Over the past one month or so, Rajeev Chandrasekhar has been inundated with telephone calls and messages on his Facebook and Twitter pages from both the customers and employees of Loop Mobile (formerly BPL Mobile).

Some of the messages were emotional outpourings from employees who were associated with the telecom operator for about 15 years. “It’s obviously sad, it’s nostalgic…. This is the sunset of what was termed the sunrise of an industry,” Chandrasekhar told BusinessLine . He was the promoter of BPL Mobile, which was later named Loop after he sold the business.

In a text message on October 28, Mumbai’s oldest telecom operator had informed its subscribers of shutting down operations on November 29, following the expiry of its licence.

The end comes at a time, when the industry has grossed a subscriber base of about 900 million, becoming the fastest growing in the world.

Chandrasekhar, now an independent Rajya Sabha MP from Bengaluru, founded BPL Mobile 20 years ago.

The company, after receiving approvals, started operations on October 2, 1995, a time when mobile user base was barely anything. However, Chandrasekhar – who sold the company to Dubai-based IP Khaitan and family a decade later – terms this the natural end. “My only regret is that they should have handled portings much better,” he added.

Closure at 11.59 p.m.

Loop Mobile’s end will come at 11.59 p.m. on Saturday.

“This was an abrupt end…. For the last six months, we were expecting Airtel to take over the subscribers,” said Loop Mobile Chief Operating Officer Surya Mahadevan, who has been working with the company for the past six years.

Mahadevan, on his part, is moving out of the corporate world. He is taking up a faculty position at TA Pai Management Institute, Manipal.

On November 5, Bharti Airtel called off its plans to acquire Loop Mobile, after it failed to get regulatory approvals.

The operator had its fair share of controversies, too. The company, which changed its name from BPL Mobile, was embroiled in a bitter ownership battle between the Ruias of Essar Group and Vodafone Group.

The UK-based telecom company had alleged Essar of altering share structure of the service provider. BPL Mobile had commenced operations on a pan-India basis as a Kochi-registered firm, and continued till late 2008. “We used to take pride in the fact that TRAI had adjudged us as the best network,” recalls former CEO (then BPL Mobile) Sanjeev Chachondia, adding “drive tests” were conducted from Churchgate (downtown Mumbai) to the outskirts to check the quality of services.

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