The decade that was best for customers, but worst for telecom firms

As the decade ends, the bloodbath in the market has forced consolidation and closures

For customers, it’s been a dream run. At the beginning of the decade, active subscribers paid an average of 50 paise a minute for a voice call and a monthly bill of Rs 140 a month. At the end of the decade, voice is virtually free, their monthly bills are 20 per cent lower at Rs 113, and they enjoy huge amounts of data to watch movies, sports, and TV channels. 

For the telcos, it’s been more like a bout of ethnic cleansing. In 2010, six of them, including big foreign players, had jumped in, thanks to new licences issued by