the beginning of 1990s and that forced the then newly elected Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao to initiate the liberalization and globalization process in full swing to put the country in high growth trajectory. That was indeed a turning point in the country. The state behemoth BSNL was the only service provider in the public sector and landline was the only available way of communication to the people. The people of the country had to wait several years to get BSNL landline connection as wait-list was fairly long and state resources were not enough to meet the investment needs of the country. (An Economic History of India) In the wake of economic liberalization process, India suddenly became lucrative and telecommunication was earmarked as one of the thrust areas. The government introduced National Telecom Polic y in 1994 that defined certain objectives and also recognized the fact that the government does not have enough resources to meet the desired objectives. In 1995, the government of India decided to set up an independent regulatory body called TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India). The purpose was to regulate and spearhead the growth and investment in the field of telecommunication and formulate all policy matters striking a balance between users and industry.     India is a second largest country in the world in terms of population. As per the latest census, a population of the country has crossed 121 billion marks and that offers huge telecom market in the making. Administratively, the country is divided into 28 states and seven union territories. On religious composition, 80.5 percent of the population follows Hindu religion. Muslims constitute almost 13.4 percent of the population as the largest minority community. Christians constitute almost 2.3% of the population. I ndia is also a land of many languages; however, Hindi is understood and spoken by a large section of the society. Most of the educated classes of the people understand English and majority of them prefer to do their official work in English. Southern states do not follow Hindi language and prefer their own languages such as Tamil, Malayalam or Telugu; however, they too use English in their formal communications. In a way, it can be said that due to British legacy English has become fairly common as a second language of India and widely used as a formal way of communication in all parts of the country. Indian constitution is unique in the sense that in spite of its large section of the population is Hindu, India has established itself as a secular state. Every citizen of the country regardless of their faith, language or origin enjoys equal rights. The current literacy rate as per census 2011 is estimated at 74 percent, which shows a 10 percent improvement from the previous census do ne in 2001. This is attributable to the free education provided in the villages by the government. (Census Data Summary) The customs in India are different than what is observed in the US. It is always advisable to learn and use Indian business customs in India. Hierarchy is given a great respect in India.  Ã‚