WIRELINE BROADBAND

Sidelined by Wireless

Wireless.and.wireline.broadband.should. play.‘cooperative’.games.rather.than. ‘competitive’.in.providing.broadband.in. the.country..

The Indian broadband scenario appears to be getting more and more dreary with every passing year considering its vast potential. Though it is growing at a substantial rate in metros and tier-1 cities, the other cities and rural areas have so far been deprived of the success story. In total, the country has not even reached a broadband subscriber base of 15 mn by end of March 2012 from a potential billion plus user base. With a market of 1.2 bn population, more than 200 active broadband service providers, around 15 telecom operators, and with a target of reaching 175 mn by 2017, the country is not moving at the required pace. That was evident in the last fiscal too. India has consistently been missing the bus without fail.

Market Dynamics

It has been estimated that internet proliferation can help India increase its GDP to 5 to 10%, but the irony is that the country stands at 14th position in a recent AT Kearney’s broadband readiness index for Asia Pacific. The broadband infrastructure expansion actions of the operators have not been so enthusiastic in the past and last year too did not give any amusing indications.

The 4 technologies used by ISPs to deliver broadband in India are DSL, fiber (FTTH, FTTC, VDSL), cable, etc. The newer segments such as fiber have started picking up. Last year, Beam fiber launched 10 Mbps speed on fiber in Hyderabad and Act Broadband has launched with 5 Mbps speed in Bengaluru. The demand that they are witnessing shows positive signs for fiber growth in India. BSNL has started