Build. It will Last!
As data usage explodes further, mobile networks may face limitations posed by finite spectrum resources, but wired media could pack in literally limitless capacities.
If one were to pinpoint a segment the potential of which has largely remained under-realized, it would easily be wireline broadband. Its state in India could at best be described as dismal, with little near-term efforts towards its growth being in sight. Arguably, wireline broadband has literally been abandoned by telecom service providers, who have instead made a beeline for the lower hanging mobile broadband fruits.
Global statistics show that there is a strong correlation between countries’ GDPs and their wireline broadband subscriber densities—countries with high GDPs also have higher wireline penetration as compared to those with lower GDPs. (Interestingly, the same is not true of mobile broadband. So countries that have high mobile broadband penetrations but are low on the wireline broadband scales tend to still have relatively lower GDPs.)
For example, a Broadband Commission report showed that as of 2014, developed countries like France, Germany, UK, USA, Japan, South Korea and Australia had wireline broadband penetration ranging from 25 percent to 40 percent. On the other hand, India had a penetration of just 1.2 percent while China was relatively much higher at 13.6 percent. Moreover, broadband in many of the developed countries is defined as a connection with download speed in at least multiples of Mbps whereas in India it still is lagging at 512 kbps.