Crossing the Divide

Despite best governmental efforts, the fact remains that
telephones — the most basic of modern communication tools — simply do not
exist in thousands of villages across the country. If there is a distant hope
that they will reach some of these habitations, there is none in the most remote
corners.

Lack of funds may be one reason, but the most troublesome
roadblock is the inability of the existing systems of terrestrial networks to
reach out to the geographically isolated pockets. Building landline systems
would not only be time-consuming, but also a nightmare in many of these
locations. What does this mean? Will telephones or for that matter, any other
communication system, never reach out to them? Is there no way out to extend the
benefits of modern communication systems, to those devoid of it? Or is there?

A Dream Protagonist

Among the many qualities that VSAT-based communication
systems are known for — one is certifying its ability to surmount geographical
roadblocks. Unlike terrestrial networks, VSATs are not bound by the vagaries of
even the most strenuous of geographical terrain. While successful deployment of
VSATs for community-communication needs–like telephony in rural areas, is yet
to come to India, there are success stories from developing countries like
Malaysia and Nigeria, which can be replicated here. VSATs are being used to
provide services ranging from plain telephony to Internet access in the most
inaccessible parts of these countries. Major VSAT-based rural telecommunication
networks are already underway in Australia, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Botswana,
Chile, Peru, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand and South Africa.

Apart from their ability to service locations without being
constrained by geographical barriers, what makes VSATs score over other systems
of connectivity–is the fact that they are easy to deploy. Unlike cumbersome
wire line deployments that sometimes take years to go live, VSATs can be
deployed quickly. Just set up the equipment at the sites and connect it to the
central hub. A rural telephony network covering Indian villages, using VSATs,
could be easily set up in a few months time.

Ground Realities

What is significant here is that unlike in other countries,
VSAT applications in India remain largely restricted to corporate users in the
metros and other big cities. The trend largely took root because of the
inadequacy and unreliability of leased-line connectivity in the country.
Corporate users found VSATs to be a highly reliable connectivity system, with a
guaranteed uptime–up to 99.5 percent–for running their critical business
applications. As such, they either had VSATs as their sole medium connecting
their branch offices or used it to compliment their terrestrial networks. This
meant that VSATs were rarely used to satisfy communal communication needs.

However, recent trends point out that VSAT applications have
been taking-off in a diverse range of sectors, thereby moving beyond the cities.
Already, VSAT-based communication is successfully being used for activities like
disaster recovery, while projects for applications in the field of distance
learning, tele-medicine, highway automation and data collection are in the
evaluation stage and may take-off soon. Some projects for broadcasting education
content using broadband VSATs are also coming up.

In Maharashtra, a VSAT network for communication during
natural calamities was established after the devastating Latur

earthquake. This is a 37-site network, with two hubs — one in Mumbai and the
other in Pune — running a voice, data and video network. There are also plans
to use this network to provide Internet connectivity. During the Orissa cyclone,
DoT and other service providers had used VSATs to provide the first link. In the
highway automation sector, a network for tracking vehicles on the move is being
built by Bharti BT, which is setting up a 250 location network all over Andhra
Pradesh and some other states. In the tele-medicine sector, ISRO is
experimenting on a project. What is significant here

is the fact that the opportunities for VSAT applications are growing in India,
inspite of a ‘not so encouraging’ regulatory environment.