Opinion - Editorials   

BROADBAND AND INTERNET ACCESS

INDIA IS A successful model for the growth of mobile phones. Over the past five years tariffs have dropped 90 per cent; and in response the number of subscribers has risen 85 per cent each year to cross 26 million. Yet the experience with Internet and broadband is a case study of lost opportunities. Several Asian countries led by China, South Korea and Malaysia have stolen a march over India by growing their user base and in turn those sections of the economy that benefit from digital technologies. The steep climb ahead for India is evident from the existing penetration: 0.02 broadband connection per 100 persons compared with 25 in South Korea and 1.4 in China. The new Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommendations for broadband expansion acknowledge the absence of any serious initiative to popularise high bandwidth connections starting with a definition of broadband: TRAI now defines it as an always-on link with a minimum download speed of 256 kilobits per second (Kbps). The TRAI formulations seek to harness a variety of technological solutions to deliver broadband, including those that would use the existing network of copper cables connecting conventional telephones. These are the technologies that enable Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to turn a telephone line into a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) so that they can push data at high speed alongside voice communication. And these have the capability to transform the huge subscriber base of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam into potential broadband users.

TRAI has set a target of one million broadband users in the first year and will periodically review the progress towards the target of three million users by 2005. The high cost of the service and of computers has affected broadband growth thus far. While TRAI has set the ball rolling by recommending rationalisation of duties and taxes on computers, BSNL and MTNL must speedily upgrade their lines to DSL. This should not be difficult given the high priority accorded by the United Progressive Alliance Government to broadband takeoff. DSL holds out hope for quick expansion; last year this technology accounted for 92 per cent of broadband growth in China compared with 8 per cent for cable modems. The liberal licensing norms recommended by TRAI to turn those providing Direct-to-Home television services and Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) data services into ISPs and encourage use of high bandwidth terrestrial wireless standards have, along with other measures, been welcomed by industry. But these need coordinated follow-up action by the various departments.

The focus on broadband raises the question: what can subscribers do with it? In the West, wide bandwidth use is driven by rich content that caters mostly to an entertainment-oriented lifestyle. The analysis firm, Neilsen, reports that broadband concentration is highest among affluent surfers in the United States. That cannot be the raison d'etre for broadband in India. While entertainment and lifestyle applications would no doubt create urban-centric revenue models, those in education, skill development, health and agriculture would be more appropriate for the technology. Such applications would draw immense value from the several thousand route kilometres of optical fibre cables laid across the country at great expense. There must be a conscious effort to connect rural India to these optical fibre pipes and evolve a new model for development communication. At another level, software developers, particularly the smaller players who have been hamstrung without adequate bandwidth can scale up their products and tap into the emerging multimedia markets.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• BROADBAND AND INTERNET ACCESS
• SPEAKING UP FOR PALESTINE
• Continuity and change
• Poverty and inequality in India
• Cess for education
• The CMP
• Power tariff rollback
• PM's challenge
• Mandate for change
• Outdated
• Waste of money
• Expand the re-look

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu