What Broadband can do for India?

Over the past few months, there has been intense speculation and excitement over broadband. Few established players like Sify absolutely screwed up the definition of what broadband is. For Sify users it became marginally better than dial up. At times even worse! Current definition of broadband (as per recommendations from TRAI) applies to always on connection at minimum defined speeds of 256 kbps. However, this was more in realization with the current infrastructure that India has. Download speeds of over and above 2 Mbps are usually taken as a broadband connection. However, it is an approximate indicator of what is possible. While the world moves in towards Mbps, we are still in the kbps era. A small step is a small leap anyway for India!

What broadband can do? I have tried to compile a list of possible scenarios and the readers are welcome to share their ideas on that. Please note that this is suggestive and not an exhaustive compilation.

Broadband is means of fast data transfer over the traditional copper wires or the cable wires that get the cable TV in your homes. This is called a CAT 5 cable. The best mode of transfer for the data transfer is the optic fiber. However, despite falling costs, it is costly to set up and maintain.

For a power user, one who is always connected online, broadband connection gives almost a limitless supply of software through file sharing. The peer to peer (p2p) networks are best described as forms of digital communism. Further discussion is out of scope here though. Broadband helps is fast data transfers that these networks need for file sharing. Entertainment is a big business now. TV shows and live web casts are possible through broadband. This means that one can record a program of your choice and playback whenever feasible. This concept is taking US by storm with the development of TiVo. With the current speeds, this seems to be far-fetched idea in India. I believe that Reliance has collaborated with Microsoft to get this technology to India. The concept would take time to get off the ground.

However, the real broadband can potentially transform India into a knowledge-based economy. The movement towards a paperless office would be a reality. E-governance would soon happen. This means that the government offices would be interlinked with a central server and requesting files over the network. This distinct possibility has already been set up in Andhra Pradesh. The entire land records have been digitized and set up on the network. This removes any scope for ambiguity. ITC also set up its e-chaupals network linking through VSATs. This has had an amazing effect on the local economy, as the farmers are able to get a higher price for their produce.

The connectivity can do wonders for self-employment. With falling prices for computers and laptops, working at home is a distant possibility. This is particularly useful in metropolitan cities where increasing traffic jams take a huge amount of time and effort in commuting from one end to another. Work could be moved from one part of the city or country through networks. Employment through setting up of cyber cafes has revolutionized the way Indians access electronic resources.

Health care remains one area that could potentially benefit from broadband. Regular web casts of continued medical education helps the doctors to update themselves without leaving their practices. That too, in the comfort of their homes. There is a pilot project in United Kingdom, which monitors the asthma and diabetes management using web cameras over broadband networks. This has the potential to reduce the caregiver costs and hopefully reduce the burden of the doctors in the resource intensive settings. E-Healthcare can help doctors sitting in far flung areas to have a second opinion in case of complicated management. The first initiative was again taken by Apollo hospitals as means of outreach in the far-flung rural health centers. Traditionally far-flung villages have been left out of the outreach of health care initiatives. Broadband reach can effectively mitigate the problem to a large extent.

Broadband can of course help one to update about the latest advances in medicine. Increasingly resources are being freed for the developing countries, which mean that it is possible to update with the best in the field. I have personally found my own horizon expanding while interacting with doctors from other countries.

Businesses tend to benefit the most. Trading online in stock markets and up to minute news and tracking becomes a reality, broadband remains imperative. Industrial units needing to set up networking to track inventory or implement virtual networking tend to maximize their profits on their investments. Of course the BPO units employing the maximum number of fresh graduates. Even if the model is flawed, yet it is generating employment.

Another fascinating development is Voice over Internet protocol. Vonage in US is offering traditional calls over broadband networks where plans include unlimited calls across US for a flat monthly fee. Cisco India has recently started offering VoIP across the company’s network. Of course, they need to be connected to broadband networks. The icing on the cake is the p2p VoIP called as Skype. It has challenged the traditional phone networks. It offers free unlimited calls to any other Skype user across the world. This is an excellent avenue for saving on those international calls. VoIP has progressed tremendously and over the broadband networks, the voice clarity is almost similar to the ones over the traditional network.

As I mentioned broadband access has untold benefits. However, it so frustrating when authorities restrict access to the same according to what they think is right. It is not the matter of time though. Already 50+ years have elapsed and we are still bound with the developing country tag. If the popular perception about India is not as an IT superpower or that India aspiring to have a greater role in the world affairs, then perhaps I am willing to be insulted in the name of Internet access. High prices should not be a dampener for a broadband revolution that has to happen now! I came across somewhere on the forums where a Japanese advertisement had been translated. It said “Still stuck at 56 Mbps? Move up”!

Where are we in India stuck up at?

Discuss on: Sify Broadband, Tata Indicom, Airtel Broadband, Reliance Broadband, MTNL – BSNL Broadband, Dial Up, Others

This post was submitted by Dr. Abhishek Puri on the Broadband Blog on Techwhack.

