Comments on: Future of Broadband in India

By: SUNDEEP RAINA

SUNDEEP RAINA — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 11:28:38 +0000

Hello friends I am again back to post a comment after a gap of nearly 1 year…I feel in order to really see the Broadband grow exponentially all the Broadband players need to come forward and form a consortium so that the common man is really benefited. In a country like China, everyone has an internet access by way of inexpensive means viz. Dial up/Cable Broadband but when we still look at India we are far away from those numbers why is it so??? All the vendors who offer CPE’s (Customer Premise Equipments) for this kind of services need to lower down their entry costs which would in turn be a direct benefit to the end user.

Also its high time that other means for Broadband access should be explored viz. PLC communications, Wireless etc which should be more affordable in real sense. Now also these kind of technologies are just limited to Urban/Metro areas and people in Villages who still struggle hard for Food/Shelter/Clothing are deprived of these benefits…

More and more user friendly schemes have to be planned particularly targeted at Village areas; may be any Broadband player can come forward and bundle the entire hardware along with their services so that in real sense Broadband policy could be seen benefiting the masses. In a nutshell its would be a joint effort from all the Telecom players as well as all the Telecom Equipment Manufacturers who can jointly come forward to make a mark like when they previously exploited the Analog/Digital voice and access requirements and with this all the villages saw a huge penetration of phones may it be Wireline or wireless..

Come-on operators come forward and do something it hightime to show the world that we too can do it.

By: Abhishek

Abhishek — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 02:15:08 +0000

Vishal, we NEED infrastructure.
Broadband is one of the aspects and why should investments not flow i this sector? Why should we be at the mercy of telecom companies?

It’s this attitude of not questioning is keeping us tied up…DEMAND whatever is DUE to us and not whimper in protest.

By: vishal

vishal — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 10:58:23 +0000

i fully not agree with above people but country like india , no.1 player in software export where still 50% people illitrate what is the meaning of this
service to majority of the people first u provide school , medical , road ,
electricity , etc. than talk about broad -band

By: Mohit

Mohit — Sun, 13 Feb 2005 08:55:52 +0000

I am studying in UK at the moment. I have broadband connection of 512kbps. Some of my mates have 4mbps. I cannot understand why the heck India is so far behind. All the damn potential that can be harvested via internet is being lost in INdian poilitics. I am with u guys 100% in raising our voice against this problem.

By: Sundeep Raina

Sundeep Raina — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 08:56:35 +0000

I fully agree with Mr.Chandak as PLC is the future of communications, anyone ready to break the ice and work in this segment will completely revolutionize the Indian communications scenario; No doubt PLC could be a boon for communications industry. Many vendors are already working on this line and have products ready to be offered only that time will prove how it can bring some change…

By: jay

jay — Sun, 02 Jan 2005 21:57:21 +0000

I read with interest Abhishek’s comments with India’s future broadband capabilities. Recall the founder of international satellite operator PanAmSat, the late Rene Anselmo, and his famous position on stupid telecom monoplies when he stated ‘truth and technology will overcom bullshit and bureaucracy’. I hope he is right for the sake of the people of India. Note India now has two (2) DTH providers – DishTV & the very recent DD offering – and neither of them are on an Indian satellite – they are both on the Neatherland’s based NewSkies satellite NSS-6. With the recent launch of DD’s DTH service combined with the Zee/Agrani offering both transmitted on this non-Indian satellite there quite probably is no additional transponder capacity – bandwidth – available with what are the NSS6 ‘India beams’. When you read the crap that India DTH will offer 140-160 DTH channels, it is just that – crap. Every DTH operator needs one 36Mhz transponder to carry 10-14 digital television programs – depending on the digital compression/quality. Indeed both DishTV & DD are on this satellite because India does not have the capacity on the Insat series. But the visionary India regulators seem to require India licensed DTH operators to transmit only on India satellites? How does this work, do the self serving India telecom bureaucrats now buy transponder capacity from NewSkies and resell it to Dish & DD perhaps at a profit – both stifling competition & increasing costs to the India consumer?? I lead a US investor group that has proposed a ‘build, launch & park-in-orbit’ delivery of a 12/18 36Mhz Ku-band transponder DTH satellite funded over as long as 14 years at a cost of approximately US$600k per transponder year but with the wisdom of the India regulatory bureaucrats this sort of cost/technology/bandwidth is presently not allowed. If I understand correctly, DTH operators – both of them – must transmit on an Indian satellite?? I do look forward to your comments and certainly what “India satellite” the StarTV-Tata group wiht utilize if they EVER get an India DTH license. Let’s hope Rene was correct…

Jay

By: Lalit K.Chandak

Lalit K.Chandak — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 11:57:20 +0000

Abhishek’s observations are factual. The Broadband Policy has ended up delivering an egg and is unlikely to make it affordable to the common man.

Last mile remains a hurdle for the rapid growth of communications. Even while the world is moving rapidly ahead, our policy makers are not finding ways to define rules that can help to spread communication services to 70% of India’s population living in rural areas – a prime way to enhance our GDP.

To overcome this, it is best to make use of India’s available infrastructure for spreading Broadband not only through telephone lines but also on power lines – electric lines being the obvious choice since it is far more widespread and touches many homes. We also hv to free bandwidth for Wimax quality Broadband wireless deployments – even open up the 700 Mhz band for enhancing communication all across the country. If these measures require restructuring essential services and defense communcation network for more efficient use of Bandwidth – let this be done ASAP.