Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Jul 29, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Jul 29, 2005 |
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Info-Tech
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Telecommunications Govt on course to reducing bandwidth prices: Maran Our Bureau
The Minister for IT & Communications, Mr Dayanidhi Maran; the Tata group Chairman, Mr Ratan Tata; and the VSNL Chairman, Mr Subodh Bhargava, at the TGN-VSNL integration ceremony in the Capital on Thursday. — Ramesh Sharma
New Delhi , July 28 THE Communications and IT Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, today said that the Government was formulating a policy to clear the way for reduction of domestic and international bandwidth prices. The Minister also urged the Tata-controlled Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd to take the lead in reducing tariffs for international bandwidth. "While international bandwidth tariffs are extremely low, Indian consumers are still paying a high cost. We plan to remove all artificial hurdles in the way of bringing down bandwidth costs. We plan to merge the four landing stations in the country into one so that consumers can benefit," Mr Maran said at the ceremony marking the integration of VSNL with its acquired company, Tyco Global Network. The Minister said VSNL should leverage its global presence in reducing tariffs for Indian consumers. "VSNL has made us proud with its recent acquisitions that has made every one take note of India's capabilities. However VSNL must lower tariffs for the benefit of bandwidth users like BPOs, ITeS and consumers," said Mr Maran. On the domestic front, he said Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd would take steps to reduce tariffs further. "BSNL is also planning an undersea cable system, which will drive down costs drastically," Mr Maran said. The Chairman of Tata group, Mr Ratan Tata, said that with the acquisition of Tyco and Teleglobe cable systems, VSNL was close to realising its dream of being a truly global player. Mr Tata said that VSNL had no intentions of playing a monopolistic role and the burden of reducing bandwidth costs should be shared by BSNL as well. Responding to the Minister's request, Mr N. Srinath, Director, VSNL said that while the company would do all it can to bring down costs further, it also needed to keep in mind the huge investments made by it.
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