SD Saxena began the discussion by sharing experiences in rolling out the huge network and how institutions like C-DoT came into being to cater to the organization’s needs of low-cost solutions unique to Indian requirements.

"Organizations like MTNL and C-DoT are a great achievement on part of the government" SD Saxena (BSNL) "Success of mobile services (in Singapore) came by subsidizing handsets and locking subscribers" Ken Wye San (Microsoft) "Getting right-of-way clearance from authorities significantly delayed broadband projects" Naseem Ahmed (HFCL) "A 1996 Act in the US put local carriers in direct competition with biggies like AT&T and MCI" Kaushik Dutta (PwC)

Ken Wye San narrated success stories of Singapore in particular and of Asia in general. He pointed out the need for critical mass in the execution of a project and generation of revenues.

Naseem Ahmed, who is credited with having supervised the laying of Spectranet’s OFC network across the country, brought the right-of-way issue to the fore.

Kaushik Dutta, Partner PwC, shared some learnings from Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the US. He recalled, "In the US, the biggest change was the permission through an Act of 1996 for other carriers to enter the domestic long-distance market."

Moderated by Rothin Bhattacharya, the session centered on telecom funding looking at NTP, service differentiation, market segmentation and strategic churn management.

“Churn is a problem, but do we have the strategies to addresss such issues? ” Rothin Bhattacharya, (KPMG) “JVs are the best way for service providers to raise funds” PK Dey (BSNL) “It’s crucial to lay networks in areas having high demand, and not in an arbitrary manner ” Sumanjit Chaudhary (Bharti Telenet) “BSNL’s wider footprint puts it in an advantageous position to tap hitherto virgin markets” Shubhendu Ghosh (BSNL) “Capex requirements and returns pose a stumbling block for service providers” Naresh Malhan (Essar Technologies)

Naresh Malhan felt that coverage was the most critical requirement in telecom as it was very capex intensive. He said, "As service providers move into different cities, the capex requirement and the returns becomes a major stumbling block. A plan should be worked out to increase ARPU."

PK Dey said, "A joint venture is the best option available for service providers for funding. Another alternative is low-investment technologies. VoIP is one such example."

Talking about entry strategies for SPs, Sumanjit Chaudhary pointed out, "It is important to lay the network at places where there is an actual demand rather than laying arbitrarily."

Shubhendu Ghosh said there was a huge cellular market lying untapped and BSNL was in a position to tap that market considering its wider footprint and lower incremental cost. Also, as a domestic and long distance operator, it could offer a bundle of services."

Manish Gupta of Microsft said, "The most important aspect is the confusion between price and values. They are used so interchangeably, despite being different. Value is something for which consumers are willing to pay for, something which may not be quantifiable."

“Value is what consumers are willing to pay for, even though it may not be quantifiable” Manish Gupta (Microsoft) “Reliability and scalability, with little incremental cost is what consumers want” Jasjit Sawhney (Net4India) “Consumers want to be treated fairly and have a clear understanding of the product” Ajay Pandey (Tata Teleservices) “Consumers have been taken for granted.. a holistic approach is required” MH Rehsi (Essar Teleholdings) “Indian consumers want more than one service provider. Regulation has ensured that ” Rajeev Burman (Escotel Mobile)

Rajeev Burman said, "Indian consumers want competition, they do not want there to be only one service provider and that is where the regulation has done a good job by ensuring fair competition. Affordability rather than price is crucial."

Ajay Pandey put forth his view, "The biggest issue today is to understand the consumer’s needs. Communication with consumers is important. Often they are confused due to lack of understanding. Not the price but affordability matters more to Indian households. Affordability is as important as the core product itself."

Jasjit Sawhney was of the opinion that reliability and scalability were key areas of concern for consumers. He said, "Consumers want reliability and scalability, with little incremental cost. For ISPs, low price has not always meant more customers. End-to-end solution is what customers want."

MS Rehsi said, "Tariff-based marketing strategy is okay up to a certain point. Lack of education of consumers is a big hurdle. Consumers have been taken for granted. A holistic approach is required in the larger interest of consumers."

PK Saha highlighted four basic requirements of consumers—cost, choice, convinience and counseling. He ealaborated, "Cost is the major criteria for customers to chose a service. The sense of choice is more important than the actual choice. As for convinience, it is clear that mobility provided by cellphones is the main reason for their popularity. Last but not the least, customers need to be educated about the services."

In this session, CEOs discussed technologies for the future. Babuji S said, "As part of applications for new paradigm, we need to deal with various services and access devices and emerging applications like interactive mobile commerce, and the mobile portal."

“DSL is the best technology for broadband while CDMA is perfect for wireless” Jagbir Singh (Bharti Telenet) “Frequencies have to be used in a manner that maximum number of people are served” A Mukhopadhyay (Fascel) “The technology that deals with back-end operations is key to responsiveness of business” KB Lal (HFCL Infotel) “Complete utilization of a technology will smoothen transition to a new technology” VP Singh (Birla-Tata-At&T) “The most difficult task in the network is to address issues pertaining to access” Mahesh Khera (Tata Teleservices)

Mahesh Khera was of the opinion that the toughest part in the network was to cover access. "When we talk of access, we are used to talking about copper-based distribution network. How to overcome this? Suppose one wants to deliver wireline quality service, then LMDS may be the best solution."

According to VP Singh, judicious use of technologies was important. "We need a favorable telecom policy, negligible spectrum charges, need to have good knowledge of Indian consumers. Also, full utilization of a technology before jumping on to a new technology is critical for a smoother transition to the new technology."

KB Lal stressed that three layers—network, service, and business—were key to business. "A part of technolgies deals with the end services delivered to customers. A large part of the technolgy deals with backend operations, which make the business more responsive," he elaborated.

A Mukhopadhyay pointed out, "Frequencies available are limited, and one has to use frequencies in a manner that maximum people are served. There are frequencies that have been alotted for different type of services, and the number of frequencies for basic are also limited," he warned.

Jagbir Singh said that TDM-based or circuit-switched solutions were perfect for short-term gains. "All basic and wireless opertors should take advantage of greenfields kind of situation. One should go for DSL for broadband and CDMA for wireless, as they are very much matured. Success of LMDS is 1 percent. Moreover, it is very expensive," he suggested.

Sudesh Prasad