In just a few days, India's phenomenal mobile phone revolution, which has touched everyone from rickshaw drivers to domestic servants, will hit another milestone: the country will have more mobile connections than fixed lines.
An industry body says that by next month, there will be almost 44 million mobile-phone connections, exceeding the 43.2 million fixed-telephone lines.
The landmark comes as no surprise. The industry has been growing at between 40 per cent and 80 per cent annually for some years. In China, mobiles overtook fixed-line phones last year.
The cut-throat competition between a handful of private companies and the big state-owned firms has given the industry a huge push. With some of the lowest tariffs in the world - at times, it has been just one US cent a minute - the mobile is something that everyone can afford.
For thousands of rural youths who would otherwise be unemployed, the industry gives them jobs.
One mobile company, for example, gives youths a mobile to take to villages where there are no fixed lines. For a small fee, villagers can call their relatives and friends while standing in the doorway of their homes instead of walking three to four hours to the nearest town with a telephone.
Apart from the low cost, it takes a few minutes to get a mobile connection. A fixed telephone line can take weeks due to the lethargy and inefficiency of state-run firms. The introduction of cheap pre-paid cards has also proved popular, allowing customers control over the cost of the service.
