My first mobile connection in 1997

(Flashback date: 1/April/1997)

Around 1996 Chennai (Madras), India got its first Cellular (GSM) Mobile network setup by RPG Cellular (SkyCell). I signed up for my first cellular (SIM) connection with them (RPG SKycell) in 1997/98 around the time I started my firm (Vishwak Associates). Individual connections were pretty expensive to get with huge deposits, so I signed up with RPG through a corporate account under my client firms’ name (Focus Infotech). The instrument I purchased was the iconic Motorola phone (non flip). The calling rates in those days were exorbitant, at Rs.18 per minute it was for super rich, so I tried every thing to finish my calls in the first 10 seconds :-)

Today while going through old warranty cards I came across the customer kit I got from RPG around June 1998. Look at the tariff  below and the limited coverage of cellular towers in Chennai, from those days mobile phones in India have come a long way.