Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh launched the Goa Broadband Network at Porvorim, Goa.

Speaking on the occasion the Prime Minister said, "I am extremely happy to be associated with the launch of the 1st Phase of the Goa Broadband Network. This pioneering project is an important milestone in the use of modern telecommunications and IT capabilities for improving public services and also the quality of lives of our people. It is indeed remarkable that such a initiative has come from Goa, whose image is one of modernity and freshness. I compliment the Government of Goa and its partners in this project for having moved forward so rapidly in implementing this project within a short time frame. I hope that as the project rolls out, its benefits will be felt by all sections of Goanese society. It will then truly become a harbinger of change and modernity into the Goan way of life."

"The Broadband Network, I am told, provides connectivity at the highest speeds available anywhere in the entire country. The Phase launched today connects all state government offices upto the taluka level. As it moves on to the next phase, it will connect every village and household at speeds which are not available elsewhere. It is a matter of immense satisfaction that this project is bridging the digital divide in the State."

"To begin with, it will enable a large number of government service functions to be delivered on-line. This will make government processes citizen friendly. By the end of next year, as the lines reach each and every home, there would be tremendous service opportunities in new fields such as healthcare, education and employment. Goa would be in a position to provide long distance computer based education and emergency and diagnostic healthcare facilities. People would be able to work out of their homes and the state could see an explosion of knowledge based employment in call centres, BPO centres and online services. The entire state could benefit from low cost access to internet telephony and video-conferencing facilities."

"I am also happy that all this is being done through the PPP mode based on a viable business model. As the program scales up from the 10 Citizen Service Centres today to over 200 by the end of next year, it will generate substantial revenues which will meet a major portion of the costs. This is important in two ways. Firstly, it leverages private investment for public IT infrastructure. Secondly, the importance of generating revenues will be an incentive for developing innovative services which meet the needs of users. Often, it has been the low utility value of user-services that has led to the under-utilisation of large government investments in technologies of this type. I hope the PPP model here will avoid falling into this trap and will constantly support innovation in user services."