Evaluation of Suicide Research in the Elderly

Evaluation of Suicide Research in the Elderly A CRITICAL COMPARISON OF TWO RESEARCH APPROACHES TO SUICIDALITY IN THE ELDERLY: the qualitative and quantitative paradigms Introduction: Suicide may be considered a common and devastating emergency in the general practice of mental health. It is a phenomenon that is generally complex and inherently difficult to predict. Suicidality, which is the spectrum of psychological activities that culminates in the eventual death of the individual, may be especially complicated in the elderly. This is because people of that age group are known to traverse the continuum of suicidal behaviour with extraordinary secrecy, determination and lethality. Thus, there may be up to three new cases of elderly suicide for every one below the age of 25 years in many countries (Diego et al., 2004, Mello-Santos et al., 2005). Giving the intricate nature of the phenomenon in the elderly, understanding the immediate and remote factors that may be suggestive of imminent death by suicide may be an important step to setting up targeted interventions before it is too late. In the context of suicide research, immediate pointers to an impending suicide may, on the one hand, include a subjective ‘experience’ with suicidal ideas or the wish to die. This very personal experience may sometimes be expressed in signs and symptoms such as talking or writing about the end. A phenomenon sometimes referred to as suicidal warnings (Rudd et al., 2006). In this regards, immediate factors for imminent suicide may also extend to the ‘meanings’ attached to such notices by their recipients. The understanding of peoples experiences and meanings is strengthen by the qualitative research paradigm (Fossey et al., 2002). The more remote pointers to an imminent suicide may include correlates of suicidality within the larger population, as against the individual. The investigation of such independent risk factors within the population, or a systematically generated sample from it, is underpinned by the quantitative research model (Godwin et al., 2003). To provide a clear understanding of the qualitative and quantitative frameworks, this discourse aims to critically compare two studies using contrasting approaches in elucidating the factors related to suicide in the elderly. The context and comparison This first study, hereafter referred to as Kjiolseth and Ekeberg (Kjolseth and Ekeberg, 2012), was an investigation of the experiences and reactions of people to warnings they have received about the suicidal intention of their elderly wards. The authors relied on the technique of psychological autopsy (Beskow et al., 1990). Wherein, they re-created the circumstances of the suicide through interviews of 63 formal and informal carers of 23 individuals who had died in that manner aged 65 years or over. The second study, hereafter referred to as Ojagbemi et al (Ojagbemi et al., 2013), examined the predictive relationship between several health related variables and three behaviours occurring on a continuum leading to eventual death by suicide. The authors relied on a multi-stage probability sample of 2149 participants aged 65 years or over, and spread across a geographical area equivalent to a quarter of the national population. The main research question explored by Kjiolseth and Ekeberg was; how did people perceive and react to suicidal warnings communicated to them by the elderly around them? Perception in this context may be broadly understood as the individual’s cognizance of the events external to them. Such perception may also feedback on how the individual will react. In the view of empiricists such as Locke (Baird et al., 2008) the awareness of externally occurring events may only be possible if they are mentally represented. In this regards, the reality is created in the mind of the recipient. Further, Bekerley (Atherton, 1987) contends that this reality is inherently modifiable according to previous experience. Therefore, since the previous experiences of different individuals may be inherently different, and dynamic, the proposition of a single or unitary reality may be less likely. In other words, the research question of Kjiolseth and Ekerberg may be best answered if the perception and r eaction of a variety of carefully selected individuals who may have received the suicidal warnings are considered. Qualitative interviews may afford the opportunity for the researchers in this instance to generate more nuanced accounts from a wide selection of individuals who may be knowledgeable about the phenomenon of interest. In contrast to Kjiolseth and Ekerberg, Ojagbemi et al wanted to find out if there are indices of health and wellbeing in the general population that may demonstrate predictive associations with suicidality among the elderly living in sub-Saharan African communities. This research question may suggest as follows; firstly, by indices, the authors appear interested in numerical or value indicators of health and wellbeing. Secondly, by predictive associations, they may also be interested in relationships. Thirdly, Ojagbemi et al appear interested in the general population, rather than individuals. The interest of the authors in the examination of predicted relationships between numerical and/ or non-numerical (i.e, categorical) indicators, with a focus on the general population may support a non-experimental quantitative approach (Martens, 1998). In line with the quantitative framework, Ojagbemi et al specifically investigated the predictive relationship between a wide range of demographic and health related variables and three categories of behaviour occurring on a continuum