Monday, 4 October India I would like to thank the organizers for having put together a very engaging agenda for this conference. ITU has grown from strength to strength, and is one of the most active UN agencies. Its relevance continues to increase as the use of ICT becomes central to glo-bal by 2012. We in India are not just focusing on mobile phones for voice communication, but increasingly us-ing mobile technology to deliver services. India is now looking to combine the advantages of mo-bile phones, broadband, and identification cards to de-liver services. Using mobile phones as authentication economic progress and poverty alleviation. I assure everyone that India remains a committed member of ITU and the international community. devices, businesses will be able to target rural custom-ers without setting up shop everywhere. In particular, financial services to the poor will be critical. Right now, only about 15% of Indians have bank accounts. Thank you. To maximize the combined potential of mobile phones, broadband, and identification cards, India is rapidly ex-panding its broadband infrastructure. By 2012, we will have connected all Gram Panchayats, the most basic units of administration, with broadband. I am also happy to state that the first set of Identification Cards have been issued last week. Once all citizens of India are provided these cards, targeting of services and ac-cess will become much easier. The success of the Indian telecom sector can be partly attributed to the policies of the government. The New Telecommunications Policy in 1999 resulted in a switch from a fixed license fee to a revenue-sharing regime. The UPA government brought further positive policy changes such as the Unified Licensing Access Regime in 2003 that allowed operators to offer both mobile and fixed services under one license. The Indian government has recently been confronted with security issues related to imported telecom equip-ment. We are working with all stakeholders to find an appropriate solution that addresses India’s security con-cerns and also the IPR concerns of manufacturers. We are also exploring international best practices in this area. 35