Citing the case of the 1994 telecom policy, which was changed in order to incorporate technological and other developments, Kumar said the present policy could only be reviewed in that context.

Referring to the migration of existing basic and cellular service providers to the new revenue sharing regime, Kumar maintained that the reference forwarded by the Department of Telecom to the Attorney General was relevant even in the changed political situation.

Stating that the reference was not infructous, Kumar felt the AG would give his opinion on the basis of the merit of the case.

Kumar added that the national telecom policy, 1999 provides anappropriate framework for partnership between the government and the private sector for the growth of telecom in the country.

Meanwhile, at a seminar on infrastructure and investment, he said, "the need for expanding telecom services coupled with creating world-class standards in telecommunications necessitates building state-of-the-art infrastructure in India."

He said that convergence of technology had made possible increased bandwidth to carry data to the remotest parts of the country. "The telecom and postal sector will take full advantage of the emerging scenario to provide communication services to the maximum number of people," he said.

Stating that the government has already put in place a plan to set up telephones in almost all the villages in India, Kumar added that India has great potential to attract foreign investment in this sector.

Earlier, BN Som, member operation postal service board, said the satellite money order system has shown good growth over the past few years.

Som said withbalances of NRI deposits in 1998 being $20,402 million and total NRI remittances estimated to be about $5.27 billion annually, India Post had the infrastructure to handle remittances through electronic money transfer.

"Commercial banks can also have a joint venture with us for remitting money from banks of exchange to NRI accounts, he said, adding that India Post was the first service of its kind in the world to use satellite facilities to transfer money. Som said the department of posts has put up 77 VSAT terminals which are in turn linked to 615 stations for transfer of money orders.

Speaking at the meeting, acting chairman & managing director of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd VSNL, said a communication revolution was taking place in the field of basic, cellular, internet satellite and multimedia services leading to convergence of technology.