March 22, 2002

    Shri Tapan Sikdar, Minister of State for Communications and IT has said that the challenge before us is to show how sectoral reforms and investment opportunities in information and communication technologies can help bridge the digital divide. If one is able to bridge the divide, it would make a genuine difference in improving the livelihoods of deprived people. The responsibility of the Government and industry was to ensure accessibility of communication services to each person at an affordable price. Shri Sikdar was speaking at the inaugural session of the 8^th Annual Conference of PTC India Foundation, here today.

    Elaborating further, Shri Sikdar said that the Telecom sector had been witnessing a continuous process of reforms since 1991. Of late, with the opening of the International Long Distance service and internet telephony from 1^st April, 2002, the process of liberalisation in the telecom sector would now be complete. The communication network was growing at an average compound rate of about 22%. The growth levels of both fixed line and cellular mobile had been equally impressive. The Minister added that due to the policy initiatives, the Government had set a target of increasing tele-density from 4 to 7% by 2005 and to 15% by 2010. It was also the target to add around 1000 new telephone connections per hour to the existing network.