However, of later, there have been some salutary developments. 3G and WIMAX auctions will pave the way for driving up the broadband usage. The country’s WIMAX subscriber base is expected to reach 19 million by 2012. It represents enormous business opportunities. A recent study shows India’s WIMAX subscriber base hitting 14 million by 2013 and growing annually at nearly 130%. It means that in the next four years, about 20% of the global WIMAX users will be in India, making it a $13-billion market.
In information and communication technologies (ICT), the major trends seen in India can be divided into two facets. The first is the voice side, and the second is the broadband or data. Both these facets have grown at a rapid speed, particularly in the last two years. An analysis suggests two trends gaining rapid strength: the voice traffic is moving towards mobile connectivity and the fixed line dial-up services are gravitating towards broadband.
At present, a majority of users are using broadband via fixed lines, data cards and mobiles. There are problems like ADSL line faults, Ethernet faults and slow speed as better technologies are implemented over old and outdated infrastructure. Given the limited infrastructure and the high cost of deploying fixed lines, a shift to wireless technologies is an inevitable ingredient for deepening broadband penetration in India. Among the wireless technologies available, 3G is important as it can be used for more efficient delivery of voice and data over mobile.
The Indian market can be divided into three segments: rural, urban and semi-urban. In the urban market, both WIMAX and 3G will soon gain the upper hand. It will have a rub-off effect on semi-urban areas. But rural India is a different story because income levels, technological awareness and the incentive to data connectivity is low. So, it’s incumbent on the government to roll out the 3G technology in such a way that the rural India is not waylaid by the incoming ICT boom.
Wireless Internet technologies are better poised to deepen the broadband penetration as fixedlines need deployment of infrastructure and diverse Indian topography makes deployment of infrastructure very difficult.
At another level, the Central government has an ambitious plan to lay a fibre-optic network crisscrossing the nation. Private operators will be allowed to run broadband services through the network on lease. Such a plan would not succeed without private sector participation. A big hurdle in its way is the absence of a uniform right of way charges. In the absence of a right of way law that guarantees legitimate returns, it will be hard for the government to ask private operators to invest more in laying rural fibre-optic cable. Apart from a right of way law, the government should also provide private operators assistance through the universal service obligation fund.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Wrick Roy
Quelle/Source: The Financial Express, 03.05.2010
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