BSNL & MTNL ASKED TO REDUCE NIGHT TIME TARIFFS FOR ACCESSING INTERNET

INDOOR USE OF WIRELESS LAN DELICENSED

USE OF BANDWIDTH BY IT-ENABLED SERVICES ON A TIME SHARING MODE

SHRI PRAMOD MAHAJAN INAUGURATES ASIA-PACIFIC TELECOMMUNITY GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING

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Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Communications & Information Technology, Shri Pramod Mahajan has asked the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) to reduce the night time tariffs for accessing internet by 50 percent as this would help the internet users particularly during night time to reduce their accessible charges which presently is on the higher side. He said that Government has also decided to delicence the indoor use of Wireless Local Area Network (LAN) enabling the University and Office Campuses for making greater use of wireless for communication. For IT-enabled services, the Minister announced that they can make use of bandwidth on a time sharing mode which would not be treated as a reselling of bandwidth. The series of announcements were made by the Minister of Communications while inaugurating the 9^th Session of the General Assembly and the 26^th Session of the Management Committee of the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT), here today.

Describing ICT as the 4^th Generation revolution, Shri Mahajan said that this would greatly help in reducing the ‘Digital Divide’ which in a greater sense, is proving to be worse among haves and have-nots. He said that ICT is not merely a technology but a new language which the humanity has developed. The Asia-Pacific meeting will have to consider in all seriousness this aspect of the situation as the region constitutes nearly 58% of the world’s humanity, he added.

About the Indian Software Industry, the Minister said that this industry has emerged as a key driver of growth for the IT sector. This segment is poised to grow very rapidly, world-wide, over the next few years. Indian IT software and services exports which accounted for nearly 20% of India’s total exports during 2001-02, is expected to reach US$50 billion by the year 2008 in value terms. He said that Indian IT sector is growing at the rate of 20-30% and as long as this speed is matching the growth, we shall be able to reach the targets set in this direction. Shri Mahajan said that India is training upto 300,000 engineers annually and nearly 50% of these are in ICT area. The number of engineers trained will reach half a million in another two to three years.

Speaking further, the Minister said that although India has been able to provide connectivity to about 90% population of the country, yet it has a long way to go in this direction. This is an important challenge before us and the APT can lend valuable help in this respect.

Earlier, in his welcome speech, the Chairman, Telecom Commission, Shri Vinod Vaish hoped that APT would provide a useful framework for the future cooperation among the member countries. He said that telecom infrastructure was vital for the growth of any country, as such must be recognised as an essential tool for bringing in IT revolution. The Chairman of the Managing Committee of Asia-Pacific Telecommunity, Mr. Toshiyuki Yamada, in his address described India as an Advanced ICT country. He underlined the need for tackling the problem of ‘Digital Divide’ through global efforts. The President of the APT, Sh. Mehdi Tabeshian and the Executive Director of the APT, Sh. Amarendra Narayan also addressed on occasion.

The 9^th Session of the General Assembly and the 26^th Session of the Management Committee of the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) have been hosted by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. During its nine day meeting,(Oct.23^rd –31^st, 2002), the Managing Committee would discuss several key issues concerning Telecommunications and Information and Communication Technology, including infrastructure development, radio communications, human resource development, inter regional and intra regional cooperation, besides policy and regulation. The Management Committee would also review the work programme for the year 2002 and would decide the work programme for the year 2003.

The General Assembly assumes special significance as it will consider and adopt the new APT Constitution (A Preparatory Group headed by the President of the APT, HE Dr.Mehdi Tabeshian, has been working for the past three years to finalise the new Constitution). The new Constitution aims at giving a new image to the APT for retaining its leadership and effectiveness in the fast changing world of Information and Communication Technology. The General Assembly will also decide the APT Policy and Strategy for the next three years which will constitute the basis of its annual work programmes during the period.

A total of 128 participants including 80 from overseas from 27 countries are attending the meeting.

APT is the leading inter-governmental organisation for Communication and IT for the Asia-Pacific Region. The APT was established by the United Nations ESCAP and the International Telecommunication Union in July 1979. The APT has a strength of 32 full members, 4 Associate Members, 51 Affiliate Members and 48 Participating Companies. The Headquarters of the APT is located in Bangkok.