leading to eventual suicide in people who have attained the age of 65 years or over at the start of the study. They additionally sort to investigate the transition between one behaviour and another. These categories of behaviour were namely; suicidal ideation, suicidal plans, and suicidal attempts. They hypothesized that several of the health and wellbeing indicators will predict the presence of these suicidal behaviours. The study was a community based cross-sectional survey of the elderly living in a geographical area equivalent to a quarter of the national population. Giving the research question of Ojagbemi et al about predictive associations, the exploration of several demographic and health related variables should allow the investigators to examin e the independent effect of individual variables on the suicidal behaviours while holding the others constant. Furthermore, giving the interest of the authors on sub-Saharan African communities, the focus on communities spread over a wide geographical area, should allow for a wider generalisation of the findings to several sub-Saharan African communities. Conversely, the community based design may inherently exclude the elderly in care and nursing homes, as well as hospitals. Therefore, the findings may not be generalizable, after all, to the entire sub-Saharan African elderly population. Also, the cross-sectional design makes the picture of whether the elderly have had these behaviours long before they attained the age of 65 years unclear. As such it may be doubtful if the result represents the true depiction of affairs in the elderly population. On the other hand, the study by Kjiolseth and Ekerberg studied people’s experiences and reactions to the ‘warnings’ they have received about the suicidal intentions or plans of the elderly around them. They have relied on psychological autopsy, based on several interviews with people the authors thought should have the knowledge and experience about the phenomenon they planned to investigate. Giving the research questions of the authors about how people perceived notices of suicide communicated to them, a re-enactment of the situation surrounding the eventual suicidal act, through information from key informants, may help shed light on people’s experiences and the processes involved in the reaction of individuals. The individual meaning is also referred to as phenomenology in the context of qualitative research (Thompson et al., 1989). However, with individual meanings it may be difficult to demonstrate ‘probabilistic’ generalisability to the w ider group of formal or informal carers of the elderly who have died by suicide. On the other hand, it might be possible to generalise findings with strong ‘internal validity’ to similar contexts (Pawson and Tilley, 1997 ). Furthermore, They were also interested in the general population of the elderly living a wide geographical area. In this regard, it is the ideal for the authors to access very elderly person living in the location of interest. However, it may be a near impossibility to attempt to interview every elderly person living in an area equivalent to a quarter of the country. As such, the authors resorted to a systematic method of taking a representative sample of the population of the elderly in the location of interest. In this way, they relied on a multi-stage area probability sample of the elderly living in households spread over the study location. They interviewed one elderly person per household, and eventually arrived at a sample size of 2149 participants REFERENCES ATHERTON, M. 1987. Berkeleys Anti-Abstractionism. In: SOSA, E. (ed.) Essays on the Philosophy of George Berkeley. Dordrecht: D. Reidel. BAIRD, E, F., KAUFMANN WALTER 2008. From Plato to Derrida, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson Prentice Hall. BESKOW, J., RUNESON, B. ASGARD, U. 1990. Psychological autopsies: methods and ethics. Suicide Life Threat Behav, 20, 307-23. DIEGO, D. L., SHELLEY, B., M, B. J., KERKHOF, D. J. F. A. BILLE-BRAHEUNNI 2004. Definitions of Suicidal Behaviour. In: LEO, D. D., BILLE-BRAHE, U., KERKHOF, A. J. F. M. SCHMIDTKE, A. (eds.) Suicidal behaviour. Cambridge: Hogrefe Huber. FOSSEY, E., HARVEY, C., MCDERMOTT, F. DAVIDSON, L. 2002. Understanding and evaluating qualitative research. Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 36, 717-32. GODWIN, M., RUHLAND, L., CASSON, I., MACDONALD, S., DELVA, D., BIRTWHISTLE, R., LAM, M. SEGUIN, R. 2003. Pragmatic controlled clinical trials in primary care: the struggle between external and internal validity. BMC Med Res Methodol, 3, 28. KJOLSETH, I. EKEBERG, O. 2012. When elderly people give warning of suicide. Int Psychogeriatr, 24, 1393-401. MARTENS, D. 1998. Research methods in education and psychology : integrating diversity with quantitative qualitative approaches, Thousand Oaks, Sage. MELLO-SANTOS, C., BERTOLOTE, J. M. WANG, Y. P. 2005. Epidemiology of suicide in Brazil (1980-2000): characterization of age and gender rates of suicide. Rev Bras Psiquiatr, 27, 131-4. OJAGBEMI, A., OLADEJI, B., ABIONA, T. GUREJE, O. 2013. Suicidal behaviour in old age results from the Ibadan Study of Ageing. BMC Psychiatry, 13, 80. PAWSON, R. TILLEY, N. 1997 Realistic Evaluation, London, Sage. RUDD, M. D., BERMAN, A. L., JOINER, T. E., JR., NOCK, M. K., SILVERMAN, M. M., MANDRUSIAK, M., VAN ORDEN, K. WITTE, T. 2006. Warning signs for suicide: theory, research, and clinical applications. Suicide Life Threat Behav, 36, 255-62. THOMPSON, C. J., LOCANDER, W. B. POLLIO, H. R. 1989. Putting Consumer Experience Back into Consumer Research: The Philosophy and Method of Existential-Phenomenology. Journal of Consumer Research, 16, 133-146.

