Bangalore: Sam Pitroda, National Knowledge Commission Chairman, said on Wednesday that India should increase rural connectivity by applying developing technologies and using them in the field of education by facilitating distance learning and creating virtual classrooms; this will help overall development of the country.

According to Pitroda, the country needs to focus on applications for education, e-governance, health, food and developing local applications in future. Rural telecom connectivity will help in distance learning, electronic learning and teaching through virtual classrooms.

In his key-note address to the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) meet on telecommunications — Comtel 2008, Pitroda said, “The country is facing many challenges. Primary among them is the rural connectivity. The country has to improve the rural telecom connectivity for inclusive growth.”

Speaking on the occasion, Sasken Communication Technologies Limited Chairman and CEO Rajiv Mody said that tele density in the rural areas of the country was low despite the rapid expansion of the telecom sector.

Mody said, “Despite significant growth in the Indian telecom industry, tele-density is low with a visible technology divide between rural and urban strata.”

“Communication should be made affordable and accessible for the rural masses. We have to bridge the divide between the urban and rural consumers. Till now, the urban consumers were driving the growth of telecom sector. In future, it will be the rural masses who will drive the growth,” he said.

He said, "Bridging the divide is all about making communication affordable, accessible and reliable for all classes of people, both urban and rural.”

Talking about the future, Mody said a large part of the next set of telecom customers would in rural areas and rural connectivity would become the next hot issue facing the industry.

 Mody stated that there was tremendous scope for growth in the rural areas for the telecom players. “Innovative means, including local content, matters in tapping the growth potential in the rural areas,” he said.

"There are numerous opportunities in the rural areas. The key lies in encouraging local content to help implement e-governance applications and connect rural India for an overall inclusive growth," he said.