I came across this story via Salon You might have to wait for an advertisement to load up before you can access content. But worth it.

This post compares the BB vis-a-vis the “developed nations” who didn’t have the likes of BSNL. The post is about freeing up American Broadband and make it affordable. The telecom companies are playing a spoiler and in all probability cartelised their services.

We have been a late starter- nevertheless floundering. First with a flawed policy and now the Director Planning BSNL claims that you need a Pentium 4 PC to run broadband! Such preposterous claims and I find the future of the Broadband nipped in the bud.

Anyway, I quote from the Salon article:

Next time you sit down to pay your cable-modem or DSL bill, consider this: Most Japanese consumers can get an Internet connection that’s 16 times faster than the typical American DSL line for a mere $22 per month.

Across the globe, it’s the same story. In France, DSL service that is 10 times faster than the typical United States connection; 100 TV channels and unlimited telephone service cost only $38 per month. In South Korea, super-fast connections are common for less than $30 per month.

Further:

While other countries are taking advantage of the technological, business and education opportunities of the broadband era, America ( here India) remains lost in transition.

Simple answer to the perplexing problem:

These nations all have something the U.S. (India) lacks: a national broadband policy, one that actively encourages competition among providers, leading to lower consumer prices and better service.

US’s regulatory body FCC defines broadband as:

A “high-speed” connection as one capable of transmitting data at a rate of 200 kbps (kilobits, or a thousand bits, per second) in one direction — about four times the speed of dial-up.

So, their definition is worse than that of TRAI! Rejoice!

Comparing what the speeds mean ( Salon is “bitching” about the fact that they can’t download high definition video- we as Indian subscribers have just 1 GB limit) even as we struggle with “slightly- faster- than-dialup”narrow band!

The typical download speed of a DSL connection in the U.S. is 1.5 Mbps, while the average cable-modem connection downloads at 3 Mbps. These connections are adequate for streaming low- to standard-quality video, but are far too slow for applications like high-definition video. Furthermore, they pale in comparison to what is being offered in Japan, where consumers can download high-definition movies in less than five minutes.

How unbundling the local loop helps:

Most of the countries surpassing the U.S. in broadband speed and availability have “open access” rules governing both their cable and DSL industries. Open access rules require the owner of a network to allow its competitors access to the network at wholesale prices. These rules usually apply to networks that are “natural monopolies” like telephone systems and railroads, and in order to ensure innovation among competitors, these provisions usually do not apply to newly built infrastructure. Ultimately, open access benefits consumers by creating competition that leads to lower prices and new innovative services. You can credit open access with the drop in long-distance rates seen in the 1990s.

What is the alternative to this impasse?

The most promising alternative to the cable-DSL duopoly is Community Internet — universal, affordable high-speed broadband service provided by cities and towns or community groups.

Further:

Hundreds of places……are now viewing broadband as a public service, no different from water, gas or electricity.They are building Community Internet and municipal broadband projects to bring high-speed Internet to areas overcharged or underserved by the cable and DSL companies.

What is community service?

“…a few places receive broadband over power lines, or fiber laid directly to homes, the majority of Community Internet projects utilize “Wi-Fi” technology to create “hot-spot” zones of broadband coverage or, in many cases, build a “mesh network” to blanket an entire city.”

Can this be a viable service model in India?

Nations such as Canada and South Korea long ago realized the importance of public broadband, and incorporated municipal systems into their overall broadband strategies.

How Community networks would change the face of Internet access:

If wireless networks were able to operate on lower-frequency spectrum — such as the region used by over-the-air television stations — the infrastructure costs would be much lower, potentially allowing Community Internet networks to offer extremely fast connections for as little as $10 per month.

Note that Wifi spectrum in the 2.4 Ghz band has recently been de licensed. However, we haven’t seen a surge of the hotspots so far.

Ultimately, it’s all about asserting your rights. Instead of twitching and twidling our thumbs, we ought to make some effort. I tried to make some effort but it came to a naught I can’t do it alone and obviously need your help to make India a truly Broadband India- not at the mercy of whims and fancies of incompetent idiots.

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