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News >> Technology >>
Tech-neutral to expand rural telephony
By agencies
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Thursday, 26 May 2005, 19:30 IST
COIMBATORE:The Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Dayanidhi Maran, has said that his Ministry is convinced that the route to increasing tele-density in rural India should be "technology-neutral."
Asking the rural subscribers to shuffle technologies frequently would prove a dampener to the Government's efforts. The technology platform created for telephony in the rural areas - be it of CDMA or GSM - should be adaptable to any later-date technology switch to make it affordable and viable in the long-term for subscribers, Maran pointed out.
The Minister said that while the Government is keen on increasing telephone connectivity in the rural areas, its role would be that of a `passive facilitator.'
Even as Maran assured that his Government would be willing to extend a common facility for rural connectivity, he was firm that the towers of BSNL would not be allowed to be used by others.
The Government is working on a blueprint that would see 150 million telephone connections added to the current 100 million within the next three years.