SERVICE PROVIDERS BROADBAND: It’s the Final Countdown

Broadband is a digital or analog signal capable of carrying a large quantity

of information because multiple signals share the bandwidth of the medium. It

allows the transmission of voice, data, and video signals over a single medium.

Broadband is not an end in itself, merely an enabling technology–a transport

mechanism that provides access to what a user really wants.

Broadband services can be delivered using one of five possible technologies–fiber,

fixed wireless access, satellite, cable, and DSL technologies. Cable and DSL are

the most ubiquitous technologies in terms of broadband delivery, carrying nearly

all of the world’s broadband traffic.

TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS



Wireless



l EDGE: Enhanced data

rates for GSM evolution or EDGE is a 3G technology that delivers broadband data

at high speeds to mobile devices. It allows consumers to connect to the

Internet, and send and receive data including digital images, Web pages, and

photographs about three times faster than GPRS. Using EDGE, one can deliver

advanced mobile services such as downloading of video and music clips, full

multimedia messaging, high-speed color Internet access and e-mail on the move.

Using EDGE, operators can handle three times more subscribers than GPRS,

triple their data rate per subscriber, or add extra capacity to their voice

communications. EDGE uses the same time-division multiple-access (TDMA) frame

structure, logic channel and 200 kHz carrier bandwidth as today’s GSM

networks, which allows existing cell network plans to remain intact.

l CDMA2000 1xEV-DO: A

data-optimized version of CDMA2000 called 1xEV-DO provides peak rates of over 2

Mbps. With an average throughput of over 700 kbps comparable to wireline DSL

services and fast enough to support demanding applications such as streaming

video and large file downloads, 1xEV-DO devices will provide ‘always-on’

packet data connections, helping to make wireless access simpler, faster and

more useful than ever.

l Terrestrial Wireless: Transmission

of terrestrial microwave signals involves the installation of antennas at high

points where line of sight is the clearest. Terrestrial microwave is used as an

alternative to coaxial cable and fiber optic cable for long distance telephony.

It is used for point-to-point and point-to-multipoint applications and can

provide broadband access for subscriber-based applications. Another application

is a high-altitude platform-station balloon (HAPS) operating at 32 GHz and 47/48

GHz.

Laser beams offer a further alternative, and are typically targeted on

separate offices from a central location. The signal travels through glass and

so is suited to the provision of spot services in office towers surrounding the

source of the beam. Called Free Space Laser, one can expect speeds of up to 155

Mbps over a distance of up to 6 km.

Satellite



l VSATs: Using VSATs,

enterprises can opt for greater bandwidth enabling a variety of multimedia

applications. One can use it for Internet surfing, e-education and others.

Most of the VSAT service providers in India provide different kinds of

services.

Wireline



On the wireline front, corporates do have a lot of options right from

telephone cables to cable TV among others. On the copper wire–the traditional

telephony local loop comprises twisted pair copper wires for telephony and data

applications. One can go for DSL, ADSL, SDSL, SHDSL, and VDSL, and VoDSL. The

various flavors of DSL have the potential to offer broadband access to wide

sections of urban population.

l Digital Subscriber Line (DSL):

This technology solves the bottleneck problem associated with delivering network

services over phone lines. When a user receives digital information from the

Internet over the phone line it is filtered and converted to analog for

telephone lines, requiring the modem to change the data back into digital form.

A DSL transmission is digital. It does not need this conversion. This allows the

phone lines to carry more bandwidth for transmitting data. DSL achieves

broadband speeds (greater than 1.5 Mbps) over ordinary phone lines. A DSL line

can carry both data and voice signals and the data signal is continuously

connected. There are different varieties of DSL, including asymmetric DSL (ADSL),

symmetric high bit rate DSL (SHDSL), very high bit rate DSL (VDSL), G.Lite (also

known as DSL-lite), and splitterless ADSL or universal ADSL.

l Asymmetric Digital

Subscriber Line (ADSL): It is the most widely deployed form of DSL

technology. ADSL uses most of the bandwidth available to transmit information

downstream to the user and only a small part to receive information from the

user. Typically, ADSL generates downstream speeds up to 8 Mbps and generates

upstream speeds of up to 640 Kbps. Unlike cable technology, ADSL provides

dedicated bandwidth, so its speed and capacity are unaffected by the number of

homes or businesses using the service at the same time.

l Symmetric Digital Subscriber

Line (SDSL): Also known as single line DSL, this is a technology that

delivers a maximum data rate that is the same both upstream and downstream.