Essay --

When asked to evaluate the contribution to marketing made by an influential scholar, I decided to choose Phillip Kotler. Phillip Kotler was born on the 27th of May 1931 in Chicago. He was a character who strived during his educational times as he contains a Masters degree from the University of Chicago as well as a PhD from MIT both in the field of Economics. He is known as not just a famous Marketer but a renown author who has published over 55 books such as â€Å"Principles of Marketingâ€Å" â€Å" A Framework for Marketing Managementâ€Å" and â€Å"Marketing 3.0â€Å". The main reason I chose to study Kotler was that over his lifetime he was widely known for his efforts made to the modern marketing era. Of these acknowledgements made I would like to focus in on what I think are his three main contributes to marketing. Firstly, he was given the title as the â€Å"Father of modern marketing† which was seen in the eyes of the nearly all who study marketing. This title was given to him due to his outstanding knowledge and simplest ways to describe and focus in on the future fundamentals of marketing. Secondly, He one of the worlds’s leading authors on marketing placing 4th as an influential character behind the likes of Bill Gates and Peter Drucker. Finally, Kotler is said to be the founders behind the widely known 4 P’s, he is "the world's foremost expert on the strategic practice of marketing" (by Management Centre Europe). Professor Kotler is the expert marketer who discovered the 4 Ps of Marketing. This discovery is one of the most influentia... ...her one of his books â€Å"Marketing Management† is one his widely used graduate level textbook. Many students studying marketing refer to this book, he developed ideas and concepts in marketing including atmospherics (the store's layout, noise level, temperature, lighting), demarketing (reverse marketing in which a company discourages product demand in areas where they cannot realize a desired profit), megamarketing (type of marketing activity required when it is necessary to manage elements of the firm's external environment), and synchromarketing (activity intended to shift the pattern of demand to that it equates more suitably with the ideal pattern of supply). Kotler believes that marketing theory needs to go beyond price theory and incorporate the dynamics of innovation, distribution and promotion systems into analyzing, explaining and predicting economic outcomes.

Aristotle or a post-modern anti-hero?

In On the Road Jack Kerouac produces what has become known as the archetypal Beat hero, Dean Moriaty. An analysis of whether he is closer to a traditional Aristotelian hero or to the postmodern anti-hero will reveal much about the often contradictory forces at work within the â€Å"rhythms of fifties underground America, jazz, sex, generosity, chill dawns and drugs . . . â€Å" (Holmes, 1957). Before discussing which Moriaty is closer to it will be necessary to briefly define both the traditional and the postmodern hero, identifying what they hold in common and what divides them.The traditional Aristotelian hero is a high-born man, normally royal or at least from the aristocracy who appears to be on top of the world at the beginning of his story. He has many advantages, both natural and acquired. He is often successful, popular with others and apparently happy. The tragic hero normally has something that has been called â€Å"the fatal flaw† (Kaufmann, 1992). This flaw may b e something he has no blame for, such as the heel that makes Achilles physically vulnerable, the jealousy that makes Othello emotionally vulnerable or the introspection that makes Hamlet delay so long. This fatal flaw often leads, in one way or another, to the downfall of the tragic hero.So the traditional tragic hero falls from a high social position to disgrace and/or death through circumstance and through his supposed fatal flaw. Aristotle said that his fate should inspire â€Å"pity and fear† within the audience (Aristotle, 2001).   Pity for the fate of the individual tragic hero and fear that they might fall into a similar situation themselves.   By contrast, the anti-hero is, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, â€Å"a main character in a dramatic or narrative work who is characterized by a lack of traditional heroic qualities, such as idealism of courage† (America, 1992).Some clue to which definition of protagonist – hero or anti-hero †“ Dean Moriaty falls can be found within the fact that the very term â€Å"anti-hero† is in fact a Twentieth Century invention (Lawall, 1966).   The idea of the anti-hero is in many ways linked to early twentieth century philosophies such as Existentialism, which suggested that life has little meaning and that no absolute standards of morality are relevant. The anti-hero creates his own sense of values, often from moment to moment, according to the needs of the moment. The postmodern anti-hero takes on similar propensities, although he is even more extreme. The â€Å"Man-With-No-Name† character that Clint Eastwood played in the 1960’s spaghetti westerns is perhaps the classic postmodern anti-hero.The world of these westerns does not have â€Å"good† and â€Å"evil† as could be identified by the white/black horses, the white/black cowboy hats and the handsome/ugly actors of the traditional Western. There are merely shades of darkness in the spag hetti western, and the same can be said for most of the characters in On the Road, set as it is within a world of constant wandering throughout America that is in some ways very similar to a western.One of the most important facets of On the Road is the fact that there are two main characters. First, there is Sal Paradise, the titular narrator of the novel that has been more or less associated with Kerouac himself; and second, there is Dean Moriaty. The reader is rapidly and constantly drawn into views of Dean Moriaty. Sal describes him as â€Å"simply a youth tremendously excited with life† who possesses â€Å"a kind of holy lightning . .. flashing from his excitement and his visions† (Kerouac, 1957).   