OneWorld.net (U.S.)

Panaji: The Indian government plans to double the tele-density by strengthening the subscriber base to 100 million lines in the next two years. Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Conference on Telecommunication and Information in the west Indian state of Goa, the Union minister of state for communication and information technology Shakeel Ahmed said: "At present, two million lines are added monthly with the private sector contributing significantly towards this."

Ahmed said internet and broadband access are widely recognised as catalysts for economic and social development. However, nationwide broadband access comes with high fixed costs principally because broadband network deployment is costly. He said while the technology is available to provide broadband access on a scale matching that of fixed line telephony, for cost reasons, the availability of broadband has lagged behind, especially in developing countries.

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