Broadband

Last mile access solutions in India

BANGALORE -- There is no dispute over the fact that 'last mile' will be predominantly copper in India, at least with about 85 per cent. Copper will be beefed up with xDSL to support speeds of 4Mbps over a distance of 3-4km loop. However, VDSL and speeds of 30Mbps are too idealistic, analysts say.

With about 38 million homes hooked to cable TV, technology can bring about a change in the Internet density if the cable comes loaded with Internet access. The cable broadband space is hotting up in India with major players rolling out grand initiatives to grab the major chunk of this market.

There is the Zee group with its Siticable, Hinduja group which runs IndusInd Media, Raheja group's Hathway cables homes, Sun TV group with its Sumangali cable vision, the most dominant force in South India, and the R.P. Goenka group which wires up about 90 percent of West Bengal.

According to a survey by HSBC and BNP Peregrine by 2005, 46 million Indian households will subscribe to cable and satellite (C&S) services and pay between Rs 180-225. This will translate into a market of Rs 6,900 crore. Vivek Mansingh, CEO of Ishoni India, a broadband solutions provider, said: "So far cable seems to be ahead with service providers such as Hathway, Hindujas, etc. already offering cable-based broadband service in India. Though DSL is behind in terms of adoption, companies like Dishnet and Spectranet are pushing it hard.''

The current broadband market is in the metros -- completely covered by telephone companies and cable operators. Cable, however, has a better reach in smaller towns. Currently, there are about 38 million cable connections in India growing at about 15 percent annually. Therefore, cable has a good customer base to build on in India.

Experts say that the number of PCs in homes and small businesses need to increase significantly, and an innovative broadband appliance (a non-PC appliance) has to be developed for residential consumers to provide services, for the broadband market to develop in India.