Though there has been a lot of discussion on broadband, the penetration
remains dismally low. Just a look at the figures and the poor situation of
broadband becomes clear-at the end of last January, India had just 3.4 mn
broadband subscribers, far short of the 9 mn target set by the government last
year. Declaring 2007 as the 'Year of Broadband' also did not improve the
situation much.
To discuss the issues and concerns related to the broadband scenario in
India, industry experts from enterprises across verticals came together and
graced the events organized by VOICE&DATA in New Delhi and Mumbai.
The first event took place in New Delhi, where experts discussed the aspects
of cost-effective broadband solutions that could help India to leapfrog in
broadband penetration. The discussion panel included Naresh Ajwani, president,
Consumer Infrastructure and Operations, Sify Technologies; Brajesh Chandra Jain,
president, ISP Division, Punj Lloyd; Kuldeep Singh, director, Technical, MTNL;
TV Sriram, VP, Technology, Bharti Airtel; ANJ Aradhya, Broadband, BSNL; HS Sai,
CIO, Thomson Press; Shantigram Jagannath, VP, Airvana Networks, and Tarvinder
Singh, head, Marketing and Product Management, Home and Networks Mobility,
Motorola.
Delivering the keynote, RN Prabhakar, member, Trai, said that broadband
exploitation could help India become a truly competitive knowledge-based
economy. “The power of the Internet has brought greater awareness of skills and
resources, helping Indian markets reach a diverse global audience. The only
concern is that it has been confined mainly to major cities and a small group of
the population,” Prabhakar said.
All Set (L-R): Panelists of Broadband Summit 08, including Shantigram Jagannath, Airvana Networks; HS Sai, Thomson Press; TV Sriram, Bharti Airtel; Tarvinder Singh, Motorola; Vikram Tiwathia, Moderator; BC Jain, ISP Division, Punj Lloyd; Naresh Ajwani, Sify; Kuldeep Singh, MTNL; and ANJ Aradhya, BSNL, in Delhi |
He further said, “If the fruits of broadband have to reach the common masses,
various applications and contents have to be developed to suit their
requirements. It is essential on the part of service and content providers to
take initiatives for speedy growth of broadband in the days to come. Another
alternative for increasing broadband penetration at an affordable cost is the
wireless network. A major hurdle in the rollout of wireless broadband services
is the availability of spectrum.”
According to TV Sriram, VP, Technology, Bharti Airtel, “The broadband demand
in India is really huge. The concepts of e-banking and e-ticketing are getting a
momentum where people really don't need to waste their precious time by standing
in long queues.”
On the need of substantial improvement on the service level, Kuldeep Singh,
director, Technical, MTNL, said, “Broadband is a much complex service. If many
people access a server that you are accessing, you may not get the requisite
speed. It also depends upon the content provider and even the PC that one is
using. Nothing can be done in a day or two. Most customers are quite happy with
the services we offered and we will certainly improve further.”
“There are a bunch of killer applications for broadband that need to be
popularized among the masses to generate more demand among the consumer,” said
Brajesh Chandra Jain, president, ISP division, Spectranet, a division of Punj
Lloyd.
Highlighting the issues related to spectrum, Tarvinder Singh, head, Marketing
and Product Management, Home and Networks Mobility, Motorola, said that the need
for a universally harmonized spectrum with adequate bandwidth that could open
standards interoperability would increase over the time. These benefits, coupled
with volumes, can drive down costs through higher levels of competition.
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“A major hurdle in the rollout of wireless broadband services is the availability of spectrum” RN Prabhakar, member, Trai |
“If we compare ourselves with a country like China, we will realize that we are nowhere”
Sukanta Dey, head, Emerging Business |
HS Sai, CIO, Thomson Press, said: “Quality of service is more important than
anything else, content is also going to play a major role in the success of
broadband penetration.”