Typically, SDSL generates speeds of 2.3 Mbps in both directions. However, SDSL

does not use the available bandwidth in the copper lines very efficiently and,

more importantly, it causes spectrum compatibility problems with other DSL lines

running in the same cable bundle. For this reason, SHDSL is becoming the most

widely used symmetrical DSL technology.

l Single-Pair High-speed

Digital Subscriber Line (SHDSL): Also known as g.SHDSL, it can transport

data symmetrically at rates ranging from 192 Kbps to 2.3 Mbps over distances up

to 3,650 m.

l Very High-speed Digital

Subscriber Line (VDSL): This transmits data over existing telephone lines at

lightning fast speeds over relatively short distances. The shorter the distance,

the faster the connection rate. In trials, VDSL has produced speeds between 51

and 55 Mbps over lines of up to 300 m. VDSL was developed to support

exceptionally high bandwidth applications like high definition television (HDTV)

and steaming video.

l Voice over Digital

Subscriber Line (VoDSL): This technology delivers voice services over DSL

using ADSL or SHDSL to integrate voice with data services. VoDSL solutions

prioritize, multiplex, and transport multiple voice and data channels over a DSL

connection to a gateway interface that provides connectivity between a data

network and the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

l Coaxial Cable:

Traditional cable TV networks have to be upgraded to facilitate two-way

communications, for example, for Internet access or cable telephony. Often, this

has been undertaken by laying a second copper wire alongside the coaxial cable.

Buying Tips

It is better if the service providers can work with the

vendor as a partner as it helps in deploying new products or application as and

when the product is ready and it also helps in customization of the product

according to the country’s requirement so that it is successful in the long

run. Even service providers should be aware about the technology roadmap of the

vendor.

• Application Suite: The broadband equipment vendor
  
  should support all kinds of applications in the triple play menu–voice,
  
  data, and video. All this will help service provider to mix and match
  
  services by lowering the initial cost of ownership for the user. The
  
  equipment should support multicast multicast group, layer 2 and layer 3
  
  processing, quality of service, and prioritizing for different kinds of
  
  services. The broadband content has to be matched with delivery mechanism so
  
  that one can utilize the existing infrastructure thereby fully utilizing the
  
  initial investment.

• End-to-end Network Management: With networks
  
  becoming more complicated with the coming of triple play–voice, video, and
  
  data–service providers are finding it extremely difficult to manage the
  
  network due to different applications and increase in number of interfaces.
  
  Vendors who can provide end-to-end management have an advantage as one need
  
  not worry about the interface with other elements. One should see whether
  
  vendors can provide element management or complete network management. Also
  
  see whether billing-related things are also taken care as different
  
  customers will opt for a mix and match of services and one has to satisfy
  
  everybody.

• Scalability and Modularity: With subscribers and
  
  traffic increasing at a fast pace one should see whether the existing system
  
  is scalable and modular to meet the future demand. It should not only be
  
  scalable in terms of number of subscribers and traffic but also in terms of
  
  different applications that carriers plan to deploy in the future.

• Broadband Content: It seems service providers are
  
  focusing more on the equipment but less on the content. In order to get a
  
  high ARPU, the service providers should create an ecosystem, which will help
  
  in creating content that is applicable for that specific country.

Content should be a mix of serious and entertainment stuff.

One can also have Internet based content. Service providers should join hands

with content developers in working out a commercial agreement so that there is

no problem of creative content, once the broadband is deployed is deployed by

the service provider.

Market Information

In FY 2002-03, the total broadband services market was estimated to be Rs

350 crore, which comprised of DSL, cable, Metro Ethernet, and fixed wireless. On

the DSL front, Dishnet DSL has a monopoly but it seems carriers are also waking

up and are planning to provide DSL. Tata and Reliance have very aggressive plans

on broadband and they are presently testing newer technologies and are likely to

deploy them at the earliest.

l Bharti

Infotel: To start with, Bharti Infotel is focusing only on DSL services and

presently has a subscriber base of around 39,000. The company has recently

announced the launch of Wi-Fi service over DSL in Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and

Karnataka circles. With this launch Infotel, has become the country’s first

fixed line service provider to offer wireless broadband services for residential

and SME customers. Presently, one can get a minimum speed of 128 kbps.

