Rediff On The Net, Infotech: Phone population goes up by 150 per cent


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January 14, 1998

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Phone population goes up by 150 per cent

As many as 8.7 million telephones were installed between 1992 and 1997, a 150 per cent jump over the telephones that existed at the beginning of the Eighth Five Year Plan, Telecom Commission Chairman A V Gokak said in New Delhi today.

Inaugurating a national seminar on telecommunications, he said the country, which had a mere 1.5 million telephones after three decades of Independence, witnessed speedier growth after 1985.

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The number of telephones, which stood at 3 million in 1985-86, quadrupled in the next 10 years. At present, there are 22,000 telephone exchanges with switching capacities of nearly 19 million lines and working connections of nearly 16 million.

Of these, 2.5 million telephones are in rural areas.

He said studies have demonstrated a strong correlation between growth of the economy measured in terms of gross domestic product and telephone density. He claimed telephone density would be above 3 per cent of the population by 2002 and 9 per cent 2007.

Gokak, who is also secretary, Department of Telecommunication, said positive steps were taken to introduce competition in the telecom sector. A number of players have come on the scene and are offering various value-added services, cellular services and pagers.

The Internet policy has also been announced and will be operational soon.

On developing indigenous technology, Gokak said C-DoT has done remarkable work over the years to develop switching equipment, which is perfectly suited for rural areas in the country.

The DECT technology developed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, would help considerably in growth of the telecom sector in the country, he said.

Every effort would be made to strengthen the research and development base in India, he asserted. International Telecommunications Union Deputy Secretary General Henry Chesia, in his address, also commended the strides made by India in software development, saying the country has emerged as a role model for developing nations. If rural areas are neglected it will lead to massive urbanisation, he warned.

Referring to the demands for reducing the telecom tariff, A Prasad, member finance, Telecom Commission, said higher tariff is required for the time being to keep up the pace of development.

UNI

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