Ministry of Communication

New Delhi, Sep 1 (UNI) Ministry of Communications and Information Technology is looking into the issue of raising the amount of Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund.

''The USO fund is limited by the restriction imposed by government's mandate. As a result, the creation of new infrastructure for internet and telephony is affected. Now, the ministry is working out the possibility of raising the amount of this fund,'' Mr Pankaj Agarwal, Joint Secretary of Department of Information Technology in the ministry said at a seminar here.

The increased amount of the fund will be utilised for the development of new infrastructure for bringing down the cost of accessing the internet, he added.

Last week, the Department of Telecommunications announced its plan to set up about 10,000 mobile towers in rural and remote areas under a Rs 5,000-crore project. The scheme was to be funded through the USO fund.

The fund came into effect in December 2003 when both the houses of Parliament passed the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act 2003 giving statutory status to it.

UNI PKS CS PM1712