TELECOM 2.0
Let’s just accept it. Telecom is no longer exciting, the way it used to be about 20 years ago, when mobile telephony was just picking up in India and call rates were so high that only high networth individuals and senior executives could afford them. Free incoming calls, which started in 2003, unleashed market potential the way Reliance Jio has changed the data market by bringing down the per-gigabyte cost to dirt-cheap level.
If one were to divide the history of the telecom sector according to its landmark moments, the 1999 New Telecom Policy, the 2012 Supreme Court verdict in the 2G case and the 2016 entry of Jio would stand out. Now, there’s another big trend under way which has the potential to change the face of telecom forever.
The makeover of pure-play telecom service providers into digital companies is here. At the centre of this shift is the ongoing fight between telcos and OTT (over-the-top)
