/vnd/media/agency_attachments/bGjnvN2ncYDdhj74yP9p.png)
IPLC is still the most popular international data connectivity service. In
particular, it suits the high growth BPO segment the most. In terms of market
distribution, BPO accounted for 73 percent of the IPLC bandwidth in 2002.
VSNL is planning to start IP-VPN services shortly and even the newcomers will
start the services in couple of months.
Technology Options
With the coming of new players like Bharti Telesonic and Data Access,
customers now have the option to choose the best rather than be dependent on a
single player. Even, Reliance Infocomm is in the process of starting the
starting the service along with the commercial launch of its basic service. At
present, IPLC is the main revenue earner but trends are towards IP-VPN as it has
lot of flexibility and it uses effective utilization of bandwidth.
| National Traffic Balance |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Note: Data are in millions of minutes of outgoing public switched |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| telecommunications traffic. Data exclude some cross-border traffic with Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Source: |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
n IPLC: IPLC
is a leased line circuit for connecting two countries in which Indian side is
being taken care by Indian service providers whereas the other end is being
attended by tier-1 carriers in the respective countries. IPLC can be provided
through submarine cable, satellite, or through a mix of both.
| Top 5 Outgoing Routes from India |
|||
| Destination | Minutes (in millions) | ||
| Saudi Arabia |
89.50 | ||
| United States |
89 | ||
| United Arab Emirates |
54.60 | ||
| United Kingdom |
54.30 | ||
| Singapore | 26.1 | ||
|
|||
/vnd/media/post_attachments/7747f8e393e6ce31e44036979e51ceb3c3dc79b95d180a4a012afe69a739bce6.gif){kind=small} |
|||
n Frame Relay:
It is a link-level data networking service well suited to handle bursty
traffic. The technology utilizes the robustness of digital transmission media
and maintains the quality of transmission by relying on the smartness and
intelligence of devices at the network end points.
n Private IP-VPN:
Service provider can commit consistent performance based on the application
that one is running and also provide good quality service. It also helps in
effective utilization of bandwidth. One also has the advantage of automatic
routing if the network is down for a particular route giving it an edge over
other options. On the price front, IP-VPN is cheaper than Frame Relay.
Enterprise users also have the advantage of having one physical link but they
can get connection to any place.
Buying Tips
of IPLC Bandwidth
segment
BPO
| Note: Mix BPO are those companies whose main business line is not BPO but is using the majority of bandwidth for their BPO operations in India. |
|
V&D |
Corporates, while opting for a managed data network service like IPLC and Frame
Relay, should go by the following parameters before deciding upon a service
provider. Here is a list of what corporates should look for in the service
provider:
n Financial
Backing: This was not important till last year but now it has become an
important factor as it provides stability to an enterprise opting for the
service.
n Satellite or
Fiber: One can get managed data service through both satellite and fiber but
one has to be careful while deciding what to opt for. But if the application can
sustain that delay then there is no problem. If not, one has to opt for the
best. It seems most of the BPOs are using satellite more as a backup and even
some are using it for data whereas they opt for fiber for voice. If one compares
the price, satellite prices are more expensive than submarine cable bandwidth.
n Degree of
Management: Enterprise customers should opt for operators that provide
end-to-end solutions rather than piecemeal solutions for international
bandwidth. Not all operators are providing the complete solution. Corporate
customers should opt for those who can provide all three links–the Indian half
circuit; the foreign half circuit; and connectivity to customer premise
equipment at both ends. In most of the cases, the companies put a blame on the
local loop as it is a good excuse for the solution provider. However, that may
not always be the case. Availability of local access speed is the main
bottleneck and can jeopardize the network uptime.
At present, VSNL does not provide end-to-end connectivity. Soon, as
competition heats up, we may see ILD providers providing end-to-end
connectivity, which will allow for a higher degree of management of all the
three links.
n Coverage
Area: While evaluating international connectivity providers, corporates
should look at the reach of different service providers in terms of countries
and the number of cities that they support in each country. One has to also see
whether in a particular country or city a given company has a direct presence or
its services are being offered through franchisees and affiliates. With
franchisees or affiliates, one cannot be sure about the quality of service in
terms of network uptime and reliability as being provided by the parent company
or through SLA agreements. It has been noticed that a lot of companies, in order
to minimize their costs, have loose partnerships with local partners. This helps
in reducing the cost of entry in a particular country and increases their reach
but often corporates have complained that the quality of service has not been of
the same level with franchisees or affiliates.
n Migration
Path: Service providers should provide complete evolution and migration path
to corporate customers. First, the growth of the corporate network in terms of
size and increase in application may result in a re-configuration of the
network, which will increase the bandwidth requirements. Corporates opting for
service providers should see how fast such changes can be incorporated along
with bandwidth rationalization.
With the increase in application, customers can also migrate from one service
to another suite of services. For example, customers can switch from IPLC to
frame relay or IP-over-VPN, as soon as the service becomes operational in India.