The events saw presentations from Dr Shantigram Jagannath. He showed his
concern on security issues. “Security is a big issue for any kind of
communication. It is imperative that all measures should be adopted to guarantee
the security of one's communication,” he said.
According to ANJ Aradhya, Broadband, BSNL, “There should be a clear focus on
the future of broadband. No doubt, the demand is growing but we should also
understand that there are places where it is not saturated up to a certain
extent.”
Naresh Ajwani, president, Consumer Infrastructure and Operations, Sify
Technologies, said: “Any technology that can deliver cost-effective solutions is
important and creates interest among the masses. There is a need to create a
business model in such a way that it could help the Aam admi in a better way.”
Mumbai
Much like the Delhi event, the Mumbai event, too, saw a strong panel
discussion from across the industry verticals that drew the attention on the
broadband scenario.
The panelists included Makarand Pawar, GM, VAS and New Technologies, Idea
Cellular; Naresh Ajwani, president, Consumer Infrastructure and Operations, Sify
Technologies; Pradeep Dwivedi, VP, Marketing and Product management, TTSL; Arun
Gupta, Group CTO, Shopper's Stop; Tarun Pandey, CTO, ING Investment Management;
Dr Shantigram Jagannath, VP and MD, Airvana Networks India; and Mohd Arif, VP,
Reliance Communications.
Sukanta Dey, who heads the Emerging Business Unit at Tata Teleservices,
delivered the keynote and threw light on the current market scenario of
broadband in India. “We have around 220 mn households in India-150 mn in rural
areas and 70 mn in urban areas. If we compare ourselves with a country like
China, we will realize that we are nowhere.”
Commenting on the benchmarks for deploying the technology, Makarand Pawar,
GM, VAS and New Technologies, Idea Cellular, said, “Technology selection has to
be driven by business objective. Every organization has some specific business
plans and strategies. The business plan has to be based on what a market segment
organization wants to go after.”
While sharing the concerns of the main operators regarding 3G, Naresh Ajwani
said, “At some places wireless is effective and at some others fixed is more
effective. I feel a technology that supports the business model and delivers
cost-effective solutions for the customer and addresses the perception of the
consumer is the right technology.”
On concerns about broadband services, Arun Gupta, Group CTO, Shopper's Stop,
said: “For any corporate, broadband has no significance until it offers high
bandwidth and connectivity as they are looking at reliable connectivity which
could connect them across the country with the customer.”
IN PROGRESS (L-R): Tarun Pandey, ING Investment, India; Makarand Pawar, Idea Cellular; Shantigram Jagannath, Airvana Networks; Baburajan K, Voice&Data Naresh Ajwani, Sify; Pradeep Dwivedi, TTSL; Arun Gupta, Shopper's Stop; Mohamed Arif, Reliance Communications at the Broadband Summit 08 in Mumbai |
Echoing similar thoughts, Tarun Pandey, CTO, ING Investment Management India,
said, “If broadband could be deployed properly, it is going to be a huge asset
for any organization. Quality of service is more important for an enterprise
rather than price. There is a strong need to have combined efforts from service
providers, regulators, and the government to improve the broadband picture in
India.”
However, Pradeep Dwivedi, VP, Marketing and Product management, TTSL,
differs. He said, “The problem is not from the government side or from the
regulatory body; it is from the service provider's side.
Mohamed Arif, VP, Reliance Communications, said, “It seems like WiMax is
going to be an appropriate solution in the Indian context. This technology is
really exciting and suits India's needs.”
The event deliberated upon purposeful outputs on the broadband picture in
India. Experts and business decision-makers said that apart from cost-effective
solutions, improvements in infrastructure, quality of service, promotion of PC
penetration, and e-governance initiatives by the government are other crucial
factors that are required for accelerating broadband growth in India. As per
experts, a major challenge for operators would be to deliver quality in the
coming years.
Jatinder Singh & Arpita Prem
jatinders@cybermedia.co.in