All Sikkim villages to have telephones, internet soon: Pilot
Tuesday, 23 June 2009, 14:52 IST
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Gangtok: Union Minister of State for Information Technology Sachin Pilot Monday said Sikkim has potential to emerge as an IT and BPO hub and assured that all 450 villages in the state will have telephone and broadband connectivity soon. "The exchanges in all the villages of the state's 26 blocks will be brought under the telecom and broadband network soon," Pilot told IANS here. At present, 50 percent of the villages have telecom and broadband connectivity provided by the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and private operators. "Sikkim has a lot of IT potential and BPOs can flourish here, generating employment. Thus we have to connect each hamlet with mobile and land line connectivity as soon as possible," Pilot told IANS. He said by Aug 15 all 162 telephone exchanges within the state will be made congestion free. "Sikkim is a very important state for us because of its strategic location. The government of India wants to harness the potential here and developing Sikkim is a big priority for us," he said after a meeting with officials of the postal department and BSNL.
Source: IANS
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