Telecom infrastructure in India lags comparably behind and needs to be uplifted. Duplication of telecom infrastructure is a colossal waste. Infrastructure sharing, as an option, should be considered more seriously.

The once monopolistic Indian telecom industry has come a long way. Today, it is one of the world's hottest markets and one of the prime contributors to India's ongoing economic boom. For instance, a report by Ernst & Young quotes a 1% increase in telecom penetration results in a 3% increase in GDP growth. Over the past decade, India's achievement in this sector has been quite impressive. To its credit, the telecom network in India consisted of around 48 million fixed-line connections. Unlike in the past, a vast majority of the population has access to telephone services. The highly competitive environment is forcing low pricing of goods and services. In terms of long distance calls, the industry has made remarkable progress by adopting latest technologies of fiber-optic cables.

However, the growing telecom has also brought its own drawbacks. These include limited bandwidth and limited number of cell towers against growing call traffic. More than 70% of Indian population lives in the rural India but contribution from rural India to telecom industry stands at a mere 20%. Rural tele-density stands at a mere 1.5%.

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