Telecom sector to draw Rs70,000cr investments in 5yrs

The domestic telecommunications industry is expected to attract Rs 70,000 in investments over the next five years, according to V P Sinha, chairman and managing director, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.

This much capital, said Sinha, will be enough to boost the the country's "teledensity" "" the number of telephones per 100 people "" from the current 7 per cent to about 35 per cent.

Delivering the keynote address at a seminar on the domestic telecom sector, Sinha said the teledensity in the country is currently very low at 7 per cent compared with the global average of 35.5 per cent.

Sinha stressed the need for private sector's participation in increasing the country's teledensity. "The private telecom service providers should offer broadband services and high-quality content-delivery system to boost telecom presence in rural areas."

Indra Mohan, president, India-Tech Foundation, an industry body, several initiatives have been taken for the growth and spread of the telecom sector in the country through technical upgradation, participation of the private sector, corporation of the departmental services operations, spread of value-added services and production in tariffs.

The domestic telecom industry, with over 50 million subscribers including more than 10 million cellular service subscribers, is the fifth largest in the world.

The industry has a turnover of more than Rs 15,000 crore. Almost all the large international telecom companies are having presence in the country now.

"The sector currently draws a foreign direct investment of more than Rs 800 crore," Mohan added. He added that the convergence of computers and telecommunications has facilitated the emergence of new services in the sector.