So what if India was in the grips of a slowdown. The e-revolution continued to spread it's tentacles in the country at a fast clip.

For computer hardware companies, the year was one of brisk sales. PC prices crashed to unbelievable levels. And there emerged the first signs that the Indian PC market had attained the critical mass that would attract global capital. Both LG and Samsung, as well as homespun Samtel, announced that they would manufacture PC monitors in the country.

The PC penetration in India is slated to go up from 4.5 per thousand at the beginning of this year to 6.5 per thousand by March 2001. Spread over a billion people, this means that 2 million PCs have been sold in the last one year.

Even more dramatic was the jump in the number of cellular subcribers. An elite indulgence not very long ago, cellphones started ringing inside crowded buses and inside the greasy pockets of electricians. The cellular subscriber base in India increased from 1.66 million to 2.93 million this year. Among cellular operators, Hutchison led the pack with BPL and Bharti taking second and third spot.

Not to be left behind was fixed line telephony. The government estimates teledensity in India, which is at about 2.67 per 100, to touch 7 per 100 by 2005.

The opening of fixed services to private players have resulted in three new companies—Shyam Telecom, HFCL and Reliance — entering in the fray. The department of telecom added 6 million fixed line subscribers this year to reach 29 million. Net user base is slated to grow from an expected figure of 7.1 million for the year 2000-01 to about 40 million by 2003-04.

India's software sector is also going strong, expected to grow by about 50 per cent to notch revenues worth $13 billion during 2001-02.

Corporatisation of BSNL, opening up of the national long distance telephony to private sector, unrestricted entry in basic and entry of the fourth operator in cellular services were some of the major policy initiatives. The entire telecom industry now has its eyes focussed on the TRAI for its recommendations on the use of wireless in local loop for mobility. The country is also awaiting the enactment of the Convergence Bill 2000, and full implementation of IT Act 2000.