It is a great pleasure for me to be present here today at the Opening Ceremony of 18th Convergence India 2010 Exhibition and Conference.

The telecom sector in India has emerged as one of the fastest growing markets in the world. From only 54.6 million telephone subscribers in 2003, the number increased to 429.7 million at the end of March 2009 and by end 2009 was an impressive 562.2 million, to become the second largest wireless network in the world. Approximately, 90% of the Eleventh Five Year Plan target of 600 million connections has already been achieved.

I believe, a strong telecom sector promotes social well-being and facilitates rapid economic development of a country. It is a matter of great satisfaction that the Indian telecom industry continued to grow even when most other sectors struggled with a demand slowdown due to global economic slump in the year gone by. This has been possible due to our regulatory regime, which has encouraged healthy competition, and also due to the innovation and enterprise of our private sector. I compliment all of those who are responsible for this splendid outcome.

The opening up of the Telecom Sector has not only led to rapid growth in subscriber base, but has also significantly helped in maximization of consumer benefits. Overall tele-density has touched 47.88%, an incredible increase over the last few years. With the increase in the number of players and reduced tariffs, this number is expected to soar further. However, closing the digital divide in terms of tele-density is a challenging task.

India, like many other countries of the world, has adopted a gradual approach to telecom sector reforms through selective privatization and managed competition in different segments of the telecom market. However, future telecom expansion will depend significantly on the proliferation of services in the economy and socio-equitable growth across the board.

Telecommunications have emerged as a springboard of ICT applications with economy-wide impact. A whole range of information based industry and applications have come up creating new sources of employment and earning.

Aptly themed “Digital Convergence……….Empowering a billion lives”, the 18th edition of Convergence India 2010 Expo has matured with the growth of the industry and the need of the hour.

However, milestone achievements for the dynamic ICT sector can only spur a call for ensuring affordable technological advancement for a larger section of the society, augmenting the existing infrastructure, encouraging innovations in cutting edge-technologies, building on the new applications and making progress through sustainable business practices for overall customer satisfaction.

The task ahead is challenging as well as exciting. It has always been in the forefront of our Government policy that the technological innovations should reach “Aam Aadmi” and while formulating the policies, we also keep in mind that world-class telecom facilities are available at affordable price even to the poorest citizen living in the remotest rural areas. The consistent efforts made by the Government and the industry have helped in reducing the high imbalance of rural urban divide and in achieving the rural teledensity of 21.19% at the end of 2009, that too in a very short period.

As mobile phone usage booms in urban India, availability of cheap handsets can be a boon for low-income people. I am happy to note that entry-level, low priced mobile handsets have surpassed many sales targets with the aim to tap mainly the rural India. However, with the spectrum allocation the device will become more than a connectivity medium. To leverage the benefits of seamless connection and invaluable services, it is imperative to make the fixed and the wireless handset devices even more affordable for the masses.

Again, possession of desired spectrum would enable operators to widen their subscriber database. But, equally important is responsible management of the allocated spectrum. I urge the industry to use the spectrum thriftily and judiciously. The device should empower rural communities through customized applications of Value Added Services (VAS) oriented towards promoting services like e- health, e-education, e-chaupal, mobile banking, mobile commerce, etc. This provides an opportunity to use the mobile phone not only for games and entertainment but also for enrichment of lives of the deprived section of the society and progress of the nation.

As everyone knows, a large percentage of the population, both rural and urban, does not use English as a medium of communication in India. It is therefore imperative to introduce regional language softwares, which are user-friendly especially for our rural population. Besides sending messages in regional languages, it is now also possible to transliterate scripts keyed in one language into another. Such features will ensure that technology need not be limited to the rich and elite.

Internet access on mobile phones is another very interesting feature leading to complete wireless communication. The objective is to eventually make this facility also affordable and available to the rural masses.

Rapid technological convergence has already implied a symbiotic overlap between the development strategies of IT and telecommunications. In this growth graph, an important and crucial role has also been played by industry event platforms such as Convergence India Expo. I congratulate Exhibitions India Group for their relentless effort, perseverance and dedication towards bringing the policy makers and the multi stakeholders together to chalk out the roadmap for future growth of the sector.

I hope all the participants of this unique event take advantage of this platform, and hope that both the exhibition and conference will enable them to meet the challenge of change. I congratulate Exhibitions India, organizers of the 18th Convergence India 2010 Expo and wish the event success, and look forward to the recommendations from your conference.

Thank you!!