Towards increased broadband penetration & IPTV adoption

rBANGALORE, INDIA:

Name: Mr Anil Prakash

Designation: Secretary General

Organisation: IPTV India Forum

Anil Prakash, Secretary General, IPTV India Forum speaks extensively about the scenario of broadband penetration and IPTV adoption in India. The forum dedicates its efforts toward ironing out the issues related to broadband connectivity and IPTV adoption levels.

The IPTV India Forum was conceptualized in 2006 and was registered in 2007. The forum today has 35 core members and other additional members. The Forum has been a critical and integral part of the policy formulation for IPTV in India. Formerly, there was no policy for IPTV and this forum interacted with the regulators and Government of Information and Broadcasting to work closely and ensure a sound policy was formed.

Anil highlights that there is a strong need to increase the adoption and user levels for IPTV. And the current ecosystem in the country is weak and not very popular. This also has to do with the technical limitations and infrastructure challenges faced by IPTV adoption.

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IPTV requires a strong content delivery network and needs to form partnership to increase its usage levels in the country. The basic requirement is that its needs a last minute connectivity on a basic network but the fact is that network is not ubiquitous yet, Anil adds. IPTV has several good applications and features for the small Enterprises in India but the adoption among the companies is low.

The IPTV India Forum conducts various seminars, workshops and conferences to increase awareness levels amongst potential users. One of the key focuses for 2012 includes working towards having a network on digital platforms and addressing broadband penetration levels in the country.

Anil Prakash’s message is that the Government can take IPTV in a big way especially in the fields of Education, Agriculture, Healthcare and Rural Development.