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"India
is now amongst the fastest growing telecom
markets in the world. Supportive government
policies coupled with private sector participation
have fuelled the unprecedented expansion
of this sector," the report asserted
citing data.
Looking
back, it has said also that the announcement
of the New Telecom Policy, 1999, was a watershed
event for telecommunications in India. Other
policy milestones include the opening of
the long-distance market in 2002, the termination
of VSNL's monopoly over international traffic
in the same year, and the resolution of
the wireless in local loop issue.
"As
a result, telecom tariffs which were among
the highest in the world less than four
years ago have now dipped to being among
the lowest. Tele- density has also increased
from 12.7 per cent in March 2006 to 16.8
per cent in December, 2006.
The
data given by the Survey shows that the
number of CDMA were 0.61 million in 2003
and in 2006 stand at 44.17; similarly, for
the same period, the users of GSM sprang
from 12.69 mn to 105.43 mn, and the figures
for wireless (CDMA and GSM) rose from 13.30
mn to 149.60 mn.
The
Survey has put the annual growth rate in
2006 stands at 45 per cent, as compared
to 2003, when it was 40 per cent.
The
Survey has note that the total number of
telephones has increased from 54.63 million
on March 31, 2003 to 142.09 million on March
31, 2006 and 189.92 million on December
31, 2006.
"While
43.72 million telephones were added during
the 12 months of 2005-06, during the current
year, about five million subscribers are
being added every month.
"With this growth, the number of telephones
is expected to reach 250 million by the
end of 2007," says the report
"The
growth of wireless services has been phenomenal,
with wireless subscribers growing at a compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of above 90 per
cent per annum since 2003.
"Today
the wireless subscribers are not only much
more than the fixed subscribers in the country,
but also increasing at a much faster pace.
"The
share of wireless phones has increased from
24.3 per cent in March 2003 to 78.77 per
cent in December, 2006. Improved affordability
of wireless phone has made universal access
objective more feasible," says the
report.
"The
number of internet subscribers grew at 25
per cent, while broadband subscribers grew
from a meagre 0.18 million to 1.32 million,
during 2005-06. It is necessary to increase
the broadband connectivity for the knowledge-based
society to grow quickly and for reaping
the consequent economic opportunities.
Foreign
direct investment (FDI) is one of the important
sources to meet the huge funds that are
required for rapid network expansion, the
report has noted, adding that the FDI policy
provides an investor-friendly environment
for the growth of the telecom sector.
"The
total FDI approved and the actual inflow
up to July, 2006 were Rs 389.2 billion and
Rs 11,801.46 billion, respectively,"
says the report.
It
says also that of the more than 235.4 million
public call offices (PCOs) functioning in
the country, 200,000 are in the rural areas.
"Apart
from this, 560,000 village public telephones
(VPTs) are also providing access to telecom
facilities in the rural areas. The Mobile
Grameen Sanchar Sewak Scheme providing telephone
at the doorstep of villagers in about 12,000
villages is also in place.
On
the issue of manufacture of telecom equipment,
the report notes that the Indian telecom
industry manufactures a complete range of
telecom equipment, using state of the art
technologies designed specifically to match
the diverse terrain and climate conditions.
Production
of telecom equipment has increased from
Rs 160.9 billion in 2004-05 to Rs 178.33
billion in 2005-06, it has noted, adding
that "Rising demand for a wide range
of telecom equipment, particularly in the
area of mobile telecommunication, has provided
excellent opportunities to domestic and
foreign investors in the manufacturing sector."
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