June 10, 2009, New Delhi: The Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, A Raja disclosed here that his Ministry would shortly set up a task force that will include IT & Telecom experts from ASSOCHAM, NASSCOM and senior government officials.
The main aim of the task force would be to assess the cost effectiveness of various telecom devices and services so that India can emerge as a leading hardware and software manufacturing hub in the world.
Mr Raja, while addressing a 20-member delegation from ASSOCHAM, led by CS Rao, MD of Intel, revealed that the task force will assist the Ministry of Communications and IT in making future projections of India’s IT and software potential.
The other responsibility of the task force would be to make suggestions to the government to help it make India a self-dependent country in terms of hardware manufacturing, helping the country outperform countries like China, which are world leaders in this segment.
The other members of the ASSOCHAM delegation included DS Rawat, Secretary General of the Chamber and Senior Executives of Reliance Communications, Huawei, Sistema, Tulip Telecom, AUSPI, among others.
The Minister also hinted that a further reduction in the telephone tariffs in both the domestic and international markets is being considered by the new government. “Local mobile call prices may tumble down to 10 paise per minute from the current average tariff of 60 paise, while national long distance call prices may come down to 25 paisa per minute from Re 1 now,” said Mr Raja.
Mr Raja added that the Ministry will now have to take a comprehensive look at the telecommunications and information technology sectors in India, especially the cost of equipment, custom duties and other taxes.
The ASSOCHAM Communications Convergence Committee urged the Ministry to review the existing tax structure on telecom services and components. They also requested that the Ministry consider the growth of the mobile phone sector as a basis for making policies to popularise broadband connections in India.
More then 20 companies including telecom associations like the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI), ITU/APT foundation and the Telecom Equipment Manufacturers' Association of India (TEMA) were present at the meeting.
The members deliberated on various issues including the slow growth of broadband, the cost of terminals and other equipment, infrastructure, performance, rural telephony etc.
For further information, contact: Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) |
