Govt to ensure Indian telecom products and services are the best, says Communications Minister

The government will do everything to ensure that Indian telecom products and services become the first choice in the world, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said on Monday. “If one is looking for secure ICT (information and communications technology) products, they should rely on Indian products and our industry is eager to share ‘know how’ and ‘know why’,” the minister said at the inaugural session of the 8th Telecom Export Promotion Council’s buyer-seller meet. He said Indian manufacturers have already made significant strides in exports of IT and telecom products to several countries and established that the products are of world-class quality and globally competitive on technology and price. “India has all the ingredients of a globally competitive telecom industry like a large domestic market, world class talent, focus on research and development and IPR (intellectual property rights) creation beside a robust framework for electronic manufacturing,” the statement said. Sinha told the representatives from 28 participating countries from South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa that India also holds the distinction of being the fastest growing telecom network, especially with the advent of increased broadband penetration. “This large telecom network requires equipment and technology that is second to none in the world, yet India offers the lowest telephony tariffs in the world,” the minister added. Sinha said the Indian telecom sector has been growing at a phenomenal pace and is considered the fastest growing market in the world with the second largest subscriber base with more than 1.06 billion connectivity, 160 million broadband connections and 350 million plus internet users. He said the rapid growth of the sector has fuelled the demand for telecom equipment including mobile phones, which is about $20 billion in 2015-16 and is estimated to exceed $30 billion by 2020. IANS