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CIOL: Tell us something about the usage of broadband among enterprises? Are they using real bandwidth-hungry applications?
Most enterprises are currently using leased lines and more evolved internet and intranet solutions where the bandwidth consumption is extremely high. Consequently, bandwidth is a commoditized product in this segment. The need of enterprises to have Service Level Agreements with vendors on their internet/intranet experience also results in their procurement of high cost end equipment suited to meet these requirements.
Today the number of services being offered through broadband is increasing (triple play, IPTV etc). Do enterprises really need such kind of applications? What would be the next killer application for enterprises?
We believe that telecommuting would be the next killer app that enterprises will adopt. This will require very high-speed dedicated VPN lines between employee residences and the offices. Services such as triple play and IPTV make more sense for the home segment and for domains such of infotainment. VPNs and telecommuting would be in the domain of utility services that would be required by corporates. Accordingly, the need for video and web conferencing will increase further. Though such services are already available among enterprises, they would gain ascendance as telecommuting itself picks up.
CIOL: How do you see the future of broadband in India? Are there any issues to be addressed immediately and in the long run? What is the biggest challenge before service providers?
The future of broadband is very positive given the extremely low teledensity in India. The presence of a strong youth demographic (below the age of 35 years) market suited to the explosion of broadband will also be factor. However, in the long run, we need to address the issue of low cost access devices and low cost ubiquitous broadband access using disruptive technologies such as WiMax or Local Loop Unbundling. But, our immediate goal should be to form new alliances in the industry for providing compelling relevant content through broadband. The content would come in to two primary flavors. One is, utility content such as eGovernance, Healthcare and Primary/Secondary education and the other is, Infotainment content such as Music/Movies/ etc. The biggest challenge for service providers is the quantum of investment required to provide broadband. The other challenge before them is to deliver ROI with dropping broadband access rates even as content revenue streams are not catching up.
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