25 years since first phone call that started mobile telephony in India


Team Udayavani, Aug 1, 2020, 12:25 PM IST

Mumbai: July 31 is one of the most significant day in the history of India. On this day the first mobile phone call was made in the country.

On July 31, 1995, Jyoti Basu, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, made the call to Sukh Ram, then Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology.

This call made from Kolkata to New Delhi was made using a Nokia mobile phone. The mobile network service provider was Modi Telstra, which was owned by a joint venture of India’s BK Modi Group and Telstra Corporation Limited from Australia.

An astonishing aspect of these maiden mobile phone calls was that one had to spend Rs 8.4 per minute for the calls for both outgoing and incoming calls.

Moreover, dynamic pricing applied to the calls. During peak call hours when the call traffic was high, call rates could go up as much as Rs 16.8 per minute.

Presently, there are more than 114 crores wireless telephone subscribers in India and increasing every day. In terms of mobile device users, India ranks second after China.

The number of mobile phone subscribers more than doubled after Mukesh Ambani started Reliance Jio introducing free calls and cheap Internet connectivity.

Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.

Top News

FIR against Sanjay Raut’s brother for remarks against Shiv Sena’s woman leader

Kodagu murder case accused escapes from police in Hyderabad

Karnataka Maritime Board announces plans for Mangaluru Water Metro Project

Royal Enfield forays into electric bike segment; unveils first model under Flying Flea brand

US going to historically tight presidential election

Balasore tragedy result of composite negligence of railway officials: Orissa High Court

Actress Kasthuri stokes controversy by her remarks on Telugu-speaking people in TN

Related Articles More

Three Chinese astronauts enter space station after successful launch

What is AI superintelligence? Could it destroy humanity? And is it really almost here?

IIT-B develops method to maintain comfortable temperature inside homes in joint research

Scammers use fear and urgency to con people using ‘digital arrest’, online scams: Cyber advisory

ISRO to launch electric propelled satellite in Dec: Somanath

MUST WATCH

Gho Pooja in Deepavali Festival

Melukote Deepavali

Ganapathi Co-operative Society Ltd

Udayavani Chinnara Banna 2024

Annapoorna Aahar | Food Places In Mysore


Latest Additions

FIR against Sanjay Raut’s brother for remarks against Shiv Sena’s woman leader

Kodagu murder case accused escapes from police in Hyderabad

New software for fast-tracking project approvals: Karnataka Minister Patil

Karnataka Maritime Board announces plans for Mangaluru Water Metro Project

In-flight passengers can access WiFi services only when allowed, say new rules

Thanks for visiting Udayavani

You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.