Later Dean is described as â€Å"the holy con-man with the shining mind† (Kerouac, 1957).So in the manner of both the hero and the anti-hero, Dean is a charismatic character who draws others to him through the sheer energy that he exudes and his apparent zest for everything life has to offer. But Dean is very low born. He is apparently the son of an alcoholic who was never really raised properly and who has had criminal propensities from a very young age. Dean has been in prison for stealing cars. While traditional tragic heroes may commit the most serious of crimes (often murder) they are not normally criminal in a conventional sense. There is something petty and hopeless about the kind of criminality that Dean Moriaty displays.But in the best tradition of the postmodern anti-hero, Dean has learned a lot about how to live from his incarceration. He states, with characteristic bluntness:Only a guy who’s spent five years in jail can go to such maniacal  helpless extremes . . . prison is where you promise yourself the  right to live.  (Kerouac, 1957)So the anti-hero discovers himself through falling from grace, even if he probably did not have far to fall in the first place. Rather than going to his death or languishing in the shame of his crimes he lives out the years of his imprisonment and then comes out to go â€Å"on the road†. In one sense the novel shows what might happen when the tragic hero has fallen, been transformed and emerged as a postmodern anti-hero.Dean does fall further however, especially as the novel continues and the novelty of being free to do as he wishes starts to wear thin. Thus his abandonment of his wife and child are brought to his attention, indeed he is confronted with it. Sal, ever the intelligent observer, states that â€Å"where once Dean would have talked his way out, now he fell silent . . . he was BEAT† (Kerouac, 1957).The protagonist of the novel goes through it performing decidedly un-heroic deeds such as this abandonment. He also expresses a constant and rather disturbing attraction for very young girls, often only 12 or 13, especially those who are prostitutes and thus totally vulnerable to his desires. Near the end of the novel he actually abandons S al as he lies sick in Mexico City. Ultimately Sal comes to see Dean in a very brutal light, oine that hardly meets any kind of definition other than a decidedly anti-hero:. . . when I got better I realized what a rat he was, but then I hadbto understand the impossible complexity of his life, how he had toleave me there, sick, to get on with his wives and woes.b(Kerouac, 1957) (emphasis added)Dean is thus essentially a coward, and a lack of courage is never part of the character of a tragic hero, whatever other faults he may possess. But Sal, in characteristically postmodern fashion, does not blame Dean for his cowardice and being a â€Å"rat†. The postmodern condition is one in which there are no absolute standards of ethics and thus everything is more or less forgiven.It is the â€Å"complexity† of his life that Sal feels makes Dean constantly abandon people. He is just another character who moves through an aimless world with little to concern him except an increasin gly futile search for a purely hedonistic lifestyle.The constant traveling in the book makes Dean an anti-hero rather than a hero. While many tragic heroes travel (Aeschylus, Odysseus) they nearly always have some kind of destination – whether it be ethical or geographical, in mind. The characters of On the Road travel constantly, but with, to quote a popular song of the period â€Å"no particular place to go†. They travel for the sake of traveling.   This aimless travel is a symbol for the lack of a higher ethical or religious structure within which to live. The characters of On the Road are sure of nothing, except that, as Sal says at the end of the book â€Å"nobody knows what’s going to happen to anybody besides the forlorn rags of growing old† (Kerouac, 1957).Dean moves from the West to the East to the West to the South . . .   and on with a sense of rather melancholy endlessness. At the end of the novel Dean returns to the West Coast on his own, and Sal ruminates upon the sad meaninglessness of life. While much has happened in the novel in some senses, in the classic, Aristotelian sense very little has occurred that will permanently change people. On the Road has no simple dramatic structure. There is no climax and denouement. Rather it is a formless kind of a quest story in which the search is an end in itself.This endless quest give On the Road   a post-modern structure. The characters are on an existential search for themselves that seems doomed to failure. Dean Moriaty is the archetypal post-modern anti-hero within this quest. He draws people to him, and they travel thousands of miles in order to be a part of his wandering life. But when he loses