New York, Jan 23: With the demand for skilled Indian professionals in the United States rising over the years, telephone traffic between the two countries is on the upswing. Phone calls from the United States to Indian destinations grew from 59 million minutes in 1991 to 1.4 billion minutes in 2001, a phenomenal rise of 2349 per cent, a research organisation said today. Though India is a huge destination for incoming phone calls, Indians on an average make less than 30 seconds of international telephone calls per person, Telegeography Research said in its report, suggesting that the traffic can rise still further in the years to come. The study, which details international calling patterns for over 120 countries said in 2001, Americans who made 37 billion minutes of international telephone calls, accounted for just under a quarter of the 154 billion minutes of international calls made worldwide. Mexico was the country dialed most frequently by Americans, with 5.2 billion minutes of talk time, followed by Canada with 5.1 billion minutes.
"Whom we call says a lot about who we are," commented Telegeography Research director Stephan Beckert. "Canada received almost twice as much US-originated traffic as Mexico 10 years ago - but calls to Mexico have grown more than twice as fast."
Luxembourg tops the list for most international calls per capita, with almost 900 minutes, followed by the UAE, Singapore and Switzerland, who boast approximately 450 minutes of international calls per person.

Bureau Report