Tags: Advertisement, Airtel, Airtel Broadband, author, Broadband, Broadband access, BSNL, BSNL Broadband, EDGE, File Sharing, GUI, India, Indians, Internet, laptop, Linux, Microsoft, MTNL, Peer to peer, Reliance, Reliance Broadband, Tata, Tata Indicom, Telecommunications India, TRAI, United Kingdom

Advertising Trends in Indian Telecom

The way telecom firms advertise, gives an approximate idea about the telecom trends. I would try to uncover some of them, which come to my mind. At the initial launch of the mobile services, they were advertised as lifestyle products. The message that sought to be conveyed was that if you have a mobile phone, you have arrived in life. A few well-healed people could afford the high call rates at that time. It was in no way for the masses. I am sure that the mobile companies made a large profit out of it. Perhaps for the first time, Indians were exposed to concepts alien to them: Customer Care Support. It saw a booming of the ancillary services and fresh graduates, stunted in mental development though, came out in droves for the well-paid jobs.

Airtel then sought the services of Sachin Tendulkar. He was the brand ambassador and saw his earnings sharply increasing. I saw his picture everywhere exhorting me buy the mobile prepaid card. After the initial publicity passed away, A.R. Rahman gave his now famous tune. All the other companies have variously tried other gimmicks to sell their connections.

However, the landscape changed after Reliance came in the mobile services. Mukesh Ambani was seen telling people about his fathers dream. The initial launch was lackluster. With the launch of the prepaid services, the punch line was “mujhme hai who baat” or “I have that thing!” I wonder how many people actually signed up after those ads. I believe that it was solely because of the “Monsoon Hungama” that Reliance was able to ramp up its numbers. Then came the ad line “Kar lo duniya muthi mein”. (Have the world in your fist). I remember that this became the butt of dirty jokes on the GSM networks! So much for imagination of creative heads of the ad agency.

The icing on the cake goes to Hutch. They designed the simple ad with the kid and cute Chinese Pug. It was a hit of all sorts. It conveyed the effectiveness of the message succinctly. I believe that it drove Hutch’s connections across the places where it offered its services. However, it was considered too elitist for the masses. The advertisement should be able to convey the message effectively; one with which people could identify with. In this regard, BSNL could claim something. BSNL’s advertisements depicted typically government mentality for awarding the contract to lowest in the tender process. The quality clearly shows. Is there anyway people could identify themselves with that advertisements? What of those places where BSNL is the sole service provider?

As the title goes, advertising trends are reflective of the current scenario in telecom. Airtel has been advertising its group card labeled as Friends. In fact, until now, the market was treated as homogenous. Over the period, classification has been sought to target the specific customers with specific needs. Airtel took the lead in announcing Senior citizen cards targeted at those above 60. The “Friends card” is for those who wish to restrict themselves to their group with low calling rates and some free messages.

Reliance has realized early on about targeting the businesses. Its offer of flat rate for making STD calls to anyone across its network is unparalleled. This way it can ensure that there would be higher converts towards it services. R-Connect is its portal that differentiated Reliance early on from other operators. It knows that future revenues are going to come from value added services. This way it has foreseen the development in the industry.

Following this, Airtel introduced its Airtel Live! I guess so have the other operators across board. The voice calls would not yield much as much as revenue as would the value added services. Hence, for the same reason they have introduced value added cards, which would help to download ring tones and other fancy stuff.

This is the reason I have always insisted that Telecom operators should get bullish on data services. 3G mobile services look good as technology demonstrators. Until the time, the prices for the 3G enabled handsets fall down to manageable levels, it would not take off. I believe that it takes up a large chunk of the scarce spectrum, which does not make any sense to introduce. WAP and GPRS were heavily promoted but have been more or less non-starters. The real differentiator would be the quality of services, cheap offering if these companies have to venture in the rural areas and the reach of the network.

In this regard, the division of India in circles is not in the right spirit. It should be taken as a homogenous land mass. The day is not far when it would be local call to call anywhere across the nation. Reliance has made this possible to some extent.

Discuss on: Sify Broadband, Tata Indicom, Airtel Broadband, Reliance Broadband, MTNL – BSNL Broadband, Dial Up, Others

This post was submitted by Dr. Abhishek Puri on the Broadband Blog on Techwhack.

