By IANS
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday asked what happened to the government’s promise made 20 years ago of providing at least one phone in every village of the country.
“Although the growth in the last few years has been truly impressive and our tariffs are among the lowest in the world, vast stretches of our rural population have little or no telecom penetration,” the prime minister said while inaugurating the India Telecom 2007 conference here.
“Rural tele-density is still in single digits. I had heard of plans for a phone in every village some 20 years ago. We have not yet reached that goal,” he said.
“As better telecom connectivity and consequently better IT connectivity becomes a reality, our rural hinterland will become more integrated with the rapid growth processes now taking place in the rest of the economy,” he added.
“The spin-off benefits will be felt, not just in telecom, but right across the economy as a whole.”