Broadband subscribers to exceed 20 million by 2010: IT report

Kolkata, May 25 (UNI) The communication technology has taken a big leap forward as the broadband subscribers are likely to reach to about 20 million by 2010, according to Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

A special report of the ministry stated that the total broadband connections in the country reached to about 2.1 million by December 2006, while a target of 250 million telephones (tele-density of about 22 per cent) and broadband connectivity of 10 million subscribers had been till the end of 2007.

In December 2006, the gross telephone subscribers in the country reached about 190 million, while mobile subscribers reached 150 million.

The overall tele-density was 17.16 per cent in December 2006, making India one of the largest in the world and second largest in Asia. In the same year more than 65 million subscribers were added.

The report also stated that India had taken a leading position in the mobile handsets market.

Some renowned cell manufacturers have set up a production base for the handsets in the country while many were planning to set up their base in India to meet local demands and service in international markets.

Direct to Home (DTH) broadcast service was now available through National Broadcaster and private DTH service providers.

The total production of electronic components was about Rs 8800 crores during 2006-07. The components with major share in the exports were CD-R, CPTs, PCBs, DVD-R, connectors, semiconductor devices, ferrites and resistors.

The world's top five mobile companies - Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony-Ericsson and LG- have started manufacturing in India.

Presence of global EMS majors like Flextronics, Jabil, Elcoteq created potential for a quantum jump in Hardware sector and would have a downstream effect by greater demand for components and assemblies.

Companies like Flextronics, Nokia and Jabil Circuit committed investments to the tune of USD 100-150 million, which would cater to domestic demand for communication and IT products.

After announcing its plans to enter in the high growth Photo Voltaic Business in 2005, Moser Baer made initial investment of USD 75 million (Rs 339 crores) to set up a PV cell and module manufacturing project with an 80 MW capacity in India's first renewable energy SEZ at Greater Noida, UP.

During 2006-07, electronics and IT exports were about Rs 1,53,300 crores, as compared to Rs 1,13,725 crores in 2005-06, showing a phenomenal growth of about 35 per cent.

The software and services industry continued to show a robust growth and the total value of software and services exports were about Rs 1,41,800 crores (USD 31.3 billion) in 2006-07, as compared to Rs 1,04,100 crores (USD 23.6 billion) in 2005-06, an increase of over 32 per cent in dollar terms and 36 per cent in rupee terms.

UNI