Indian has second largest telecom network in the world

Indian telecom network has emerged the second largest in the world with total subscriber base of over 670 million at the end of July 2010. With this overall teledensity in the country has reached over 58 per cent.

Over the last five years the teledensity in the urban areas has gone up to 125 per cent from 26 per cent while the rural teledensity has risen to over 27 per cent from 1.73 per cent, telecom minister A Raja said at the curtain raiser ceremony of 'India Telecom 2010' in New Delhi today.

This, he said, has been made possible by synergy of conducive government policies and the entrepreneurship zeal of telecom industry and has resulted in a steep reduction in tariffs, making the telephone affordable for the common man.

`India Telecom', which started in December 2006, is now an established and globally recognised event. India Telecom 2010 will provide perfect platform for interaction between policy makers, regulators, service providers, manufacturers and content and other accessory providers from across the world, said Vijay Laxmi K Gupta, member (finance) of the telecom department, said.

Last year's `India Telecom 2009' had witnessed a tremendous response from national and foreign participants and was well represented by 250 exhibitors from 28 countries across the globe, including significant presentation covering important topics by 30 eminent national and 22 international speakers.

This year, `India Telecom 2010' with the theme `Broadband for All' will be held from 9 to 11 December 2010 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. An international telecom exhibition, jointly organised by the department of telecom and the FICCI, is also being held alongside.