India and Italy Sign MoU for Collaboration in Telecom

India and Italy today signed a MoU in Rome institutionalising a framework for
cooperation and collaboration in critical sectors of Telecom for an initial
period of three years. The MoU which establishes a Joint Working Group to
facilitate and identify areas of cooperation, will focus on cutting-edge
technologies in the Telecom sector. The MoU while recognising the potential for
intensive trade between the two countries in the Telecom sector, underlines the
need to tap the abilities and opportunities in the sector in a more
comprehensive and focussed manner. A key feature of the MoU is the focus on the
given available opportunities for both the countries to consolidate
collaboration in the areas of investment, joint ventures, joint initiatives,
technology development in critical sectors of Telecom. The MoU also envisages
the search for opportunities keeping in mind the available market potential in
the Telecom sector for both countries. The MoU was signed by  Pramod
Mahajan, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Communications and
Information Technology and Maurizio Gasparri, Minister for Communications on
behalf of the Government of Italy.

The MoU focusses on principal areas of cooperation in the Telecom sector.
These include: Exchange of scientific and technical information in the field of
Telecommunications, new and modern technologies, spectrum management and
standardisationn and fostering of industry joint ventures. A key aspect of the
MoU is the focus on the search for exploring opportunities in third country
markets. This has been done keeping in mind the inbuilt potential in the Telecom
sector existing in both countries.

The MoU will facilitate business opportunities between the two countries in
the areas of Telecom services. It is expected that this institutional mechanism
shall create opportunities in areas of telecom consultation, processing
services, and promotion of investments in the Telecom sector. The MoU also
provides the opportunity to share and exchange experience gained by their
respective countries in the sector.

Pramod Mahajan also had extensive discussions with his counterpart Maurizio
Gasparri. During the discussions, Mahajan gave an indepth analysis of India's
progress and growth in the Telecom sector. He specifically stressed on the
strategising efforts of the Indian Telecom industry in diversifying their growth
prospects in markets across the world. The current initiative of the Indian
Telecom industry was to diversify into different market segments keeping in mind
the needs and requirements of the region. The Minister emphasised the importance
of harnessing opportunities between India and Italy in critical Telecom sectors.
This initiative, according to a release, would not only spur growth in the
domestic market, it would also offer new growth opportunities for both countries
in their search for external markets. The Minister also outlined the policy
initiatives of the Government and specifically stressed on the initiatives
undertaken to tackle the 'Digital Divide' in the country, and the endeavour of
the Government to provide value added connectivity to the people and take
IT&Telecom to the Masses.

Telecommunications systems present a growth rate in line with the European
average. Growth in the Italian Telecom market was 5.4% in 2001. Revenues coming
from mobile services almost reached that of fixed line telephony in 2001. To
increase revenues in this highly competitive market, telecom operators are
continuing to offer new services such as combine voice/data flat fees and
discount plans for calls to preferred fixed line numbers or preferred
geographical areas or preferred day time. The growing implementation of CRM
strategies is helping companies in understanding and profiling their customers
and being proactive in this changing and competitive market.

The ICT market in Italy is growing faster than the European average.
According to the estimates of the EITO 2002 Report, in 2001 the growth rate for
the Italian ICT market has been about 6.3% and is expected to reach 5.7% for
2002 and 8% for 2003. In the IT sector, Italy did well in 2001 with a growth
rate of 7.8%, higher than that of any other European country. The forecast of
6.8% for 2002 is promising and the rate should be much higher reaching 10.2% in
2003.

The MoU signed between India and Italy is being looked upon as an opportunity
to build long standing business partnerships in the field of technology and
foster business relations between the two countries.