000			01518pab a2200169 454500
008			180718b2006 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100			_aGulati, Archana G.
245			_aQuest for universal rural telephony services: Challenges and choices
260			_c2006
300			_ap.484-509.
362			_aJul-Sep
520			_aThis article attempts to give a brief outline of the reasons behind the phenomenon whereby vast urban-rural access gaps in telecom connectivity (digital divide) continue to persist in spite of telecom reforms. This gap, known as the `Actual Access Gap' is found world over, to a lesser or greater extent, depending on the level of a country's overall economic development. In India, it is seen in the form of a wide and ever growing gap in urban-rural teledensity. The article briefly describes the various measures which have been adopted, world over in the past and which continue to be used, to address this connectivity gap. The article includes a first hand description of some of the field level problems encountered in implementation of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) policy along with suggested remedial measures. Acknowledging that the present policy though sound, is inadequate to achieve the desired level of rural teledensity, various alternative measures to augment existing policy initiatives under USO have been analysed with some suggestions. - Reproduced.
650			_aTelephone
773			_aIndian Journal of Public Administration
908			_aN
909			_a72349
999			_c72349 _d72349