In the late 1980s, cell phones in India were looked at with distrust, and as late as 1998 they were perceived as luxury items. Which result by 2006 shows how far this had changed?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → India became the country with the fourth largest usage of cell phones.
Option (1) India became the country with the fourth largest usage of cell phones. — Correct. By 2006 India had the fourth largest usage of cell phones in the world. Cell phones moved from being distrusted and seen as a luxury to a part of daily life.
Option (2) India became the country with the ninth largest usage of cell phones. — Incorrect. The rank is wrong. Ninth was the place of India's telecommunication network by 1999. Cell phone usage stood fourth by 2006.
Option (3) India's telecommunication network became the ninth largest in the world. — Incorrect. This rank belongs to 1999, when India had over 25 million telephone lines. It measures the size of the telephone network. The change in how cell phones were seen is shown by the 2006 rank in cell phone usage.
Option (4) India became the country with the second largest usage of cell phones. — Incorrect. The rank is too high. By 2006 India stood fourth in cell phone usage. Second place was never reached in this period.
NCERT (2026-27): “Global Communications … “… However, in the late 1990s, a sea change occurred in the telecommunication scenario: by 1999, India had installed a network of over 25 million telephone lines, spread across 300 cities, 4,869 towns and 310, 897 villages, making India’s telecommunication network the ninth largest in the world. …Between 1988 and 1998, the number of villages with some kind of telephone facility increased from 27,316 to 300,000 (half of all villages in India). …” |