In the West, telecom took off with Bell’s invention – Many houses and offices had landline

telephones by the 1950s, while in most of Asia and Africa, they were a luxury. Indeed, there was only
one phone per 10000 Indians even in the 1990s. However, today telephone penetration in India is
pretty high – this paradox is explained by the fact that while the West “upgraded” to cell phones,
many Indians bypassed landlines and leapfrogged to cell phones, by virtue of ease of use and low
cost. Today, Bangalore has more phones than humans!

Internet, music, gaming, office suites – “PC features” – are now being offered by mobile devices at a
fraction of the price. Hence, mobile/handheld devices may kill desktops the way cell phones are
finishing landline.