Let me begin by complimenting the Department of Telecommunications and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for organizing the India Telecom series of conferences. All the previous India Telecom events have proved extremely useful and productive, bringing together stakeholders from all over the world to share their experiences and deliberate on issues that are of critical importance to the healthy growth of the Telecom sector in our country. I am sure that this conference will be even more productive than the ones that have preceded it.

 

The importance of easy and fast flow of information in a rapidly growing and modernizing economy can hardly be over-emphasized. A strong telecommunications sector facilitates economic development and promotes at the same time social well-being. It is, therefore, a matter of satisfaction to us that the telecommunications sector in India has grown at a quick pace over more than a decade now. We are today the fastest growing telecom market in the world, with the addition of over 18 million subscribers every month. The penetration of wireless voice services has increased from about 2 per cent in 2000 to about 72.1 per cent in August 2011. Moreover, our telecom tariffs are among the lowest in the world. All this has been possible due to our regulatory regimes which have encouraged competition, as well as due to the innovation and enterprise of the private sector in our country. I applaud the efforts of all those who have contributed to these outcomes.

 

As you know, Broadband connectivity is a powerful tool for enabling faster growth and promoting inclusion, by providing equitable access to information and knowledge. It is estimated that every 10 percentage point increase in broadband penetration leads to a 1.3 percent increase in a country's Gross Domestic Product. Therefore, it is the endeavour of our government to provide broadband connectivity to all village Panchayats in our country. Since the bandwidth requirements for village Panchayats are higher due to the nature of applications that are used there, it becomes imperative to use optical fibre to provide broadband connectivity to Panchayats. Towards achieving this objective, over the next 2 years, our government has recently approved a scheme for creation of a National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN). The cost of the initial phase of this scheme is estimated to be about Rs 20000 crore. An equal amount is also envisaged to be invested by the private sector to complement the National Optical Fibre Network infrastructure by providing access services to the individual users. The scheme is expected to generate a variety of benefits to our rural people like better access to education, better access to health and provision for agricultural services.

 

The draft National Telecom Policy envisages 'broadband on demand' by the year 2015. It aims to achieve 175 million broadband connections by the year 2017 and 600 million by 2020 at minimum download speed of 2 megabits per second. It also envisages high speed and high quality broadband access to all village Panchayats through optical fibre by the year 2014 and progressively to all our villages and habitations.

 

The growth and success of the Indian telecommunication sector has been driven by policy initiatives taken by the government at various points of time. The National Telecom Policy 1994 and the National Telecom Policy 1999 were two major policy initiatives of this kind. To help our country realize its potential fully in the telecommunications sector, we are working on National Telecom Policy 2011. I am aware of some concerns of the telecom industry regarding government policies in the telecom sector. I wish to reassure industry of the government's full commitment to sustaining growth, creativity and enterprise in this vitally important sector of our economy. I am convinced that in Sh Kapil Sibal government and the industry has a leader who is going to make the future happen. I urge industry to look ahead and work towards giving a new momentum and energy to the development and spread of telecommunications in the country.

 

The National Telecom Policy 2011 will lay special emphasis on providing affordable and quality telecommunication services in rural and remote areas. I am sure that the policy will help us in achieving our goal of rapid growth, whose benefits are shared by each and every citizen of our vast country.

 

While telecommunication networks could be set up with imported equipment, it becomes a concern when a large telecom network in a country like ours requires continuous large imports. Keeping in view the growth potential for the manufacture of telecom equipment in our country and our strategic and security interests, there is an urgent need to give impetus to domestic Research & Development and manufacturing in the telecom sector.

 

A thriving telecom manufacturing industry would have a large positive impact on many other elements of the electronics manufacturing value chain, apart from generating other benefits like additional employment. I hope the deliberations in this conference will focus attention on how to promote R & D and manufacturing capabilities in the telecom sector in our country.

 

The telecommunications sector is one of India's success stories. Our government is committed to doing all it can to ensure that we see even more successes in the future in this vital sector of our economy. We will work closely with all stakeholders to build upon what we have achieved. I would like to take this opportunity to assure all of you that our government will continue to formulate forward looking policies that will encourage further growth of the telecom sector.

 

Let me end by wishing the deliberations in this conference all success. I hope all of you will benefit greatly from the discussions here. I also hope that the discussions over the next two days will contribute to making the telecom sector in our country even more vibrant and even more stronger.