Vikas Pinjarkar, general manager, SCS, Business Development, D-Link India

How has the market responded to 10G and Cat7 cables?
Although the news of 10G brought a wave of excitement in the market, the industry and the customers are yet reluctant to buy these products till the standard gets ratified. Cat7 is also yet to find customer base in India due to its high price and STP version.

Where do you see the industry going when it comes to the price of 10G over copper and fiber?

Vikas Pinjarkar

This is a simple demand and supply situation. For 10G copper, the technology is new, cables and components need special treatment for installation practices, active components are expensive hence the solution is beyond normal reach, specific to note present copper and plastic prices are at their historic high, however as we had seen in Cat6 few years back the trend would follow. As regards fiber, the price has never been as low, hence we see an upsurge in fiber installations though here again the deciding factor is the active component prices.

How has the real estate market responded to the concept of smart homes and smart offices?
As I have mentioned in the previous question, SOHO and Intelligent apartment concepts are getting very popular beyond metro cities. Availability of common wiring for CATV, Phone/intercom, Data and Alarm is looked in by real estate business as a necessity. Even standardizing authorities like EIA/TIA, BISCI have enlarged SCS horizon to address these end uses.

How aware are the Indian buyers about structured cabling? Where does BiCSi figure in all this?
Fortunately Indian structured cabling market is very matured. The users understand their needs perfectly and know the points of comparing the vendors. It is no more a concept selling and the buyers look at the cabling procurement as seriously as any other products.

BICSI of course is playing a huge role in getting all vendors under single roof and allowing them in putting up the joint effort in educating the Indian Industry. It conducts various educational programs and conferences keeping in mind the overall growth of the industry.

What is the status of power over Ethernet in India? What is happening globally in this field?
PoE IEEE 802.3 af is a ratified standard and presently it is a most heard of standard. As the wireless and VoIP market is growing, the use of PoE technology has started gaining momentum. There are more than 200 products that are sold in the world market that support PoE. Interestingly D-Link has been making world-class PoE compatible products.