March 19, 2002

   India has made a strong plea for evolving a time bound Action Plan to help the developing countries to take steps for preventing Digital Divide. Speaking at a special Session organised by International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in connection with the World Telecommunication Development Conference-2002 at Istanbul yesterday, Mr. Shyamal Ghosh, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications(DoT) who is the leader of the Indian Delegation, emphasised that the primary challenge is to provide universal access particularly in rural and remote areas. In this connection, he also emphasised that Digital Divide not only existed within nations but also between nations and essentially caused by differences of factors like income, education, age and gender. He also referred to Tokyo Declaration of 2000 where the need for regional and global cooperation was recognised. He also recalled the joint view, which was developed at the recently held Asia Pacific Conference on Digital Divide at New Delhi. The primary issue was the conflict between affordability and cost of providing universal access. There was a need for cooperation of both private and public sectors in developed as well as in developing countries. Providing Universal Access should be viewed as a win-win situation, since the more the number of subscribers brought into the network more will be the volume of traffic and revenue generated. He urged global cooperation through ITU in framing and assisting appropriate projects like Multi Purpose Telecommunication Centre and also encouraging development of relevant and appropriate technologies which would make access affordable. The development of low cost terminal equipment is critical. There was also need to set up framework for the exchange of information and experience.

    The Conference is being held at Istanbul where more than 1000 delegates from over 100 countries are participating representing Government, regulators and private sector. The Conference will evolve the telecommunication plans and strategies for the next four years. Mr. Shyamal Ghosh was elected Vice-Chairman of the Conference.