They can also opt for a mix of services rather than having a homogeneous
service. Corporates may also want the service provider to offer a evolution path
in this regard. So corporates will benefit by partnering with those service
providers who not only offer cutting-edge products and solutions but also have
excellent engineering capabilities so that one can optimize on the bandwidth as
well as on the cost.
n Global
Account Management: It has been seen that most of the MNCs located in India
go for a global account. For instance, if the parent company has opted for
Sprint in the US, the Indian office also goes for the same account. But the
basic problem in such a case is that while the head office gets a good
quality-of-service (QoS), the same may not be applicable for the regions. In
order to improve the QoS even in regions, companies have started appointing
global account managers, regional account managers and national account managers
for bigger accounts and each one of them get revenue credit in one form or the
other. So all of them have inherent interests to provide best support and
service all the time. Corporates will have to opt for those service providers
that have a similar management structure, as this will result in an increase in
QoS for all regions.
n Robustness,
Reliability, and Redundancy: Robustness is indicative of the lead time for
accommodating customer requests, or, how easily and transparently the back-up
link takes over if the primary link fails. Reliability stands for the
availability of the network at all times. Redundancy means what part of the
network is covered with backup and contingencies and what is the uptime that is
guaranteed. The real test of the network will depend on the degree of support
provided on all these three fronts. The highest critical areas have to be
protected by providing the best redundancy arrangements like rerouting within
the internal network and providing cable diversity if one has the bandwidth in
all the major cables landing in India. But most of the cables in India do not
have auto recovery mechanism. So how to cope up with such a scenario? Needless
to say, those service providers who provide the highest value on all the three
fronts should be given preference. In terms of diversity one has to opt for
those service provider who has multiple cable paths on multiple routes and also
has both Pacific as well as Atlantic routing.
n Provisioning
Time: Local loop connectivity takes a lot of time in India. The service
provider that can reduce this time has a clear edge over others. International
half bandwidth might be easier to get but the basic problem is with the
last-mile connectivity. With DLD players laying OFCs in large quantities, one
can see considerable reduction in provisioning time.
n Pre-sales/commissioning/after-sales
Support: Those service providers who can out-score on pre-sales,
commissioning and after-sales support will definitely have an advantage in
comparison to others. The most crucial factor is the after-sales support because
most of the service providers focus more on the first two parameters. They have
to focus on customer support because if the link goes down it has to be
activated at the earliest and they should have a 24x7 help desk service that
helps in proactive network monitoring and support.
n Pricing: For
the Indian half circuit, the rates for IPLC are fixed but for the foreign half
circuit they vary depending on the tier-1 carrier that one chooses. Recently,
VSNL has slashed prices keeping in mind the competition that the company is
likely to face. We may see a further drop in prices once private operators start
services in the ILD space.
n Network
Management: Service providers should help corporates generate reports on the
basis of application and in terms of traffic. Reports should be generated on a
weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. One has to customize according to the
corporate requirement so that one can optimize on the bandwidth- and the
cost-front and in turn provide better quality of service to corporates. Even the
security aspect has to be carefully monitored so that one can have a hassle-free
flow of traffic from one country to another.
Market Information
According to Telegeography, the international voice market in 2001 was
pegged at around $60.6 billion, a sharp decline from $70 billion achieved in
2000. In terms of call volume, the international voice market is estimated at
around 150 billion minutes of which Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
contributes around 6 percent of all international voice traffic. It is expected
that due to drop in prices and marginal growth the international voice market
will see a drop in revenue in years to come. India is also following the
worldwide trend and though there has been a growth in international voice
traffic the overall market has reduced due to significant drop in ILD prices.
| International Bandwidth–Scarce no More | |||||||||||||||||||
|
With SAFE, Network i2i becoming operational, along with the existing cables |
|||||||||||||||||||
India is transforming from a scarce SAFE has been launched and it is operational Network i2i is a joint venture of SingTel and |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
With increase in submarine cable capacity and satellite capacity, India will have huge capacity resulting in dropping of prices by around 3 to 5 times the present pricing if one is looking at an STM-1 link and assuring a good demand in future. But if one is looking at a retail level, one will see a drop of 30 to 40 percent over next twelve months. |
|||||||||||||||||||
It is expected that in FY 2002-03, the ILD voice traffic will reach around
3.7 billion minutes showing a growth of around 18.58 percent growth. In the last
fiscal it was around 3.12 billion minutes and registered a volume growth of
16.06 percent.
In FY 2002-03 the international connectivity market is expected to be in the
range of Rs 350 crore considering the fact that there was a significant drop in
IPLC prices. Till December last year, VSNL had monopoly on the data front but
with the coming of new players we might see drop in prices and enhanced service
quality in days to come.
| MPLS-based VPN Network |
||||||||||||
|
The IP-based virtual private network (VPN) is rapidly becoming the foundation MPLS is a high-performance packet forwarding technology that integrates the |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Data Access has recently unveiled its data strategy whereby its plans to
operate point to point IPLC service. The company has tied up with HECL for
marketing of its service.
Bharti Telesonic is in the process of announcing its data strategy as
presently the company is focussing more on voice traffic. In the case of
Reliance Infocomm there is still a wait and watch approach..
|
|
/vnd/media/post_attachments/f7ccfdad1a201e3e865d73462434edcf0d0982265a3f7e91ced90fb4f4721c9b.gif)