Broadband Scenario in India

In India, the classification of high speed Internet connection into Broadband became effective with the introduction of Broadband Policy. The broadband was defined as “An ‘always-on’ data connection that is able to support interactive services including Internet access and has the capability of the minimum download speed of 256 kilo bits per second (kbps) to an individual subscriber from the Point of Presence (POP) of the service provider intending to provide Broadband service where multiple such individual Broadband connections are aggregated and the subscriber is able to access these interactive services including the Internet through this POP.”

Internet and Broadband access are widely recognized as catalysts for economic and social development of a country. Availability of broadband services at affordable price can contribute to higher GDP for growth rates, provide for a larger & more qualified labour force and increased working efficiency. As per the report of World Bank, a 10 percentage increase in broadband penetration accounted for 1.38 percentage increase in per capita GDP growth in developing economies.

Broadband Penetration in India

It is of concern to note that India has 10.31 million Broadband connections in at the end of Dec 2010 as against the target of 20 million broadband subscribers by 2010, set by the Broadband Policy 2004. Adjacent figure shows the broadband penetration per 100 inhabitants in some developing Asian countries. This clearly indicates that India is lagging behind in terms of broadband penetration.

Broadband Access - Technologies & Market Share

Out of 105 Broadband Service providers in India, 20 Service Providers are having subscriber base greater than 10,000 and these 20 Service providers share the 98.9% of total subscriber base. Presently apart from Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Unified Access Service Licensees (UASLs), Cellular Mobile Service Providers (CMSPs) and Basic Service Operators (BSOs) are also permitted to provide broadband access under the existing licensing framework. There are 104 service providers who are providing broadband at present. However, top ten service providers have occupied more than 95% of market. Out of this 95% market 70% market is occupied by the state owned companies BSNL and MTNL. More than 89% market share belongs to 5 service providers only.

At present, 86% of broadband connections are provided using DSL technologies. DSL connections are provided using copper cable of fixed line network. More than 60% broadband subscribers belongs to top ten metros / tier-I cities and more than 75% connections belongs to top 30 cities. Though 70% of Indian population lives in rural areas; broadband facility is limited to metro and major cities. Availability of broadband is critical for development of rural areas.

Factors Affecting Growth of Broadband in India

Right of Way (ROW) issues

Complicated ROW procedures and high ROW charges to lay telecom network dissuades service providers to venture into creation of new infrastructure for telecom services. Obtaining right of way clearances has proven to be major hurdle in creating new telecom infrastructure including laying of optical fibre cables.

Affordability of Broadband

The standard broadband connection (speed > 256 Kbps) was initially available with a tariff of Rs.1,500 to Rs 1,800 after launch of broadband policy. Competition and eco friendly system has brought down broadband monthly charges to about Rs.250/- per month excluding modem rental and installation charges. Presently most of the operators are charging monthly rental between Rs 200/- to Rs 1,600/- for residential broadband and providing various options for content downloading.

Higher International Bandwidth PricesInternational Internet Bandwidth constitute major component of broadband tariff. International Internet Bandwidth charges refer to the cost of bandwidth between International Internet Gateway in India to global Tier-I ISPs in other countries. As per the estimates, service providers pay about 65% of their revenue towards cost of arranging domestic and international bandwidth.

Indian Government’s Initiatives

The growth of broadband in the country is far below the expectations. It seems that broadband sector still lacks required impetus. In order to identify various issues impeding growth of broadband in the country and for facilitating deployment of robust & scalable broadband infrastructure, there is a need to chalk out a national strategy that provides a long-term vision and detailed plan for the growth of broadband in the country.

TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) and the government have realized the importance of broadband and have taken a number of steps from time to time for increasing growth of broadband:

• Recommending use of any media (including fibre, radio and copper cable) by ISPs for establishing last mile.
•   Revising tariff ceiling for Domestic Leased Line and International Private Leased Circuits (IPLC) in order to reduce Internet bandwidth cost.
•  Recommending allocation of Spectrum for Broadband Wireless Access to enhance broadband penetration.
•   Issuing regulations to facilitate access to essential facilities at cable landing stations to enhance competition and reduce international bandwidth charges
•   One of the big steps undertaken by the Indian government towards achieving the set target is to provide connectivity to more than 250,000 panchayats across India. TRAI’s recommendation of rolling out national optical fibre cable network acting as backbone to broadband services across the country at a cost of INR 32,000 crores is a positive indicator.
•  The current BWA auction is also a concrete step that may turn around the current Broadband scenario in India

Refrence - www.trai.gov.in

                       

                                                                                                                         By - Simran Jodhka