Milind Deora has taken over as Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology from Gurudas Kamat. In this capacity, he has said that increasing telecom services in rural areas was of top priority.
He stated, ?My first priority as a Minister will be to increase telephony services in rural areas and at affordable prices. The service offered will have to be affordable while earning revenue for the government.?
Meanwhile, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is chalking out an incentive plan, which may include a subsidy for operators to increase mobile coverage in rural areas.
DoT is also examining methods by which the Universal Service Obligation (USO) fund can be utilised more effectively. While operators contribute a fixed 5 per cent of their adjusted gross revenues as a levy towards the USO fund, the government also allocates money for the fund.
