The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the amendment of the Telegraph Act giving statutory status to the Universal Service Obligation Fund.
Being the only universal service provider in uneconomic areas, the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has sought exemption from contributing to the dedicated fund saying it should be reimbursed directly on the basis of cost incurred.
The government said on Friday that all existing multiple access radio relay systems would be replaced with wireless in local loop technology by the next financial year.
The mission - unveiled by Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad -- will enable strengthening of technological infrastructure for education, health, entrepreneurship and development.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is learnt to have approached Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for additional funds to carry out schemes committed under Universal Services Obligation fund scheme.
Analysts have pointed out that with the dues arising out of the SC judgment there could soon be only two private telcos in the country, and not three - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea - as now.
As part of the national telecom policy, which is likely to be released next month, various levies and charges including SUC would be reviewed in line with the input tax credit available.
Broadband connectivity to villages has been lagging, with delay in laying of an optical fibre network up to gram panchayats
Successive plans have allocated less resources to the Railways.
'Tinkering will not do. Merely staggering spectrum dues comes nowhere near solving the problem,' cautions Rahul Khullar.
In the first secretary-level appointments by the Narendra Modi government, Rakesh Garg was on Sunday named the new telecom secretary while Jugal Kishore Mohapatra is to be secretary in the fertilizers ministry.
E-governance roll-out needs better infrastructure, privacy protection.
More than 250,000 gram panchayats are yet to be connected through broadband.
This merger, Bhupesh Bhandari believes, will be watched keenly by management gurus the world over.
In India, the angsting over net neutrality has been loud.
If a feasible business model is worked out for cable operators, they will not only build the last-mile networks, but also market them among the local population telling people the benefits as well as how to utilise them
Inviting private sector in Indian Railways is a good idea.
It will escalate costs, mandate regulator to check malpractices, set standards.
'The regional market has been brought to life. This is a big development in India's aviation sector,' says Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha.
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