Food not mobiles

From the Times of India, Feb 11, 2007

DoT eyes increased broadband penetration

NEW DELHI: In his brief tenure as secretary DoT and chairman Telecom Commission, DS Mathur has already earned the reputation of being a low profile, yet effective administrator. Efficient and responsive, Mathur is a far cry from a stereotypical bureaucrat, combining his licensing and policy-making roles effortlessly. His mandate is crucial at a juncture where government policy is helping propel India's telecom sector to 250 million phones within this year. He spoke with Shalini Singh on a range of issues, including digital divide, amendment of Telegraph Act, broadband, spectrum and DoT's approach to Hutch deal.

What are the key priorities for DoT to take India from a teledensity of 18% to 30% in the next three years?.

Our key priorities are network expansion in rural areas, indigenous telecom equipment manufacturing, increased penetration of broadband services and making available sufficient spectrum for growth of network.

What role will government play to ensure that mobile growth continues unabated till 2010?

Government has to provide sufficient spectrum for growth and encourage and facilitate sharing of infrastructure so that mobile tariffs and entry barriers remain low. This is vital for continued penetration of mobile services among the vast unconnected population of the country.

With a rural teledensity of just 2%, what specific initiatives does government propose to address the digital divide crisis?

We have amended Indian Telegraph Act to enable subsidy support from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) to provide mobile services in rural India. This will facilitate mobile operators to access USOF. We are working towards the introduction of a low price handset to increase mobile penetration among the rural masses. We also plan to seed
India with broadband connectivity with support from USO Fund. Broadband connectivity for rural areas will be provided through wireline as well as wireless solutions. All this will substantially reduce the digital divide.

Spectrum allocation has been debated for over a year. What is DoT's stance on Trai's recommendations?

Our deliberations are in final stages. Time is being taken due to coordination of spectrum from existing users. It involves finalising optimal allocation for various users and financial charges related to such use.


While this is an exciting development and promises a great future for our beloved land, it makes me wonder: is this what we really need? Just because we have capability for immense telecom and a vacancy for the same in the rural regions, do we have to spread it there? Think of the farmers dying in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra - a mobile phone would hardly make any difference to them. The major issue in India today is the growing disparity among the rich and the poor. While one can safely say that there is not much of a difference in abilities of the people, there is the problem of opportunity and resources. Food, a basic requirement for mankind is not universally available today. The poorly managed distribution channels are ineffective in delivering food to all people. As a result, we have excess foodgrains stocked up to rot, or sold to the international market (exported) at a price below the prevailing national rates. Funny! While a lot of people have brought this issue up, I wish I knew what has been done to address it ... anything?