As many as 56,000 villages that are not covered by mobile communication services will soon taste the benefits of the telecom revolution, prime minister Manmohan Singh announced on Thursday. A proposed scheme will give priority to the uncovered villages of the northeastern sector, and the funding will be provided from the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund. Manmohan Singh was speaking at the India Telecom Summit 2013, “Internet of People to Internet of Things: The Future of Communication”, organised by the department of telecom (DoT) in New Delhi.

"We have also approved a scheme for installing mobile towers at about 2,200 locations in areas affected by left-wing extremism at an estimated cost of about Rs. 3,000 crore. This too will be financed by the USO Fund," he said.

"Our government is alive to the need for expansion of telecom services in the rural areas. One of the key objectives of the National Telecom Policy 2012 is to increase rural tele-density to 70% by the year 2017 and 100% by the year 2020," he said.

The policy also recognizes telecom and broadband connectivity as a basic necessity and aims to provide reliable and affordable broadband access to rural and remote areas in our country. “The department of telecommunications has already started issuing unified licenses and will also shortly issue the merger and acquisition guidelines. We have raised the Foreign Direct Investment limit in the telecommunications sector from 74% to 100%. I am confident that all these measures will go a long way in addressing the concerns of investors and provide a new impetus to the growth of telecommunications industry in our country,” elaborated the PM.

“With a rural tele-density of just over 40%, there are millions of people in our rural economy whose lives still remain untouched by the telecom revolution. This deficit is further magnified when it comes to Internet connectivity. On a per capita basis, the usage of the Internet is quite low in India. Both the availability and the reliability of Internet services outside the major cities leave much to be desired,” he added.

Talking about the future roadmap, the PM said, “India needs to develop a strong domestic manufacturing base in electronics and telecommunications. It is estimated that by 2020, India will be importing electronics products worth about $300 billion, which will be more than the value of our imports of petroleum products. We need to act now to avoid a situation where we face difficulties in financing these huge imports. India should have manufacturing facilities which result in a balanced trade in electronics products and are a part of global supply chains.”