Tags: 3G, Advertisement, Advertising, Airtel, Airtel Broadband, Broadband, BSNL, BSNL Broadband, Chinese, data services, GPRS, GSM, handsets, Hutch, India, Indians, Mobile, MTNL, Opera, Prepaid, Reliance, Reliance Broadband, Spectrum, Tata, Tata Indicom, Telecommunications India, Telecommunications India, Value Added Services

The influence of Reliance Infocomm on the Indian Telecom Scenery

Reliance industries have straddled the Indian economy like a giant. Dhirubhai Ambani knew the value of political contacts. There was a write up on him recently, which Rediff had carried out. It is clear from his public pronouncements that he valued political contacts for furthering the established businesses. For the same, he was known to have “managed the environment”. In effect getting regulatory approvals from the hair brained idiots who had choked the growth of the industry because of their narrow vision. How he created the world’s largest grassroots refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat is a story in itself. Reliance has always thought big and achieved its aims; the one it sought out to do.

However, platitudes apart, the thrust of the post is on the telecom venture. I had earlier mentioned the concept of choke point. Having interests in the petrochemicals, Reliance has artificially raised the ceiling prices for its products. This has a detrimental effect on the economy. The monopoly does not affect us directly, and out of scope here. Yet the basic ingredient of this post is that Reliance is capable of leveraging its might to capture the market at any cost.

Realizing the potential in Telecom early on, Reliance set out its GSM network in the Northeastern states. However, that was the pet project of the younger brother and is not really much in the news. I had heard someone that the customer service remained excellent, yet the prices were excessively high. I may be wrong since it was not a direct experience. However, these people know the value of first mover advantage that I have been repeatedly mentioning. This explains their breakneck expansion in areas where BSNL had set up their exchanges. By the end of the year, they hope to cover 3/4th s of Indian land mass.

Reliance got a fixed operator license and used the same to provide “mobile” services. The head on collision arose with the GSM operators when Reliance offered, “Roaming” facility using its call divert feature. After the outcry settled down, the government of the day announced a change in the telecom policy and ushered in the ear of unified services. The timing of course is a suspect. Reliance got the spectrum dirt-cheap by paying the license fees for fixed line services. They converted the same into full-fledged mobile services by paying a meager amount that did not hurt them in any way; given the massive plans of 25000 crores investment. Contrast the existing GSM operators who outbid in their enthusiasm to provide “cheap” services to Indians.

The initial foray to provide services was a dampener. The demand projection was over projected and advertising was slack. Then came in the all-infamous Monsoon Hungama scheme, which saw the fastest addition of mobile customers’ Indian telecom ever saw. The reason why it was “infamous” was that people signed on in little realizing the fine print when they would have had to surrender their phones. The billing system threw up glitches that took a long time to rectify. I feel that Reliance’s strategy was right considering that it has healthy mix of post paid and pre paid customers. In fact, unlike GSM operators, who relied on pre paid services to ramp up volumes, Reliance has a winner at its hands.

The launch of pre paid created the real buzz in the market. The prices saw a real drop across board for all the customers. I believe that part of the reason why people remain with the previous operators is that they do not wish to change their numbers. If the number portability across the networks becomes a reality, it would be a serious competition to other established GSM players.

Driving the growth is Reliance’s strategy to dominate the entire spectrum of Telecommunications market. With this objective, it bought over Flag telecom. It laid down its optic fiber throughout the length and breadth of the country. Very soon, it may be launching its broadband. In fact, from insider sources I gather that it may be as early as next month. Yet, the same can be postponed, and cannot be said with certainty. In the scheme of the things, they plan to offer streaming video and triple play over the optic fiber.

All this points towards their quest for dominance and act as choke points. Any ISP needs a gateway; it would have to go to Reliance. Any operator needs a gateway to route its international calls, would have to go to Reliance. Any customer down the line needs to access cable TV services would have to go to Reliance. It is a distinct possibility because Reliance is very aggressive in its approach towards customers.

The financial engineering that its owners did is a case that stands out like a sore thumb. By routing investments illegally, Mukesh Ambani made sure that the Reliance investor indirectly invested in his telecom business. The same was reported extensively in Business World. Though the company has denied such claims, it remains to be seen how this could be sorted out. The matter had barely settled when Reliance was accused of diverting the international calls as local in order to avoid paying the Access Deficit Charge. It is surprising that despite all these events, Reliance managed to get award for corporate excellence! None other than by Business World! Irony of fate; sad reflection on the state of media.

Admittedly, there many issues that need to be pointed out, yet this venture of Reliance is worth looking out for. If media reports are to be believed, Ambani might just sell this off given the right valuation. This remains the topic of speculation and I do not wish to go further in the same.

Discuss on: Sify Broadband, Tata Indicom, Airtel Broadband, Reliance Broadband, MTNL – BSNL Broadband, Dial Up, Others

This post was submitted by Dr. Abhishek Puri on the Broadband Blog on Techwhack.

Tags: Access Deficit Charge, Advertising, Airtel, Airtel Broadband, Broadband, BSNL, BSNL Broadband, DTH, EDGE, GSM, Idiots, India, Indians, Internet, Media, Mobile, MTNL, Opera, Rediff, Reliance, Reliance Broadband, Spectrum, Tata, Tata Indicom, Telecommunications India, Telecommunications India