After a national e-governance plan, the government is looking at formulating a national broadband policy to push broadband penetration in the country and has already prepared a vision paper along with the Confederation of Indian Industry.
"We are looking at having a broadband policy at the national level. CII has already prepared a vision paper on the same through funding from IT department and now we will invite opinions on the report," K K Jaswal, IT secretary, told a CII seminar on e-business, in New Delhi on Tuesday.
He said the government is pursuing a project -- EC-EDI for trade -- which is aimed at delivering all international trade related services electronically.
To start broadband services, a policy or absence of it should not be seen as a major roadblock, he said while citing the example of BSNL which has started broadband services in certain areas.
Referring to a CII report released on Monday, he said to achieve a broadband subscriber base of 10 million in urban India by 2010, immediate action should be taken up. For e-business to succeed in India, more awareness in companies and among people is needed.
"We have a broad framework in place for the success of e-business. There are five certifying authorities at present and other agencies for ascertaining the security aspect of e-business are already there. But more awareness is needed," Jaswal said.
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