internship in tdsat, new delhi

8/8/2019 Internship in TDSAT, New Delhi

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A PROJECT REPORT

ON

REAPING THE BENEFITS OF BROADBAND IN DEVELOPING

COUNTRIES

IN

TELECOM DISPUTES SETTELEMENT AND APPELLATE TRIBUNAL

SESSION: JULY 2009-2011

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

ADVANCED POST GRADUATE PROGRAM IN

TELECOM MANAGEMENT

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BYMs. KAJAL SINGH SWAPNIL KHARCHERegistrar, TDSAT, Email id:[email protected] DELHI

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, PUNE

P-14, Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park,

Phase 1 Hinjawadi, Pune 411057

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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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DECLARATION

I, Swapnil Kharche hereby declare that this report is the record of authentic work

carried out by me during the academic year 2010-2011in Telecom Disputes

Settlement and Appellate Tribunal. The Organization is located at Chanakyapuri,

New Delhi

SWAPNIL KHARCHE

Sign:

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction 6

2. The Burgeoning demand for broadband 7

3. Hunger for more Broadband 8

4. Economic effect of Broadband 9

5. Broadband Technology 12

6. Easing urbanization through Broadband 14

7. Best practice to speed and strengthen Broadband deployment 18

8. Current Broadband Status in Developing countries 13

9. Conclusion 21

10.References 22

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is an honor to present this project report titled Reaping the Benefits ofBroadband in Developing Countries at Telecom Disputes Settlement and

Appellate Tribunal, New Delhi. During the course of this internship project, I

got valuable insight on the working of the Organization.

It is my duty to express sincere thanks to all those people who helped &

guided me throughout the course of my project.

I would like to express my gratitude to Ms. Kajal Singh (Registrar) who

allowed me to undergo this project at TDSAT, New Delhi.

No words can describe the promptness with which the IT department at

TDSAT arranged the infrastructural support which was required during the

course of my project.

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SWAPNIL KHARCHE

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Introduction

Since the emergence of the Internet, governments around the world have

increasingly recognized broadbands powerful influence on the economics of

businesses, communities and nations. Already, broadband networks are widely

considered essential infrastructure for the global information economy, providing

businesses, students and consumers with fast, always-on access to Internet-based

services, content and applications.

For at least the past decade, a variety of case studies, anecdotes and qualitative

studies have detailed the wide-ranging benefits of broadband networks. These

benefits include the ability to expand economic opportunities and innovation,

increase trade and productivity, reduce business costs, create jobs and encourage

foreign investment.

Although economic benefits have been seen in both developed and developingnations, the existing infrastructure, regulatory environment, urban-rural divide and

other factors that affect broadband diffusion are often different in developing

nations. These differences should not prevent the expansion of broadband in

emerging markets, but they reinforce the need to adopt best practices that facilitate

the rapid and cost-effective deployment of broadband technologies, along with

other Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and services.

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The Burgeoning demand for Broadband

The internet is becoming multifarious with rich multimedia. With increasing

digitalization of content, internet access increasingly requires broadband

connection with improved QoS parameters.

Web pages continue to get heavier the average webpage size has tripled in the last

5 years as over 90% of bytes requested today contain images. Further, videos now

account for 99% of bytes transferred, with the average file size being 10

megabytes. Thus, Internet today requires multiple Mbps connections with superior

QoS - in order to provide an uninterrupted Internet experience.

Accordingly, the individual Internet access mix has undergone significant

transformation in the past 3-4 years. Instead of the traditional primary usage of

Internet for e-mails, there is:

Increasing proportion of Internet usage for information and content sourcing.

Growing popularity of e-commerce and e-tailing, which are expanding the

size and reach of the B2C business model;

With increased digitization of content and the mounting popularity of user-

generated content- YouTube, blogs, reviews and social networking, websites

such as facebook and orkut - broadband demand from individual users has

been burgeoning.

Corporate users, too, are increasingly demanding faster and more geographically

spread broadband solutions. With the expansion of business operations and

demands to reduce operating costs, industries are increasingly focusing on

decentralizing operations to lower cost locations. Moreover, with industrialized

countries increasingly outsourcing activities to Indian companies to cut costs, the

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size of the Indian outsourcing industry has grown multifold in the last decade. As

reduction in costs is central to the outsourcing concept, a virtuous circle for low

cost and superior broadband connectivity solutions has been set in motion, creating

a Pan India demand for high-speed connectivity solutions.