interest in them he drops them with what appears to be a callous disregard for the consequences. But there is something â€Å"heroic† in his actions as he is at least being honest. He is being true to himself. If that â€Å"self† much of the time is cowardly, c asually cruel, vaguely criminal and pedophilic in nature then he will still reveal it.To conclude, it seems clear that Dean Moriaty, the protagonist of On the Road is far nearer to a post-modern anti-hero than   to a traditional, classical hero. The world that he inhabits is one in which there is little meaning. It is an often dark, forbidding place in which the Cold War threatens nuclear missiles and in which a kind of despairing hedonism is the only course of action which seems relevant to most of the characters. They move around the country at an often dizzying rate, driving all night long for no apparent reason other than the fact they are moving. Romantic relationships are often little more than brief romantic liaisons and marriages are abandoned with the same disregard for consequences that the children that have come from them are thrown away. Dean Moriaty is a post-modern anti-hero, one that a myriad of similar figures have been more or less based upon in the fifty years s ince On the Road   was first publish.Works CitedAmerican Heritage Dictionary, Dell, New York: 1992.Aristotle, The Basic Works of Aristotle, Modern Library, New York: 2001.Holmes, Richard. â€Å"On the Road Review†. The Times, London: 1957.Kaufmann, Walter. Tragedy and Philosophy. Princeton UP, New York: 1992.Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. Penguin, New York: 1957.Lawall, Greg. â€Å"Apollonius Argonautica. Jason as Anti-Hero†. Yale Classical Studies. 19, 119-169.

Metamorphosis in Indian Telecom Industry - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 3005 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/09/11 Category Advertising Essay Did you like this example? Metamorphosis in Telecom Industry Abstract: Today, Telecommunications is one of the fastest-growing areas of technology in the world. Because of its rapid growth, businesses and individuals can access information at electronic speed from almost anywhere in the world. By including telecommunications in their operations, businesses can provide better services and products to their customers. For individuals, telecommunications provides access to worldwide information and services. India’s telephone network is one of the largest communication networks in the world which continues to grow at blistering pace. The Indian Telecommunications network with 621 million connections (as on March 2010) is the third largest network after China USA and the fastest growing market with a growth rate of 45% in the world and the second largest among the emerging economies of Asia. The telecommunication sector continued to register significant success during the past few years and has emerged as one of the key sectors responsible for India’s resurgent and its economic growth. This rapid growth has been possible due to various proactive and positive decisions of the Government and contribution of both by the public and the private sector. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Metamorphosis in Indian Telecom Industry" essay for you Create order The rapid strides in the telecom sector have been facilitated by liberal policies of the Government that provide easy market access for telecom equipment and a fair regulatory framework for offering telecom services to the Indian consumers at affordable prices. Indian telecommunication sector has undergone a major process of transformation through significant policy reforms, particularly beginning with the announcement of National Telecom Policy (NTP) 1994 and was subsequently re-emphasized and carried forward under NTP 1999. Driven by various policy initiatives, the Indian telecom sector witnessed a complete transformation in the last decade. It has achieved a phenomenal growth during the last few years and is poised to take a big leap in the future also. Presently, all the telecom services have been opened for private participation. Keywords: Telecommunication, Consumers, Teledensity, 3G Services, Technology In today’s information age, the telecommunication industry has a vital role to play. Considered as the backbone of industrial and economic development, the industry has been aiding delivery of voice and data services at rapidly increasing speeds, and thus, has been revolutionising human communication. The development of the telecom sector has experienced a major process of transformation in terms of its growth, technological content, and market structure in the last decade through policy reforms introduced by the Government. The impetus of these changes is expected to continue, and at a much faster pace. INTRODUCTION EVOLUTION Indian telecom sector is more than 165 years old. Telecommunications was first introduced in India in 1851 when the first operational landlines were laid by the government near Kolkata (then Calcutta), although telephone services were formally introduced in India much later in 1881. Further, in 1883, telephone services were merged with the postal system. In 1947, after India attained independence, all foreign telecommunication companies were nationalised to form the Posts, Telephone and Telegraph (PTT), a body that was governed by the Ministry of Communication. The first wind of reforms in telecommunications sector began