India : The Impact of Mobile Phones

This study on India is part of the Vodafone Public Policy series launched in 2004. Our aim is to provide a platform for leading experts to write on issues that are important to us at Vodafone and which may help policy makers as they strive to provide a regulatory environment which stimulates growth and economic development. We hope you find this report informative. Foreword In this report, we have returned to the important subject of the economic impact of telecommunications on emerging markets by undertaking research looking in detail at India. As in the other reports in the Vodafone Public Policy Series, we have asked leading researchers to conduct the analysis. We are delighted that a team led by Dr. Rajat Kathuria of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), one of India's foremost independent research institutes, was able to direct and conduct this work. The opinions expressed in this document are not ours but those of independent experts whose views we respect even if we do not always agree with them. We believe that they have important things to say that should be of interest to anyone concerned with good public policy, and the policies towards economic and social development of India and other emerging markets. Amidst the spreading gloom of the economic downturn following the global financial meltdown, the Indian telecom sector provides the proverbial silver lining. The growth in mobile connections has continued at around 10 million a month and investment prospects remain bullish. It is important at this stage to ensure that investor confidence is maintained by further improving the regulatory environment and ensuring that the policy regime promotes growth. In this context, I am delighted that a team of eminent researchers led by Professor Rajat Kathuria of ICRIER undertook to examine the social and economic impacts of mobile telephony in India, with a view to improving the knowledge content for policy-making in this important sector. The project team has analysed what we consider to be an extremely important and relevant topic today. This project is a good example of ICRIER's strategy of carrying out research which generates analytical and empirical results relevant for generating analytical and empirical inputs pushing forward the reform agenda and for contributing to policy formulation in the country. We believe the analysis and results reported here to be very important for the Indian economy. There is a growing …