Hunger for more broadband

Today, India may still be struggling to reach the magic figure of twenty million

broadband subscribers that the Indian Department of Telecommunication had set as

a target figure when it unveiled its Broadband Policy in 2004. However, there is aheartening piece of development that these figures mask. Despite the obvious

shortfall, broadband growth in India has actually been on the rise in the past two

years, with 18-fold growth from the early 2004 figure of just 48,000 subscribers.

The total broadband connections in the country reached 9.45 million by the end of

June 2010. (Source: TRAI Report, June 2010.) This indicates that there has been

rising demand, if not hunger, for broadband in India.

While it is true that in Asia, India has one of the lowest broadband penetration

rates, recent policy measures and government initiatives to promote broadband are

expected to take the market to 30.1 million subscribers by the end of 2013

(household penetration rate is expected to reach around 8.9 per cent by 2013) and

come close to the goal set by the government.

This growth is mainly driven by three factors, namely: infrastructure, access

devices and content. In terms of infrastructure, digital subscriber line, DSL, is

currently the major technology used in the country for broadband access and has

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been recognized as a preferred medium to deliver high-quality voice, data and

video in a converged environment.

Existing fixed infrastructure (wire-line, cable, etc.) in both urban and rural areas is

grossly inadequate to meet this growing demand for broadband as only 17% of the

existing wire- line infrastructure is capable of broadband provisioning through

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), which would restrict the penetration of broadband.

Further, the growing inability of the existing 2G and 2.5G mobile networks to

satisfy the broadband hunger due to spectrum and capacity constraints means

deployment of new wireless networks to offload data-intensive fixed/mobile

broadband applications is inevitable.

Thus, there is crying demand for deploying a cost effective and scalable wireless

broadband technology across the length and breadth of the country to meet the

broadband hunger of the classes as well as the masses while fulfilling policy

objectives of the government. While 3G and BWA spectrum in 2.1 GHz and 2.3

GHz bands are the giant steps toward enabling mass proliferation of broadband in

India.

The Economic Effects of Broadband

Developed Nations

Studies in developed nations have repeatedly established that broadband networks

drive economic growth and development, and provide a platform for addressing

social issues such as health care and education. On the national level, one study

found that ubiquitous broadband deployment across the U.S. would produce as

much as $460 billion in economic growth per year. Estimates made by Accenture10 | P a g e


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in 2003 suggest broadband could contribute $500 billion to GDP in the United

States and as much as $400 billion in Europe. The nationwide impact of broadband

begins in communities and individual businesses, where research has repeatedly

identified positive effects including greater productivity and rapid employment

growth. One study estimated that for every percentage point increase in broadband

penetration in a particular area, employment would increase 0.2 to 0.3 percentage

points per year. Another study found that from 1998 to 2002, U.S. communities

that were among the early adopters of mass-market broadband experienced more

rapid growth in employment and number of businesses in IT-intensive sectors.

Internet business solutions have enabled private companies in the U.S. to save $155

billion and have helped companies in France, Germany and the UK increase

revenues $79 billion. A survey of more than 2,000 businesses across the U.S. found

that Internet business solutions had already resulted in a net gain of almost $600

billion by 2001 and would add .43 percentage points to future productivity growth

through 2011.

Developing nations

In developed nations, broadband penetration levels often rise above 30%, while in

many developing nations, high-speed Internet access is virtually unknown or so

expensive that it is out of reach of nearly all citizens and businesses. Broadband

penetration is more recent and less extensive in developing nations, fewer studies

have been done to document its economic, social and other benefits. Nonetheless,

early research suggests that broadband diffusion creates a wide range of benefits in

developing nations including supporting economic growth, in part by improving

global competitiveness and attracting international investors. Although such

improvements are difficult to measure, one recent study found that developing

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countries with better ICT infrastructure attract significantly more business from off

shoring, outsourcing and foreign investment.

Developing nations share characteristics that make widespread broadband diffusion

particularly beneficial. For instance, the majority of the people in developing

nations - many small and medium businesses are located outside urban centers.

Expanding broadband networks to these non-metro areas can spread economic

efficiency and productivity, diversifying income by supporting both non-

agricultural employment and higher incomes from agricultural jobs. Greater

exposure to technology can better prepare rural citizens for an eventual urban

transition while at the same time reducing urban desire.

