Critical Analysis of Growth Strategies for Telecom Stake Holders in Rural India

Telecommunications has provided an excellent mean to connect people, businesses, communities and countries across the globe. Quality of life has improved tremendously with the development of communications and related technologies. In spite of excellent growth of telecommunications services and reduction in tariff the benefits of telecommunication technologies have not reached to the poor segment of the population in the emerging and developing countries. India is no exception to it. There is wide gap between teledensity in urban and rural areas in India. The research paper discusses the efforts of government and service providers to fill this gap. The paper also presents the analysis of growth strategies of telecom stake holders. Based on the analysis, it is suggested that the gaps can be filled in by understanding and addressing technical and financial issues of the service providers in the context of rural areas. There is a need to create better policy instruments to provide incentives for service providers in rural areas and create markets for service providers that are financially viable. In this context paper analyzed existing status of rural telecommunication, role of information & communication technologies (ICTs) in the life of rural population, future needs of rural population, and strategies of making telecommunication services affordable in rural areas.