In a bid to encourage rural telephony, TRAI has proposed that all operators offering telecom services in rural areas and open to infrastructure sharing should be given financial support from the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund. The proposal follows the revelation that the bulk of the funds in the USO Fund have remained untouched (only Rs 67 billion of the total fund of Rs 200 billion was actually utilised in 2007). TRAI has also suggested that a separate operator, financed by the USO Fund, be set up to provide fibre-based connectivity to rural regions. The fibre laid should be given free of cost for the next five years to any operator who provides services in the villages. The regulator has further suggested doing away with the bidding process under the USO Fund to select operators to offer services in rural areas as the process takes a long time.