UPA presents upbeat picture of troubled telecom sector

NEW DELHI: The controversies surrounding the telecom sector notwithstanding, the UPA government today sought to present a positive picture of this area, saying the telephone density has increased and call prices have dropped to the lowest level in the world.

In the 'Report to the People', released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the fourth anniversary of UPA-11, the government said that in its 9-year rule, telephone density in rural areas increased 25 times, while India now has one of the lowest telecom rates in the world making phones accessible to the poor.

With an aim to provide connectivity to the farthest corner of the country, the government is also connecting around 2.5 lakh gram panchayats through optical fibre by 2014.

The telecom sector, which has been hit by controversies and court judgements in the last few years, has also witnessed regulatory uncertainty and hurt the investor sentiment.

This is reflected in a sharp decline in foreign investments. FDI in the sector plummeted by 96 per cent to USD 70.46 million in April-November 2012 period from USD 1,987.18 million during the same period a year ago.