Sodhi, in his address at the Commassia '98 conference, on Thursday said that it was imperative to have in place a regulatory mechanism to ensure that a broad overall view was taken and the contentious issues that arise were in a manner where turf wars were eliminated. "A correct and forward looking approach marks government's response to the technological advances that come forth," he added.

Sodhi who has been in the limelight for the ongoing verbal dual with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said that efforts must be made to create an information infrastructure to serve the dual task of high national growth and create a globally competitive Indian market. "A planned growth tailored to suit Indian conditions must be our goals in order to optimise returns from the country's marketsin an information age," he added.

Sodhi reiterated that there was a need for a broad-band high speed information infrastructure to cater to the "onslaught of Internet and other services." "The task is daunting in view of the current teledensity of under two telephones per 100 persons and Internet penetration of only around 90,000 subscribers," he opined.

Central Vigilance Commissioner N Vittal said that a comprehensive internet service providers' (ISP) policy would be unveiled soon as information technology (IT) would play an important role in containing corruption and bringing in the much-needed transparency in government departments. "Industry captains should reap the benefits of Internet revolution by offering trendy technology," he added.

Vittal, who is also a member of the National Task Force on IT and software development, told the gathering that the cyber laws committee report was with the government and a policy in this regard would be announced soon.

He said that the IT industry has explosivegrowth prospect in education sector and added that it should increase its density, connectivity and contents.

National Informatics Centre (NIC) director-general N Seshagiri, who addressed the audience from Delhi via video conferencing, said there was a need for opening up the industry to encourage more entrepreneurs.

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) acting chairman and managing director Amitabh Kumar said that the proposed ISP policy should address issue of licences, clarity on medium (telephony, CA-TV, satellite) and availability of access lines. The policy should look into issues on getting connected to backbone, access lines India wide reach, costs and auxiliary services domain name and IP address.

Kumar stressed the need for a national level backbone which would segregate Internet traffic and efficient intercountry connectivity. There will not be overloading of the telephone network and ISPs can serve the country from a single location, he added.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd's (MTNL) CMD SRajgopalan said the government has not realised the urgency for a new policy. He added that executives and politicians should play their role for quicker solutions before the judiciary steps in to resolve technology issues.

Telecom Equipment Manufacturers' Association's president Ashok Kanodia and Computer Society of India's president R Srinivasan also spoke on the occasion.