Cell firms may get access to USO fund

Dayanidhi Maran, minister of telecom and IT, today said the government was ready to amend the Telegraph Act to help private cellular service providers get a share from the universal service obligation (USO) fund to connect all villages and highways.

"We have discussed the matter with the USO fund adminstrator, and are working out the details to incorporate cellular services in the ambit of the fund," Maran said.

The fund was created for providing fixed line services in rural India, and BSNL has been the main user of the fund. Since most of the private basic service providers had failed to meet their rural obligations, the government had created the fund to subsidise BSNL for the purpose.

Maran claimed that about 87% of the villages have been connected, and a large part of this has been done by BSNL.

Incorporating cellular operators to share the fund would mean that private cellular companies get major financial assistance for their next phase of expansion - either in the villages or on the highways.

Telecom companies give 5% of revenue to the government, which goes to the USO fund.