<P> In 1997, the government set up TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) which reduced the interference of Government in deciding tariffs and policy making . The political powers changed in 1999 and the new government under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee was more pro-reforms and introduced better liberalisation policies . In 2000, the Vajpayee government constituted the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) through an amendment of the TRAI Act, 1997 . The primary objective of TDSAT's establishment was to release TRAI from adjudicatory and dispute settlement functions in order to strengthen the regulatory framework . Any dispute involving parties like licensor, licensee, service provider and consumers are resolved by TDSAT . Moreover, any direction, order or decision of TRAI can be challenged by appealing in TDSAT . The government corporatised the operations wing of DoT on 1 October 2000 and named it as Department of Telecommunication Services (DTS) which was later named as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). The proposal of raising the stake of foreign investors from 49% to 74% was rejected by the opposite political parties and leftist thinkers . Domestic business groups wanted the government to privatise VSNL . Finally in April 2002, the government decided to cut its stake of 53% to 26% in VSNL and to throw it open for sale to private enterprises . TATA finally took 25% stake in VSNL . </P> <P> This was a gateway to many foreign investors to get entry into the Indian Telecom Markets . After March 2000, the government became more liberal in making policies and issuing licences to private operators . The government further reduced licence fees for (cellular service providers and increased the allowable stake to 74% for foreign companies . Because of all these factors, the service fees finally reduced and the call costs were cut greatly enabling every common middle - class family in India to afford a cell phone . Nearly 32 million handsets were sold in India . The data reveals the real potential for growth of the Indian mobile market . Many private operators, such as Reliance Communications, Jio, Tata Indicom, Vodafone, Loop Mobile, Airtel, Idea etc., successfully entered the high potential Indian telecom market . </P> <P> In March 2008 the total GSM and CDMA mobile subscriber base in the country was 375 million, which represented a nearly 50% growth when compared with previous year . As the unbranded Chinese cell phones which do not have International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers pose a serious security risk to the country, Mobile network operators therefore suspended the usage of around 30 million mobile phones (about 8% of all mobiles in the country) by 30 April . Phones without valid IMEI cannot be connected to cellular operators . 5--6 years the average monthly subscribers additions were around 0.05 to 0.1 million only and the total mobile subscribers base in December 2002 stood at 10.5 millions . However, after a number of proactive initiatives taken by regulators and licensors, the total number of mobile subscribers has increased rapidly to over 929 million subscribers as of May 2012 . </P> <P> India has opted for the use of both the GSM (global system for mobile communications) and CDMA (code - division multiple access) technologies in the mobile sector . In addition to landline and mobile phones, some of the companies also provide the WLL service . The mobile tariffs in India have also become the lowest in the world . A new mobile connection can be activated with a monthly commitment of US $0.15 only . </P>

What is the first mobile phone in india