In case you go just a few years again to the 2000 movie Hera Pheri, you’ll recall Raju making a telephone name to his mom from a PCO (public name workplace). You might need loved these comedian gems, however additionally they subtly depict transition occurring within the Indian telecom sector at the moment.
It was the interval when cell phone connectivity was starting its ascendency and PCOs had been marching in direction of their peak degree.
Based on TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), the variety of PCOs, which was round 6.58 lakh in 1999-2000, touched 55.50-lakh mark in 2006-07. The variety of cellular subscribers within the nation elevated from 1.30 crore in 2002-03 to 16.51-crore mark in 2006-07.
Generally generally known as ‘public phone cubicles’, PCOs had been the primary connectivity instruments for many who didn’t have both a landline or cell phone at the moment. It was additionally a interval when cellular name tariffs had been fairly prohibitive for a typical man.
One other important growth throughout the early 2000s was the decline of radio paging service (generally generally known as a ‘pager’). The subscriber base declined from 5.78 lakh in 2001-02 to twenty-eight,000 by December2004.
Praveen V, who owned a store in Mangaluru twenty years in the past, recalled that coin-operated telephone sales space connected to his store was amassing anyplace between 200-250 cash of ₹1 every daily from 2002 and 2006. Prospects additionally used to ship pager messages from this sales space, he mentioned.
Peak and fall
TRAI information reveals that the variety of PCOs within the nation reached an all-time excessive of 62.04 lakh in 2008-09, and it declined to twenty,652 in 2023-24.
One telecom service space within the nation has now already turn into ‘PCO-mukt’, and some different service areas are on their means in the identical path.
TRAI’s ‘Indian Telecom Providers Yearly Efficiency Indicators 2023-2024’ confirmed zero PCO in Odisha telecom service space. It had three PCOs in 2022-23.
In 2023-24, the variety of PCOs was beneath 100 in Himachal Pradesh (5), West Bengal (13), Bihar (29), Rajasthan (51), Haryana (52), and Jammu and Kashmir (81).
Regardless of some telecom service areas nonetheless having a big variety of PCOs, the pattern is unmistakable: PCOs are vanishing. Although Tamil Nadu (together with Chennai) had a most of 4921 PCOs in 2023-24, it was 8538 PCOs a yr in the past. It was additionally one among the many steepest declines throughout 2023-24.
Mumbai telecom service space had 3860 PCOs throughout 2023-24, adopted by Andhra Pradesh (2205), Kerala (2153), Gujarat (1306), Maharashtra (1241), and Delhi (1097).
The ascent of cellular telephony over time has led to the speedy decline within the variety of PCOs. Praveen mentioned the development in telecom expertise has made cellphones extra handy with so many expertise options. That’s the reason PCOs and pagers are actually vanishing, he mentioned.
From a mere 1.30 crore subscribers in 2002-03, the cellular base breached the100-crore mark in 2015-16. Based on TRAI, the variety of cellular subscribers elevated to 116.54 crore in 2023-24.
It could be fascinating to see if the primary characters proceed utilizing the fast-vanishing PCOs, swap to cellphones, or maybe use some new expertise altogether, if the Hera Pheri franchise comes out with a 3rd half.
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