March 6, 2002

    Minister of State for Communications and IT, Shri Tapan Sikdar has said that the policy initiatives in the Telecom sector have created conducive investment opportunities in telecom service and service application sectors. The Telecom Sector was growing at the rate of 22-23% during the last few years. It had also facilitated in positioning the brand image of India as a ‘Telecom Hub’ for investment in the South-Asian region in the manufacturing sector. A key feature of the recent initiatives has been the commitment of the Government to balance the interface between the IT and the Telecom sectors in order to reap the benefits of Convergence. This was stated while delivering the inaugural address at the ‘Convergence India – 2002’ International Exhibition and Conference here today.

    Highlighting the initiatives in detail, Shri Sikdar said that the policy of the Government also aimed to increase the tele-density from the current 4.2 per hundred to over 7 per hundred by 2005 and over 15 per hundred by 2010. The Minister stressed that the inputs facilitating the increase in tele density were highly remunerative. It had the potential for attracting new investment to tune of over $37 billion by 2005 and over $67 billion by 2010. On the cellular front, there was an exponential increase in the services offered by private operators. On an average, about 250,000 customers were getting added per month. Another growing sector was the increase in internet customers from mere 0.2 million in March 1999 to 3.5 million by 2002. The increase was due to the private sector participation in internet since 1998. 1000 new telephones were being added every hour with STD rates having fallen by 62%. In the recent budget, the reduction in the duty of cellular handsets from 26.67% to 14.4% was bound to expand the subscriber base. These initiatives were steps in the right direction to attract further investment and business opportunities, the Minister added.

    Elaborating further, the Minister said that the Government was laying great emphasis in reducing the ‘Digital Divide’. For this purpose, it was the endeavour of the Government to cover all villages with affordable telecom facilities by the end of 2002 and also network them with reliable media tools. The policies also aimed at strengthening the vast network of Public Call Centres in order to provide integrated communication facilities. To bridge the digital divide, steps would be taken to introduce delivery of services like tele-medicine, tele-education, tele-marketing and e-commerce to the rural areas. Call Centres would be strengthened with the objective of improving the incomes and quality of life of people in rural areas. The Minister said that these moves could be looked upon as appropriate business opportunities in the days to come. E-governance was another area where the interface between policy and opportunities could be balanced and blended. The policy of the Government, Minister said, aimed at spreading a vast network of Call Centres and IT enabled services in the country. These would be linked to off-loading operations and investment in accompanying supporting services.

    Another sector which offered tremendous opportunities for investment and interface was collaboration in the field of Telecom Research & Development. This interface, Shri Sikdar said, would not only help in streamlining the potential in the telecom sector, it would merge the objective of the IT and Telecom Sector’s needs and requirements.