Task force to supervise rural telephony

BANGALORE: The Ministry of Communications has set up a task force headed by the Minister of State for Communications Tapan Sikdar for supervising rural telephony.

Union Minister for Communications Ram Vilas Paswan has said that this task force would submit its report within a month. It has been entrusted with the task of studying the market, suggesting the technology to be used in different area and also ensuring implementation of the same. He was of the opinion that DoT should fill in as alternate service provider in rural areas where private operators are unable to meet their targets.

According to Mr Paswan, all villages will have at least one telephone line by year 2002 and the telecommunications network will cover all villages in the southern states by year 2001. The minister also said that by March 2000, the DoT has been instructed to provide telephones-on-demand in all state capitals and by January 1, 2000, all telecom exchanges would operate on electronic mode. The Minister also said that consumers of DoT and MTNL telephones would be able to pay their telephone bills in any branch of any nationalized bank.