In addition, Bharti Infotel also plans to foray into the

fourth generation broadband wireless services. The company has conducted

successful trials in Bangalore, Mumbai, and Cochin. Using fourth generation

broadband wireless service one can expect speeds of up to 2 Mbps. Here, Infotel

is planning to use Bharti Cellular’s base station. The company is planning to

launch services in 10 cities. This is based on radio frequency and would operate

on 2.6 MHz frequency band.

l BSNL: The

incumbent carrier has been providing broadband services on a pilot basis in

three cities–Kolkata, Pune, and Bangalore. The services are being provided by

I-Spatial Communications (P) Ltd  (I-Spatial or ICPL), a value added

service franchise of BSNL.

Based on DSL technology, the company is proving broadband

services in partnership with partners such as Nortel Networks, Paradyne, Orca

Interactive, Silicon Graphics, and Kasenna. The broadband technology from

I-Spatial is based on Etherloop (R) technology, which harnesses the latent power

of copper media and eliminates any interference of poor quality copper.

Recently, BSNL and KT Corporation have signed a memorandum of

understanding to work on broadband Internet business in India. Both the

companies have agreed to share resources, know how, and capability to operate

broadband business in India. This will give a big push to broadband as BSNL has

around 35 million wireline customers which can be used to provide DSL-based

services with a small incremental cost.

l Reliance

Infocomm: Though, India has achieved a respectable ranking of seven in terms

of tele-density, on the broadband front, the figure stands at 0.02 per 100

people. It seems that Reliance is now working on changing the overall landscape

of broadband in the country. This task was supposed to have been accomplished by

incumbent operators like MTNL and BSNL who already have a lot of copper in

place. To start with, the company is looking at providing broadband for

enterprises.

Broadband for enterprise is well underway as presently it is

undergoing trial run in Reliance Infocomm and other group companies. Presently

these are working flawlessly and the response is positive.

In the first phase, the company is looking at 52 cities as

large part of business buildings in these cities have been connected by optical

fiber cable based on Gigabit Ethernet technology. All this will help in

providing bandwidth hungry applications to corporates.

In a year’s time, close to 200,000 buildings will be

broadband connected, at the current pace of laying fiber to building complexes.

BSNL already has a presence in a large number of these buildings, while private

players are present in some. But in many buildings, the last mile fiber is not

yet there. So, expectations are that the company will try to reach a million

customers in few months or in a year’s time frame depending upon acceptability

of broadband services by corporate customers.

On the technology front, the company is opting for different

technologies like Gigabit Ethernet, LMDS, DSL, and cable TV, but Infocomm’s

major thrust is on Ethernet. DSL as a technology is too much dependent on

copper.

Reliance Infocomm, being a new player does not have a legacy

network based on copper cable. So, the company’s broadband focus is more on

Ethernet. On Ethernet, speeds of 100 Mbps are possible, as compared to the 11

Mbps speed on DSL.

In the conventional system, one can experience problem in

video conferencing kind of applications but gigabit Ethernet helps in providing

unconstrained bandwidth and one can even surf the Internet at blazing speeds.

In order to utilize the full capacity of the network,

Reliance Infocomm is planning to launch consumer convergence solutions by

providing high speed Ethernet links to 80 million homes. The company is looking

to provide connectivity to this huge base of users in FY 2004—05.

This revolution will help in providing every home with a

range of television channels, high-speed telephony, audio conferencing, video

conferencing, audio on demand, and video on demand. On this front, the company

is working along with Microsoft and is also testing other technologies so that

it can also lay its hand on the very big entertainment market.

l Tata Group:

In the case of Tata, VSNL will be the front end for broadband. So, VSNL will

have Tata Internet, Dishnet DSL (if the company plans to acquire after due

diligence), and Tata Power’s broadband division that has a 600 km OFC network

across Mumbai and Pune. The company is looking at all the technologies–Internet

cable, Ethernet, and DSL for providing broadband services in the country.

The company has also announced the launch of Internet

services through cable TV network in Mumbai. The company has tied up with

several local cable operators who have agreed to connect several homes to VSNL’s

Internet service through their existing coaxial cable network. And very soon,

VSNL is planning to launch this service in more cities.

Presently, the company is offering DSL/ADSL services in

conjunction with Dishnet DSL. The services are available in all its six circles–Delhi,

Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. The company has

also got LoI for Kolkata, Rajasthan, Bihar, Orissa, UP (East), Himachal Pradesh

and Madhya Pradesh. All these circles will also have broadband services by the

end of this year.

Presently, the Maharashtra arm of Tata Teleservices has been

very active on the broadband front. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) has

implemented a fiber-to-the-business (FTTB) strategy by laying fiber optic cable

or PMP broadband radio right up to the premises of its customers giving them

high bandwidth scalability.