Mumbai, Aug 25 - Telecom operator Reliance Communications (RCom) Tuesday announced the launch of a high-speed wireless internet service plan and other initiatives aimed at 500,000 villages.

'RCom's rural thrust would drive internet penetration across rural and suburban terrain and provide value-added services specific to the rural needs,' said RCOM's wireless division president S.P. Shukla.

'The Indian telecom wireless rural subscriber base is now over 125 million. The next wave of telecom growth is emerging from rural India. With rural base expected to double in the next few years, RCom is committed to drive this exponential growth through innovative and ground-breaking service offerings and tariffs,' said Shukla.

According to RCom president Mahesh Prasad, mobile telephony is rapidly overcoming the challenge of access in rural areas.

'Our goal is to offer to this large rural population innovative products and services customized for rural and local needs, and tap the highly potential but relatively unaddressed market topography,' Prasad said.