Editing Telecommunications in India (section)

===Further developments and milestones===
[[File:Indian telegraph receipt 1912.jpg|thumb|Indian telegraph receipt 1912 (front top and back bottom) with additional labels]]
* 1901 – First [[wireless telegraph]] station established between [[Sagar Island]] and [[Sandhead]].
* Pre-1902 – [[Telegraphy|Cable telegraph]].
* 1907 – First Central Battery of telephones introduced in [[Kanpur]].
* 1913–1914 – First Automatic Exchange installed in [[Shimla]].
* 1927 – Radio-telegraph system between the UK and India, with [[Imperial Wireless Chain]] beam stations at [[Khadki]] and [[Daund]]. Inaugurated by [[Lord Irwin]] on 23 July by exchanging greetings with [[George V|King George V]].
* 1933 – [[Radiotelephone]] system inaugurated between the UK and India.
* 1947 - First [[Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering]] department started in India at the [[Government Engineering College, Jabalpur]].<ref name="patrika.com">{{cite web| url = https://www.patrika.com/jabalpur-news/jabalpur-engineering-collage-has-first-high-voltage-lab-of-country-1445162/| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210521200053/https://www.patrika.com/jabalpur-news/jabalpur-engineering-collage-has-first-high-voltage-lab-of-country-1445162/| archive-date = 21 May 2021| title = Jabalpur Engineering Collage Has First High Voltage Lab Of Country - प्रदेश के इस पहले इंजीनियरिंग कॉलेज में है देश की पहली हाई वोल्टेज लैब, आप भी जानिए {{!}} Patrika News}}</ref>
* 1951 - First TV transmitter of India was installed at the [[Government Engineering College, Jabalpur]], on 24 October.<ref>[https://www.jecjabalpur.ac.in/advertisement/jec%20annual%20report%202018-19020720021126.pdf Annual report 2018] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512101946/https://www.jecjabalpur.ac.in/advertisement/jec%20annual%20report%202018-19020720021126.pdf |date=12 May 2021 }} jecjabalpur.ac.in</ref><ref name="patrika.com"/>
* 1953 – 12 channel carrier system introduced.
* 1960 – First [[subscriber trunk dialling]] route commissioned between [[Lucknow]] and [[Kanpur]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TeqRAAAAQBAJ&q=First+subscriber+trunk+route+commissioned+between+Lucknow+and+Kanpur&pg=PA49|title=India Telecom Laws and Regulations Handbook|date=2008-03-03|publisher=Int'l Business Publications|isbn=978-1-4330-8190-3|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
* 1975 – First [[Pulse-code modulation|PCM]] system commissioned between [[Mumbai]] City and [[Andheri]] telephone exchanges.
* 1976 – First [[Digital data|digital]] [[microwave]] junction.
* 1979 – First [[optical fibre]] system for local junction commissioned at [[Pune]].
* 1980 – First [[satellite earth station]] for domestic communications established at [[Sikandrabad|Sikandarabad]], [[Uttar Pradesh|U.P.]]
* 1983 – First [[Analog signal|analogue]] Stored Programme Control exchange for [[trunk line]]s commissioned at Mumbai.
* 1984 – [[C-DOT]] established for indigenous development and production of [[Digital data|digital]] exchanges.
* 1995 – First [[mobile telephone]] service started on non-commercial basis on 15 August 1995 in [[Delhi]].
* 1995 – Internet Introduced in India starting with Laxmi Nagar, Delhi 15 August 1995<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dxm.org/techonomist/news/vsnlnow.html |title=VSNL starts India's first Internet service today |publisher=Dxm.org |date=14 August 1995 |access-date=15 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150901102755/http://dxm.org/techonomist/news/vsnlnow.html |archive-date=1 September 2015 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
* 2020 – The PM-WANI framework envisages provision of Broadband through Public Wi-Fi Hotspot providers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PM-WANI Central Registry |url=https://pmwani.gov.in/wani/ |access-date=2024-04-09 |website=pmwani.gov.in |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429043454/https://pmwani.gov.in/wani/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

'''Development of Broadcasting:''' Radio broadcasting was initiated in 1927 but became state responsibility only in 1930. In 1937 it was given the name ''[[All India Radio]]'' and since 1957 it has been called ''Akashvani''.<ref name=Schwartzberg>Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (2008), ''India'', [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]</ref> Limited duration of television programming began in 1959, and complete broadcasting followed in 1965. The [[Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India)|Ministry of Information and Broadcasting]] owned and maintained the audio-visual apparatus—including the television channel ''[[Doordarshan]]''—in the country prior to the [[Economic liberalisation in India|economic reforms of 1991]]. In 1997, an autonomous body was established in the name of [[Prasar Bharti]] to take care of the public service broadcasting under the Prasar Bharti Act. All India Radio and Doordarshan, which earlier were working as media units under the Ministry of I&B became constituents of the body.<ref name="Raju Thomas"/>

'''Pre-liberalisation statistics:''' While all the major cities and towns in the country were linked with telephones during the [[British Raj|British]] period, the total number of telephones in 1948 numbered only around 80,000. Post-independence, growth remained slow because the telephone was seen more as a status symbol rather than being an instrument of utility. The number of telephones grew leisurely to 980,000 in 1971, 2.15 million in 1981 and 5.07 million in 1991, the year economic reforms were initiated in the country.