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New Delhi, Feb. 25: Call it the telephony wave: phone users in India may soon be able to make local and STD calls at the same rate.

That is the way of the developed world and the Economic Survey reckons that India could soon follow worldwide trends.

In countries like the US, mobile telephony tariff bundles the airtime of local calls with national long distance (NLD) services. So, it doesn?t differentiate between a local and a domestic long-distance call.

?The competition in NLD and the consequent drop in prices and tariff packages, which are competitive by world standards, may now appear in India,? says the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament by Union finance minister P. Chidambaram.

The robust growth in the telecommunications sector has set the benchmark for other infrastructure sectors to emulate and help spur growth in gross domestic product (GDP).

The survey for 2005-06 has heaped kudos on the telecommunication sector for its growth last year and has projected a bright future. It talks about lively competition among private firms with a strong role for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to establish pro-competitive policies.

It has also highlighted a major drop in tariff not only for voice calls but also broadband services during the next few years.

The Survey says, ?Telecom, where competition has delivered benefits, can serve as a role model for most infrastructure sectors of the economy.?

The next frontier in telecom that the operators will try to conquer is broadband services.

The beneficiary will be the customer. ?Broadband services have been launched only recently and, with the increase in volumes and competition, the cost of these services are likely to decrease. The sharp drop in broadband telecom prices in late 2004 may represent the beginning of a phase of hectic expansion of the broadband telecom sector,? states the Survey.