We are aiming for 100 mn broadband connections in the next three to five years: Sam Pitroda

With the Indian
broadband penetration numbers pegged at only 6.22 mn from a 13.54 mn Internet subscriber market-though India being one of the cheapest markets for broadband-the country is urgently in need of a WiMax fix to bring it at par with the rest of the world. While 3G auctions are throwing up figures far higher than expected, it is hoped that BWA auctions will have at least the same, if not better results.

Speaking via videoconferencing at
WiMax Forum Asia 2010 in Delhi, about the government initiatives to increase broadband penetration in the country, by making it available to a larger number of people, Sam Pitroda, advisor to the Prime Minister of India on public information infrastructure & innovations, said, “The UPA government is keen to expand broadband coverage quickly in all sectors and forty-four elements including fiber, WiMax, 3G, Wi-Fi, and extended Wi-Fi have been included in the list of public information segments to help in our goal of public information infrastructure building. We also need to look at expansion capabilities to reach 250 mn people in the rural sector, by first ensuring 100 Mhz at the panchayat level at least. Broadband connectivity to panchayats can bring about a revolution that can be extended to other sectors as well. Our goal is 100 mn broadband connections in the next three to five years. A key area is rural connectivity, however, for offering public services, we have to ensure that all people across the country are covered.”

Talking about other challenges faced, Pitroda continued, “Affordability and cost price is also a challenge for us. Now we have a capital of Rs 18,000 crore (USO fund) for such a revolution, and we are adding Rs 6,000 crore every year to that. Moreover, the government is looking at a public-private partnership for the broadband plan enforcement and incentives to implement the same.”

Data, security and applications are other important segments in creating an ecosystem for public delivery of services. It is believed that as more operators bid for WiMax, there will be a thaw in the backbone of broadband infrastructure. Sharing data and collaborating is also important today as well as interlinking and providing service on a heterogeneous network. Reduction in capex, reduction in power costs due to distributed architecture, and an overall lowering of total cost of ownership is also much lower, with increase in broadband usage, according to Sethuraman, executive director, Huawei Telecommunications India.

Taking a leaf out of the neighbor's book, Dr PS Tang, MD, Packet One revealed his success story in increasing broadband penetration in Malaysia, which he feels would work for the Indian market, which follows a similar structure as well. “In Malaysia when we started our broadband plan in 2007, we realized that Malaysia had only 5% broadband penetration, thus we got to work replacing fixed broadband, with cluster coverage instead of city-wise coverage. The same formula should be applied in the Indian context as well where broadband and infrastructure is low. The government should offer nomadic broadband services before introducing it on a widespread level.”

According to Prof Arogyaswami Paulraj popularly known as the 'father of WiMax', in India where bandwidth is at an all-time low, the need to roll-out broadband is very urgent.

Explaining how to decongest networks and increase popularity of broadband by catering to public want, based on the US example, Mike Sievert, CCO, Clearwire said, “Usage doubled after introduction of WiMax compared to 3G. Broadband brought about a lifestyle change. There are approximately twenty-eight markets across the country today, with the average mobile user using 7GB of data-which just goes to show the value proposition of the public. An all IG-network-designed for data and and backed by unmatched bandwidth for all services-is the key to popularity more than tariff plans. We are thus, actively rolling out WiMax, as it has been technology proven to provide a good customer experience. We had 688 customers so far in 2010, and we are looking at tripling that number soon.” Sprint is also tying up with HTC to launch a 3G-4G dual enabled handset this summer.

berylm@cybermedia.co.in