Date:27/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/27/stories/2008082755881500.htm

National

Public phone in 50,000 more villages

Sandeep Joshi

NEW DELHI: The Centre will shortly launch a project to provide public telephone in around 50,000 newly identified villages.

The Department of Telecommunications will soon sign agreements with the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited to implement this project aimed at providing public telephone service throughout country. These 50,000 villages include those which appeared in Census 2001, villages with a population less than 100 and those left out earlier for various reasons.

Village public telephones (VPTs) will come up in such uncovered villages with subsidy support from the DoT’s Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund. Installation of telephones in all villages is expected to be over by 2009-end. The Centre is already implementing a scheme to provide subsidised public telephone facility in 66,822 uncovered villages under Bharat Nirman. Of these, 54,700 villages have been covered and the others are likely to be covered by the year-end.