India has been assured of a positive response
with regard to the hosting of ITU Telecom Asia in 2004 at New
Delhi. This was conveyed by Mr. Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary General
of the International Telecommunications Union(ITU) in his discussions
with Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology,
Smt. Sumitra Mahajan at Hong Kong today.
The Minister of State for Communications &
Information Technology, Smt. Sumitra Mahajan who is currently
leading a high level delegation from India to ITU Asia at Hong
Kong. Smt. Sumitra Mahajan also inaugurated "India Pavilion" today,
and met a large number of IT professionals including leading industry
heads representing the global telecom sector. The Minister also
met Mr. Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary General of the International
Telecommunications Union(ITU) and apprised him of the latest policy
initiatives undertaken in India in the telecommunications sector.
The Minister in her discussions with Secretary General of ITU
gave a blue print plan regarding investment opportunities in both
rural and urban telecom markets within India. She specially apprised
him of the Government’s endeavour to facilitate value added connectivity
through cheap and accessible telecom tools. In this context, she
stressed on the initiatives undertaken in the Village Public Telephony
Programme.
The India Day was also celebrated wherein a large
number of visitors from across the world and leading industry
heads were present. Addressing the gathering, Smt. Sumitra Mahajan
highlighted the vast potential of India in the field of telecom,
the Telecom Policy and various regulatory reforms that India had
undertaken in recent years. She said that with 49 million telephone
lines India has one of the largest telecom networks in the world.
Mobile connections in India are
9 million and they are increasing at an average
rate of more than 90 per cent. Overall growth rate of Telecom
sector is 23-24 percent, she added. In view of the vast opportunities
in manufacturing activities, especially in the field of GSM and
CDMS technologies, Minister Smt. Sumitra Mahajan welcomed foreign
companies to come to India and set up manufacturing units where
favourable investment opportunities were provided through the
mechanism of Foreign Direct Investment. She also mentioned about
the possibility of setting up of joint ventures with the Indian
Telecom manufacturers and also with R&D Institutions like
C-DOT.
On the occasion, Shri Vinod Vaish, Secretary,
Department of Telecom(DOT) spoke about the various reforms India
has undertaken in the telecom sector and mentioned about the measures
taken by the Government to bridge the digital divide. In the field
of Back Office Processing, India had virtually become a powerhouse
for the call centres. In a short span of time, there are more
than 438 International Call Centres in India.
During the day, Mr. Richard Siemens, Chairman
Distacom Communication, Hong Kong also called on the Minister
and conveyed their eagerness to bring new investments into India.
The Minister assured him of all cooperation. Mr. Hou Weigui President,
ZTE Technologies also called upon the Minister and apprised her
fo their manufacturing base in Shenzhen and their operations in
India. The Minister emphasized the need for technology transfer
and establishment of a manufacturing base in India. The President,
ZTE expressed to have a long-term partnership with M/s. ITI of
India and also submitted a proposal in this regard to promote
R&D and manufacturing activities in India. The President of
PCCW also called on the Minister and expressed their willingness
to invest into India in the field of Telecom operations and services.
