Sign Up

Just The Facts: India Goes Mobile

Examining the astounding social trends of India.

December 14, 2013

Credit: blackdaliya - Shutterstock.com

1. While India remains extremely poverty stricken, one of the positive developments has been the expansion of access to mobile phones.

2. In 1947, the year when India was partitioned and granted independence, there were only 100,000 phones in the country.

3. India currently has more than 900 million telephone subscribers, 96% of whom are mobile users.

4. The results of a recent survey showed that India had far more mobile phones than toilets of any kind.

5. 53% of the country’s 247 million households still defecate in the open, posing a major public health challenge.

6. India’s mobile-phone density in 2012 approached 75%.

 

From When a Subcontinent Goes Cellular by Isaac Chotiner (Wall Street Journal)

 

 

Takeaways

India has gone from 100,000 to 900 million phones since 1947.

A recent survey showed that India had far more mobile phones than toilets.

India's mobile-phone density in 2012 approached 75%.

Mobile phones help Indian small businesses.