Rapid telecoms growth and poor infrastructure are threatening Narendra Modi’s dream of digitally connecting urban and rural India

In the past decade, nearly one billion people have been connected to wireless phone services as part of India’s mobile communications revolution, making it the second-largest mobile phone market in the world. But a recent combination of rapidly rising growth and bad infrastructure has turned India’s dreams of wireless phone expansion into a nightmare.

Anguish over dropped calls has cut across income levels and social strata and led to unkind jokes about the country as the “call-drop nation”. The government-run national consumer complaints help line reported that dropped calls ranked near the top of the list of all grievances in July and August. The issue was the cover story of a national news magazine in July. And a TV station has launched a social media campaign called #NoCallDrops.

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What good is a cellphone if my family can’t reach me in a crisis?