TEHRAN First Vice President Hassan Habibi said here on Tuesday that the private sector should make investment in telecommunications in order to help the country keep pace with other countries' progress in this field, IRNA reported.

Speaking at a ceremony to inaugurate 1,479 nationwide telecommunication projects, the vice president said that expansion of telecommunication networks requires a huge investment which is beyond the capacity of the public sector.

He also said, therefore, grounds should be paved for participation of the private sector to fill in the gap.

Pointing out that progress in the field of telecommunications is one of the main indicators of development in each country, Habibi said that those countries which have paid due attention to this field of science for the past 20 years are now among the main producers of telecommunication hardware and software.

Criticizing the country's failure to take full advantage of the Internet in the past, the veep said that the Internet is a comprehensive means which could be used for various purposes, particularly for education.

Habibi also called on the Ministry of Post, Telegraph and Telephone to provide people with easy access to the Internet.

Recalling that investments in the field of telecommunications and data processing technology accounted for half of the global investments in 2000, the vice president said that if the country wishes to keep pace with other countries in this field it should make more investments.

The 1,479 telecommunication projects were launched in various cities in the country on Tuesday, on the threshold of world telecommunications day, on May 17, at a total cost of Rls.1,230 billion.