Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 09:43:08 +0530
From: Subbiah Arunachalam
Here is a comparison of teledensity in selected Asian countries.
"The teledensity in Bangladesh is one of the lowest in the region.
According to latest statistics (ITU), Bangladesh has 0.79 phones for per
100 people whereas it is 3.94 in India, 4.4 in Sri Lanka, 2.9 in Pakistan,
1.34 in Nepal, 24.98 in China, 49.9 in Malaysia and 6.17 in Indonesia.
More than 70 per cent of the population of Bangladesh do not have
telephone access," says Nur-ul Alam, Melbourne, Australia.
Clearly China and Malaysia are way ahead of India. As India cannot afford
telephones for all individuals/familieswe for a long time to come, we should
encourage community owned telecentres, such as the ones established by M S
Swaminathan Research Foundation in the villages of Pondicherry of Dindigul
district in Tamil Nadu. We should also also encourage voice over IP and
community radio.
Arun
[Subbiah Arunachalam]
