171,347

network or going for a strategic tie up. The policy loopholes also kept the investors at bay through last year, resulting in many anticipated recapitalizations in many telcos, resulting in lower investments.

Third, the greed of garnering more and better ARPU from consumers from data services rather than voice, put the operators, who have dual permission for 3G and BPA services, in a dilemma. Dilemma about where to put their money! As if that was not enough, the apex court’s verdict to cancel all 122 licenses issued during 2008 spelled the death-knell for the Indian mobile services industry—at least for few if not for all. Result, few operators downed their shutters and went back to where they had come from. So the industry expecting a collateral damage was not at all unjustified!

But the industry, defying all speculations, grew by 7% in FY 2011-12 to bring in revenues of 182,459 crore compared to 171,347 crore a year back. Looking at the developments of the Indian telecom