DoT has asked BSNL to provide satellite phone connections to 14,500 of the 30,000 villages that do not have phones. BSNL has responded by saying that it would establish village public telephones using very small aperture terminals (VSAT) by April 2007.

Meanwhile, Himachal Futuristic Communications Limited (HFCL) has been given orders for supplying, installing and commissioning VSAT-based satellite phones.