Centre may tap USO funds to hook up 200 m rural phones
In a bid to address the dismal rural telephony scenario in the country, the government is putting together a plan called ‘Vision ’12’.
By Joji Thomas Philip, TNN |
NEW DELHI: In a bid to address the dismal rural telephony scenario in the country, the government is putting together a plan called ‘Vision ’12’.
Under this plan, the government will provide resources from the universal service obligation (USO) fund to install 200m telephone connections in rural areas, with the objective to take the rural tele-density to 25% by ’12, from 2% at present. The plan is likely to be part of the 11th Plan.
Rural telephony apart, Vision ’12 also envisages broadband connectivity to be available on demand across the country. It will also ensure that broadband connectivity is provided to all schools, health centres, panchayat offices, where each village has at least one broadband enabled kiosk.
According to Department of Telecom sources, the government plans to achieve Vision ’12 by bringing about great synergy between all the players — service providers, infrastructure providers, the Cente, state governments, and the department of space.
“A master data base which shows all the infrastructure available and that can be used to identify the infrastructure gaps will be made, and we will promote and incentivise sharing of infrastructure to keep costs down. Besides, operators will also be encouraged to adopt modern technology to keep costs down,” government sources said.
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This Plan also proposes to pay special attention to most backward and remote areas like North East, J&K and tribal belts, where costs would not be a consideration while providing connectivity. Besides, it also calls for the setting up of a “technology watch group”, with representatives from both the public and private sector to constantly review new technologies and recommend measures to improve delivery and reduce costs.Vision 2012, will see witness the government simplify procedures for permissions, registrations, sanctions in order to enable faster roll-out.
Additionally, it will also see planed spectrum allocation in a manner which will enable smooth rural roll-out and spectrum will be reserved for rural broadband, sources added.
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