to flow in 1980s when the private sector was allowed in telecommunications equipment manufacturing. The government concretised its earlier efforts towards developing RD in the sector by setting up an autonomous body – Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) in 1984 to develop state-of-the-art telecommunication technology to meet the growing needs of the Indian telecommunication network. In 1985, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) was established. It was an exclusive provider of domestic and long-distance service that would be its own regulator (separate from the postal system). In 1986, two wholly government-owned companies were created: the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for international telecommunications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for service in metropolitan areas. The actual evolution of the industry started after the Government separated the Department of Post nd Telegraph in 1985 by setting up the Department of Posts and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The entire evolution of the telecom industry can be classified into three distinct phases. * Phase I- Pre-Liberalisation Era (1980-89) * Phase II- Post Liberalisation Era (1990-99) * Phase III- Post 2000 Until the late 90s the Government of India held a monopoly on all types of communications – as a result of the Telegraph Act of 1885. Until the industry was liberalised in the early nineties, it was a heavily government-controlled and small-sized market, Government policies have played a key role in shaping the structure and size of the Telecom industry in India. As a result, the Indian telecom market is one of the most liberalised markets in the world with private participation in almost all of its segments. The New Telecom Policy (NTP-99) provided the much needed impetus to the growth of this industry and set the trend for liberalisation in the industry. NATIONAL TELECOM POLICY 1994 In 1994, the Government announced the National Telecom Policy which defined certain important objectives, including availability of telephone on demand, provision of world class services at reasonable prices, improving India’s competitiveness in global market and promoting exports, attractive FDI and stimulating domestic investment, ensuring India’s emergence as major manufacturing / export base of telecom equipment and universal availability of basic telecom services to all villages. It also announced a series of specific targets to be achieved by 1997. NEW TELECOM POLICY 1999 The most important milestone and instrument of telecom reforms in India  is  the New Telecom Policy 1999 (NTP 99). The New Telecom Policy, 1999 (NTP-99) was approved on 26th March 1999, to become effective from 1st April 1999. NTP-99 laid down a clear roadmap for future reforms, contemplating the opening up of all the segments of the telecom sector for private sector participation. It clearly recognized the need for strengthening the regulatory regime as well as restructuring the departmental telecom services to that of a public sector corporation so as to separate the licensing and policy functions of the Government from that of being an operator. It also recognized the need for resolving the prevailing problems faced by the operators so as to restore their confidence and improve the investment climate. Key features of the NTP 99 include: * Strengthening of Regulator. National long distance services opened to private operators. * International Long Distance Services opened to private sectors. * Private telecom operators licensed on a revenue sharing basis, plus a one-time entry fee. Resolution of problems of existing operators envisaged. * Direct interconnectivity and sharing of network with other telecom operators within the service area was permitted. * Department of Telecommunication Services (DTS) corporatized in 2000. * Spectrum Management made transparen t and more efficient. All the commitments made under NTP 99  have been fulfilled; each one of them, in letter and spirit, some even ahead of schedule, and the reform process is now complete with all the sectors in telecommunications opened for private competition. CURRENT STATUS Globalisation has made telecommunication an integral part of the infrastructure of the Indian economy. The telecom sector in India has developed as a result of progressive regulatory regime. The Indian telecom market has been displaying sustained high growth rates. Riding on expectations of overall high economic growth and consequent rising income levels, it offers an unprecedented opportunity for foreign investment. A combination of factors is driving growth in the telecom market, promising rich returns on investments. It has also experienced a rapid growth over the past decade on account of regulatory liberalisation, structural reforms and competition, making telecom one of the major catalysts in India’s growth story. However, much of this growth can be attributed to the unprecedented growth in mobile telephony as the number of mobile subscribers grew at an astounding rate. The year 2009, saw the Indian telecom sector add 170 million phone connections to take the total subscriber base to 550 million. T R Dua, Deputy Director General of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), said, â€Å"It is indeed a matter of great satisfaction that the Indian telecom industry continued to grow even when most other sectors grappled with a demand slowdown. † Studies