USO and Rural Connectivity

Rural connectivity in India will become a reality when we start viewing the USO not as the 'Universal Service Obligation' but as an 'Universal Service Opportunity'. Experiences from the mobile sector have demonstrated the potential for telecom growth in India, where private operators and competition have led the market to achieve explosive growth. With today's technology, we have the opportunity to leapfrog other nations in reaching our unreached villages, particularly when so much of the required resources and capabilities already exist, but are lying unused.