Broadband policy hailed by industry

NEW DELHI: While the industry has welcomed the broadband policy announced by Union Minister for Communications and IT Dayanidhi Maran, experts feel that the government has not done enough on the local loop front.






However, instead of unbundling the copper loop, the policy has permitted access providers to enter mutually agreed commercial arrangements for utilization of available copper loop for expansion of broadband services.


Recognizing that last mile copper loop is not a 'bottleneck facility' for broadband services and access providers shall be free to enter mutually agreed commercial arrangements for utilization of available copper loop for expansion of broadband services.





According to the policy document, the owner of local loop shall however, be free to decide the areas in which investments are to be made to upgrade the infrastructure for broadband services. The policy also directs Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) as well as other access providers to aggressively use their copper loop infrastructure for providing broadband services through this technology.





The only other significant decision taken as part of the new policy is to permit use of Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) on the 2.4 GHz band in outdoor locations against the present regime of restricting it to a closed area. The move will enable consumers to access the Internet even while they are traveling in a car or train similar to what they can do with mobile phones.





Welcoming the broadband policy announced by the government, TV Ramachandran, director general, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said that this policy is likely to trigger a growth in the WiFi usage within the country. "The government has opened the 2.4 GHz for the outdoor usage, this will increase the WiFi penetration within the country. We welcome the overall broadband policy by the government and it has come at the right time," he added.





When asked about the unbundling of local loop he said that there are many aspects to the whole issue of unbundling and the government has taken the right approach. "There is a lot of infrastructure sharing that has already started happening between BSNL and other operators. So there are a lot of synergies that they share. This whole issue of unbundling of local loop is quite complicated and the government has taken the right decision," Ramachandran said.





Echoing the same overtones, ISPAI has welcomed the Broadband Policy as well. According to its secretary Deepak Maheshwari, the recognition of broadband as the basic infrastructure would give a much needed impetus to e-governance, distance learning and tele-medicine while taking care of urban congestion and job creation for the world's largest youth population segment.





Talking about the unbundling issue he said that unbundling of the phone lines has been a major trigger for spurring broadband in almost all the nations and despite a comparatively smaller penetration of fixed lines, early unbundling would have accelerated the penetration of broadband in the nation.





Meanwhile in a press statement, MAIT executive director Vinnie Mehta said, "Broadband will usher in a whole new set of services including gaming, entertainment, education and other interactive public utility services, which will give further impetus to PC consumption. Further, this would throw open a vast opportunity for the IT and electronics manufacturers as deployment of various 'boxes' to create infrastructure for delivery of broad band services would be needed."





"Delicensing of 2.4-2.8 GHz frequency for outdoor usage; 802.11b and 802.11g for indoor usage and the proposed de-licensing of frequencies in the 5 GHz band for both indoor & outdoor are extremely positive steps and will fuel the growth of mobility products by enabling convenience of access. De-regulation of wireless frequencies had been a long-standing demand of the industry. Keeping the policy flexible to include newer technologies, as and when they happen, is indeed a welcome step", he added.





In other measures, the Government has opened up the 5.15 Ghz band for indoor use of low power Wi-Fi systems. Procedures for obtaining clearance for radio frequency usage have also been simplified for VSAT operators. Broadband operators will also be able to use the Cable TV network as franchisees.





With regard to the proposed fiscal incentives for the broadband service providers, the Department of Telecom has started consultation with the Ministry of Finance and soon a package would be announced.





According to the policy estimates - by the end of year 2005, the country would have 3 million broadband subscribers and 6 million Internet subscribers, by the end of year 2007, the policy estimates 9 million broadband subscribers and 18 million Internet subscribers. Eventually by the end of year 2010, the policy aims to target 20 million broadband subscribers and 40 million Internet subscribers.