have shown that in India, the telecom sector has been a major enabler of economic growth. An Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) study has shown that states with higher mobile penetration are forecast to grow faster. At present, the Indian telecom market is the fastest growing in the world with the lowest tariffs and currently market leaders in the Indian telecom sector are launching plans to compete with new operators. The year 2009 saw telecom players shift from per minute billing to per second billing. The Indian telecom industry is characterised with intense competition, and continuous price wars. Currently, there are around a dozen telecom service providers who operate in the wired and wireless segment. The government has been periodically implementing suitable fiscal and promotional policies to boost domestic demand and to create volumes for the industry. The Indian telecom market size of over US $ 8 billion is expected to increase three fold by 2012. The Indian telecom industry has immense growth potential as the teledensity in the country is just 36 as compared with 60 in the US, 102 in the UK and 58 in Canada. The wireless segment growth has played a dominant role in taking the teledensity to the current levels. In the next few years, the industry is poised to grow further; in fact, it has already entered a consolidation phase as foreign players are struggling to acquire a pie in this dynamic industry. The Indian Telecom Analysis (2008-2012) report by RNCOS Industry Research Solutions shows that mobile telecom segment has surpassed all other segments in the Indian telecom sector. (The mobile telecom market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 15 per cent between 2009-10 and 2013-14. The report also indicates that the advance of services such as Internet Protocol television (IPTV) and 3G are fuelling the growth of the Indian telecom sector. Meanwhile, Bangladeshs telecom regulator granted approval to Indian telecom operator, Bharti Airtel’s US$ 300 million proposed investment for a 70 per cent stake in the Abu Dhabi Groups Warid Telecom of Bangladesh. This a pproval makes the company the first Indian operator from the Indian telecom sector to foray into Bangladeshs mobile market. Indian telecom companies are following the trend of global telecom companies such as France Telecom, AT;T and Vodafone to capitalise on the excitement in the mobile applications space—mobile service provider Aircel has partnered Infosys Technologies to launch the first mobile application in the Indian telecom sector. Also, Airtel is considering partnering software company IBM to launch app stores in 2010. This signals the increasing recognition among operators in the Indian telecom sector that the way ahead for mobile technology lies with independent developers. In another development in the Indian telecom sector, Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) has partnered Novatium Solutions Ltd to launch what is said to be the country’s first cloud computing service over wireless broadband, ‘Nova Navigator. The Navigator is being described as a ‘zero maintenance access device with features such as 3G support and plug and play printer support and multimedia support. In a development that will provide fundamental benefits to services offered by the Indian telecom sector, Tata Communications and China Telecom Corp are to jointly build a 500-km optical fibre cable network between the two countries in 2010. Along with the investments of Tata Communications in other subsea cable investments, the India-China Terrestrial Cable will provide high-speed connectivity between Asia and Europe. FUTURE GROWTH PROSPECTUS OF TELECOM SECTOR IN INDIA Both fixed line and mobile segments serve the basic needs of local calls, long distance calls and the international calls, with the provision of broadband services in the fixed line segment and GPRS in the mobile arena. Traditional telephones have been replaced by the codeless and the wireless instruments. Mobile phone providers have also come up with GPRS-enabled multimedia messaging, Internet surfing, and mobile-commerce. The much-awaited 3G mobile technology is soon going to transform the Indian telecom market. The GSM, CDMA, WLL service providers are all upgrading them to provide 3G mobile services. Along with improvement in telecom services, there is also an improvement in manufacturing. In the beginning, there were only the Siemens handsets in India but now a whole series of new handsets, such as Nokias latest N-series, Sony Ericssons W-series, Motorolas PDA phones, etc. ave come up. Touch screen and advanced technological handsets are gaining popularity. Radio services have also been incorporated in the mobile handsets, along with other applications like high storage memory, multimedia applications, multimedia games, MP3 Players, video generators, Cameras, etc. The value added services provided by the mobile service operators contribute more than 10% of the total revenue. FACTOR S FACILITATING GROWTH OF THE SECTOR The phenomenal growth in the Indian telecom industry was brought about by the wireless revolution that began in the nineties. Besides this, the following factors also aided the growth of the industry. Liberalisation The relaxation of telecom regulations has played a major role in the development of the Indian telecom industry. The liberalisation policies of 1991 and the consequent influx of private players have led the