‘Make 2G a part of history’: Mukesh Ambani as India marks 25 years of mobile

Reliance Industries Limited chairman Mukesh Ambani shared a special message on Thursday as India celebrated its 25th anniversary of mobile telephony. Ambani said that affordability has been of the major achievements of the Indian mobile telephony. “First mobility has become affordable beyond all expectations. In 1995, the cost of a per-minute call from one cell phone was 24 rupees. 16 rupees for the caller and eight rupees for the called. Now, voice calls are free, without any time limit,” he said. He also said affordability also paved the way for ceasing a rich man's monopoly over it. “Second, because mobility became affordable it also became democratic 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.” “This is also an occasion for us to look at the obstacles that have prevented Indian consumers and Indian society from fully benefiting from the digital revolution. Here I specifically referred to the fact that India still has 300 million mobile subscribers trapped in the 2G era,” he said adding, “I think necessary policy steps should be taken with utmost urgency to make 2G a part of history.”