Zoo Station

I had made a post in May saying that Indian mobile numbers had dropped somewhat, mostly likely because of the customer verification drive. It seems like that dip was only temporary and the industry has rebounded with some pretty stunning numbers. According to the Economic Times, India added 7.34 million subscribers in June, which is the global record by a long margin and probably unlikely to be bested by any other country, unless the Indian telecoms firms themselves add more subscribers in the coming months (China has reached saturation levels). To put this in context, that is the equivalent of the entire population of Switzerland going mobile in one month.

The irony is that I still have to explain to some people (typically latte liberals in India and elsewhere) that well-regulated competition is a bloody good deal for the consumer.