Prominent Indian IT experts are skeptical about the latest initiative from the Indian government’s task force on IT. The task force, set up to address information technology and software development issues (CI No 3,432), has proposed that 600,000 phone booths should be converted into public teleinfo centers (PTICs), providing internet, email and video conferencing services. However, the Times of India reports that experts say the cost of the booths would be prohibitive, each conversion costing an average of 150,000 rupees ($3,525) and that the lack of internet infrastructure would prevent the proposal being a ‘serious priority.’ However, the government countered the argument by saying that the entire aim of the task force was to give small businesses in remote locations cheap access to communication and information.
