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GoM told to prepare road map on spectrum allocation

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday that the government had taken steps for vacation of spectrum by the existing users. “I have asked the Group of Ministers tasked with this to expeditiously conclude its deliberations and suggest a road map regarding availability and timing.”

The GoM is headed External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who had said on Tuesday that a decision would be taken soon in this regard.

The Prime Minister was inaugurating India Telecom 2007, organised by the Department of Telecom (DoT) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

He lauded the achievements of DoT and the industry for making the telecom sector a success story and impressed upon the key players to replicate the same in rural areas. The tele-density in rural areas was still in single digits, he pointed out.

“Telecom connectivity has the potential to play a transforming role in our rural areas. I expect all key players in this sector to realise and fulfil this potential. You need to rise to the challenge by devising [an] innovative mechanism for achieving our collective ambitions,” he said.

He explained that there would be multiple benefits from increased rural telecom connectivity. “At a narrow level, there will be a new burst of growth for the sector. On a larger plane, however, there will be multiplier effects for the entire economy,” he said.

He said there was also a need to create an ecosystem for the rapid growth of manufacturing for telecom products.

“It is important both from an economic and a strategic point of view that we are present in the entire telecom value chain. I assure you that the government will develop a forward-looking policy regime that will encourage investment in manufacturing in this sector,” he said.

He noted that healthy competition in this sector ensured that the benefits of scale and technological advancement had been passed on to consumers, allowing the regulator and the government to let a tariff regime of forbearance prevail.

Dr. Singh said, “We are targeting a growth rate of 10 per cent in the next plan period, which will be sustainable in the medium term given our youthful population and a rising savings rate. However, the major constraints are availability of skilled manpower and high quality infrastructure.”

The country needs over $450 billion in the next five years in the infrastructure sector, he added.

The government has planned to achieve, by 2010, a target of 500 million telephone, 40 million Internet and 20 million broadband connections.

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