August 23, 1995: Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu makes the first call on Modi Telstra’s cellular network to Union IT minister Sukh Ram.

August 22, 2005: Spearheaded by AirTel, GSM operators congregate in the city of its birth to celebrate a decade of operations.

Even though the national teledensity is 9 per cent, mobile telephony has achieved in 10 years what fixed lines could not in almost five decades. And in keeping with its telecom history of firsts, the revolution started in Calcutta.

Basu, who made the first call, is unable to recall the conversation that took place 10 years ago. The nonagenarian, however, clearly remembers being part of a milestone in the country’s communications history. He also says there has been a sea change over the last decade and mobile telephony is today no longer the prerogative of the influential few.

The government had opened up the telecom sector to private players in 1991 and issued licences for the four metro circles of Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai in 1994. The year after, licences for 19 more circles were issued.

In August 1995, Modi Telstra began mobile services in Calcutta. In January 2000, Australian company Telstra exited the joint venture with the Modi group and Spice Telecom took over the operations. A year later in July, Bharti acquired 100 per cent of Spice Cell and launched the AirTel brand in Calcutta.

It is this lineage that gives AirTel the privilege of hosting the celebrations.

“The event will reflect on the 10-year journey and take a look at the trends over the next decade,” said Subba Rao, chief operating officer (mobility), Bharti Tele-Ventures.