Telecom sector to see more competition

NEW DELHI: If the Economic Survey is anything to go by, the telecom sector can look forward to greater competition and lower prices. Besides, the government views broadband as the "next frontier" that needs to be scaled aggressively.
While the survey records the runaway success of the telecom sector, it also acknowledges that India needs to do a lot of catching up with the rest of the world, particularly Brazil and China.
This, despite the fact that telecom is one of the few areas of the economy that have enjoyed a sharp pace of structural change. And, for the catching up, says the survey, "there is a need to maintain vigorous pro-competitive efforts in terms of public policy, rapidly shift to new technologies, encourage entry of new players, and drive prices down through competition."
Actually, India''s teledensity (phones per 100 people) has risen to 8.62 from just about 2.32 in 1999.