Mizoram in Vanguard of Indian Mobile Phone Craze

By Subir Bhaumik

Mobile phone usage in India has grown hugely (Pic: Subhamoy Bhattacharjee)

More than half the population of the tiny north-eastern Indian state of Mizoram is now using a mobile telephone, newly released figures show.

Officials say that the figures are remarkable because the state is one of the most remote in India and private industry is practically non-existent.

Landline telephone connections are available but are few and far between.

The figures suggest that what is happening in Mizoram is being replicated throughout India.

Officials say that overall "tele-density" in the country has reached 43.5% - or 509 million subscribers.

Mizoram is much ahead of the national average in tele-density and that is quite surprising

Esther Lalruatkimi,
Mizoram trade secretary

The Mizoram state economic survey in January 2010 indicated there were 561,917 mobile phone users in the state - which has a population of about one million people - and the figures might have gone up since then.

The survey said that Mizoram's mobile phone users currently pay a total monthly bill of 50 million rupees ($1m).

All Indian mobile networks are doing roaring business in the state, where the government is the biggest employer.

Airtel is the largest network in Mizoram, with 192,000 subscribers in January 2010, followed by BSNL, Aircel, and Vodafone.

Soaring growth

India is now on a par with China and only the second nation in the world to achieve half a billion mobile phone subscribers - with nearly 15 million new customers being added every month.

So fast is the industry growing that the Indian government's target of 500 million mobile phone users by the end of 2010 has already been exceeded.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said recently that the number of Indian mobile phone users will cross the 650 million mark by 2012.

India's love affair with cell phones started in the mid-1990s. At that time, the country had just 10 million mobile and landline connections.

Growth has soared since then because of regulatory changes and the falling costs of calls and handsets.

"But Mizoram is much ahead of the national average in tele-density and that is quite surprising," says Esther Lalruatkimi, Mizoram's trade secretary.

Mizoram is India's most literate state, with more than 95% of its people able to read and write.

Almost the entire population is Christian and most speak English - a legacy of Church-funded education - in addition to their mother tongues.

[ via BBC News ]