The telecommunication industry has seen phenomenal growth in the
last few years under the leadership of Dayanidhi Maran, the union minister for
communication and IT. For him, the year 2007 is too promising and we can expect
a cheerful telecom India in the coming years.
Cost Effective Internet
"In the past, I used provocative tools to urge telecom operators to
offer the best and cost effective services. Presently, my team is trying to
ensure that the cost of hosting a server in India is cheaper than hosting it in
the US. The move would ensure that the Internet traffic generated within the
country remains here, thus freeing international bandwidth in the process.
Companies too could find it cheaper to host sites in India," Dayanidhi
Maran said, addressing the India Digital Summit 2007 organized by the Internet
and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in Delhi.
It is generally acknowledged that the cost of Internet access in
India is still very high as compared to even developed countries in terms of
purchasing power parity, which is an unacceptable situation. Can Internet prices
tumble that might increase Internet usage? The average revenue/user/month for
dial up Internet subscribers is Rs 220 for the quarter ending September 2006.
The average minutes of use/subscriber/month for dialup Internet access was 185
minutes/month as compared to 190 minutes/month at the end of previous quarter,
according to TRAI.
 |
| Dayanidhi
Maran minister
for Communications and IT |
Internet Penetration
How India, with a population of more than 1 bn, could ensure that the rural
masses get cost effective Internet services from the telecom industry? In terms
of Internet and broadband penetration, China is too far ahead of India. The
current growth figures in India show an alarming picture. According to TRAI,
Internet subscriber figure stood at 80.79 lakh for July-September 2006 as
compared to 77.1 lakh during the preceding quarter, registering an increase of
4.81%. Internet subscribers registered an annual growth rate of 31.64%.
State-owned BSNL has retained its top position with a market share of 43.96%
while MTNL holding 19.02%. This means that private telecom operators are yet to
become aggressive in the Internet market, and rural and urban markets bring
substantial growth for the Internet industry as BSNL mainly operates in India's
rural and urban markets besides state capitals (excluding Delhi and Mumbai).
India has declared 2007 as the year of broadband. But look at
the 2006 figures. The number of broadband subscribers (with a download speed of
256 kbps or more) was 18.17 lakh at the quarter ending September 2006,
registering a growth of 15.95 % over the previous quarter.
Maran, who has solutions to improve Internet penetration, says
that post offices in villages will soon have browsing centers. NIXI would soon
offer transit bandwidth between its nodes. This would help small ISPs in remote
areas to become viable. Broadband coverage for all secondary and higher
secondary schools, all public health care centers, and all gram panchayats is
also on the agenda.
The '.in' registry is coming out with a brand building
action plan, in the current Year of Broadband. Out of the top 10 hosts of
websites, three websites are 'com' websites and their servers are all based
in the European countries. With a growth rate of the website hosting market
predicted at 0.62%, the target that he set for India is to see '.in'
websites with servers based in India take up positions in the top 10 Web hosting
sites.
No Concerted Strategy
India is one of the top six Internet using countries in the world, and the
high double digital growth could ensure that large number of users are coming on
board every year. According to IAMA, 25-50 mn Internet users is a drop in the
ocean for the second most populous nation. The fundamental changes that the
Internet can bring about will only be seen once India crosses the 200 mn users
range. However, there is no concerted strategy to achieve this number and move
beyond it. With Dayanidhi Maran promising a bright future for the broadband
industry in the coming years, both the industry and consumers are looking
forward to an Internet with quality, speed and cost-effectiveness.
-By our Senior Correspondent
vadmail@cybermedia.co.in
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