IPLC is still the most popular international data connectivity service. In particular, it suits the high growth BPO segment the most. In terms of market distribution, BPO accounted for 73 percent of the IPLC bandwidth in 2002.

VSNL is planning to start IP-VPN services shortly and even the newcomers will start the services in couple of months.

Technology Options
With the coming of new players like Bharti Telesonic and Data Access, customers now have the option to choose the best rather than be dependent on a single player. Even, Reliance Infocomm is in the process of starting the starting the service along with the commercial launch of its basic service. At present, IPLC is the main revenue earner but trends are towards IP-VPN as it has lot of flexibility and it uses effective utilization of bandwidth.

National Traffic Balance

Minutes (millions) 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 Incoming 1,772.50 2,161.40 2,533.60 2,900 Outgoing 473.3 527.1 586.4 800 Surplus (Deficit) 1,299.20 1,634.30 1,947.20 2,100 Total Volume 2,245.80 2,688.50 3,120.00 3,700

Note: Data are in millions of minutes of outgoing public switched

telecommunications traffic. Data exclude some cross-border traffic with Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.

Source: TeleGeography 2003 (www.telegeography.com) and VOICE&DATA

n IPLC: IPLC is a leased line circuit for connecting two countries in which Indian side is being taken care by Indian service providers whereas the other end is being attended by tier-1 carriers in the respective countries. IPLC can be provided through submarine cable, satellite, or through a mix of both.

Top 5 Outgoing Routes from India
Destination	Minutes (in millions)
Saudi Arabia	89.50
United States	89
United Arab Emirates	54.60
United Kingdom	54.30
Singapore	26.1
Top 5 countries contributed around 53.5 percent of the total outgoing traffic of India in fiscal 2001-02. Source: TeleGeography 2003 (www.telegeography.com)

n Frame Relay: It is a link-level data networking service well suited to handle bursty traffic. The technology utilizes the robustness of digital transmission media and maintains the quality of transmission by relying on the smartness and intelligence of devices at the network end points.

n Private IP-VPN: Service provider can commit consistent performance based on the application that one is running and also provide good quality service. It also helps in effective utilization of bandwidth. One also has the advantage of automatic routing if the network is down for a particular route giving it an edge over other options. On the price front, IP-VPN is cheaper than Frame Relay. Enterprise users also have the advantage of having one physical link but they can get connection to any place.