industry on a high growth trajectory and have increased the level of competition. Post-liberalisation, the telecom industry has received more investments and has implemented higher technology. Increasing Affordability of Handsets The phenomenal growth in the Indian telecom industry was predominantly aided by the meteoric rise in wireless subscribers, which encouraged mobile handset manufacturers to enter the market and to cater to the growing demand. Further, the manufacturers introduced lower-priced handsets with add-on facilities to cater to the increasing number of subscribers from different strata of the society. Now even entry-level handsets come with features like coloured display and FM radio. Thus, the falling handset prices and the add-on features have triggered growth of the Indian telecom industry. Prepaid Cards Bring in More Subscribers In the late nineties, India was introduced to prepaid cards, which was yet another milestone for the wireless sector. Prepaid cards lured more subscribers into the industry besides lowering the credit risk of service providers due to its upfront payment concept. Prepaid cards were quite a phenomenon among first-time users who wanted to control their bills and students who had limited resources but greater need to be connected. Pre-paid cards greatly helped the cellular market to grow rapidly and cater to the untapped market. Further, the introduction of innovative schemes like recharge coupons of smaller denominations and life time incoming free cards has led to an exponential growth in the subscriber base. Introduction of Calling Party Pays (CPP) The CPP regime was introduced in India in 2003 and under this regime, the calling party who initiated the call was to bear the entire cost of the call. This regime came to be applicable for mobile to mobile calls as well as fixed line to mobile calls. So far India had followed the Receiving Party Pays (RPP) system where the subscriber used to pay for incoming calls from both mobile as well as fixedline networks. Shifting to the CPP system has greatly fuelled the subscriber growth in the sector. Changing Demographic Profile The changing demographic profile of India has also played an important role in subscriber growth. The changed profile is characterised by a large young population, a burgeoning middle class with growing disposable income, urbanisation, increasing literacy levels and higher adaptability to technology. These new features have multiplied the need to be connected always and to own a wireless phone and therefore, in present times mobiles are perceived as a utility rather than a luxury. Increased Competition ; Declining Tariffs Liberalisation of the telecom industry has fuelled intense competition, especially in the cellular segment. The ever-increasing competition has led to high growth of subscribers and has put pressure on tariffs, which have seen a sharp drop over the years. When the cellular phones were introduced, call rates were at a peak of Rs 16 per minute and there were charges for incoming calls too. Today, however, incoming calls are no longer charged and outgoing calls are charged at less than a rupee per minute. Thus, the tariff war has come a long way indeed. Increased competition and the subsequent tariff war have acted as a major catalyst for attracting more subscribers. Apart from these major growth drivers, an improved network coverage, entry of CDMA players, growth of value-added services (VAS), advancement in technology, and growing data services have also driven the growth of the industry. CONCLUSION The telecom industry in India has experienced exponential growth over the past few years and has been an important contributor to economic growth; however, the cut-throat competition and intense tariff wars have had a negative impact on the revenue of players. Despite the challenges, the Indian telecom industry will thrive because of the immense potential in terms of new users. India is one of the most-attractive telecom markets because it is still one of the lowest penetrated markets. The government is keen on developing rural telecom infrastructure and is also set to roll out next generation or 3G services in the country. Operators are on an expansion mode and are investing heavily on telecom infrastructure. Foreign telecom companies are acquiring considerable stakes in Indian companies. Burgeoning middle class and increasing spending power, the government’s thrust on increasing rural telecom coverage, favourable investment climate and positive reforms will ensure that India’s high potential is indeed realised. The government has eased the rules regarding inter circle and intra circle mergers. This has led to a slew of mergers and acquisitions in the recent past. Also as the sector is moving closer to maturity, further consolidation is a reality and this will lead to the survival of more profitable players in this segment. In order to further promote the use of Internet in the country the government is taking proactive steps to develop this sector with the help of the various players in this segment. For this purpose, the use of broadband technology is being mooted and this will go a long way in improving the productivity of the Indian economy as well as turn out to be the next big opportunity for telecom companies after the mobile communications segment. References www. indiatelecom. org www. trai. gov. in www. telecommindia. com www. telecomindiaonline. com/ www. dot. gov. in/