Broadband networks can also be used to bring more citizens and businesses from

rural and remote areas into the formal national economy. Transitioning more

people into the formal economy can enable governments to strengthen the basic

Infrastructure (roads, schools, hospitals, etc.) in rural areas. Connecting the non

metro population via broadband also enables access to e-government for citizens

and businesses, and better educational opportunities for students who can be

introduced to the technology necessary to compete and succeed in the 21stcentury

global economy.

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0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00% 100.00%

World, Avg

Africa

Asia

Middle East

Latin America

Europe

Australia

North America

Penetration Rate

Source: Internet World StatsPenetration Rate are based on world population of 6,845,609,960 and 1,966,514,816 estimated Internet

users on June 30, 2010

Broadband Technology: Now More Accessible and Affordable

In the past, the benefits of broadband were not available to many developing

countries. This was especially true in rural and remote areas, where broadband

solutions such as digital subscriber lines (DSL) and cable broadband access have

often proved too expensive or difficult to deploy. Fortunately, in recent years,

broadband technology has become more available, reliable and cost-effective, as

well as easier to deploy.

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Today, broadband connectivity can be provided to remote regions using a

combination of backhaul networks and last mile networks. Affordable backhaul

solutions include wired, satellite and IP-based wireless point-to-point solutions.

Dependable last-mile, or access, networks suitable for nonurban areas include

WiMAX and Wi-Fi (in areas where power restrictions dont adversely affect

coverage). These wireless broadband systems can reach remote regions and can

often be rolled out faster and more cost-effectively than wired solutions, while

offering greater portability and mobility. In addition, wireless technology can be

deployed incrementally to serve growing demand, without requiring expensive

network wide upgrades. Serve growing demand, without requiring expensive

network wide upgrades.

WiMAX is a wireless broadband solution that provides particularly attractive last-

mile connectivity options through technology designed to deliver ubiquitous, high-

throughput broadband wireless services at a low cost to remote and rural areas.

WiMAX installation costs are lower for a wireless infrastructure based on IEEE

802.16e than for todays wired solutions. WiMAX offers fixed, nomadic and

mobile services, so it can be configured to cover wide metropolitan and rural areas.

WiMAX also enables integration of voice and data, reducing the cost of

connectivity and enabling more affordable access to services.

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Easing Urbanization through Broadband

Urbanization is one of the most powerful forces affecting developing nations, as therural and non-metro population rapidly moves into metro centers in search of

employment and other opportunities, as well as an overall better standard of living.

The expected impact of urbanization can be seen in a country such as China, where

55% of the population lives outside cities, and compared to just 20% in the United

States. By 2025, mass urbanization is expected to more than double Chinas energy

demand in urban areas, and increase demand for water by 70% to 100%. Health

care, education and other social services are expected to be severely strained, while

the loss of arable land and demand on natural resources will have a profound effect

on the environment.

Broadband can be used in several strategic ways to ease the damaging effects of

urbanization:

1. Reduce urban desire: Affordable broadband access can improve the

economies of rural areas, driving up incomes, improving lifestyles, and

reducing the need and desire to move to cities.

2. Improve skills and education: Broadband access increases educational

opportunities in rural areas and supports development of ICT skills. This

preparation enables rural citizens to find better employment in urban areasand reduces the strain placed on social services.

3. Improve urban life: In conjunction with other technologies, broadband can

be used to encourage decentralized work environments that improve

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productivity while also reducing energy demands, noise pollution, vehicle

emission and other forms of pollution.

Best Practices to Speed and Strengthen Broadband Deployment

Best Practice 1: Adopt Supportive Regulations

In many developing countries, spreading broadband technology at a pace rapid

enough to catch up and compete with the rest of the world requires simpler and

more supportive regulations and policies.

A wide range of regulatory reforms can be made to create an enabling environment.

Hundreds of countries now have national regulatory bodies. Market liberalization

and privatization can increase private sector investment and healthy competition,

and strengthening regulations and making them more transparent can build the trust

necessary to spur greater investment and encourage infrastructure sharing.

Without encouragement and incentives, operators are unlikely to roll out broadband

networks in non-urban areas, where the majority of citizens live. To make such

rollouts cost-effective, governments can take a number of actions, such as offering

tax incentives, implementing initiatives that promote the sharing of infrastructure,

liberalizing licensing conditions and providing more efficient spectrum allocation.

Changes in government policies can also have a far-reaching impact on ICT and

broadband penetration. An increasing number of countries are altering their current

Universal Service Fund (USF) policies to allow the funds to be used to support not

only telephone but also broadband services. The result in countries as diverse as

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Pakistan, Chile, India and Malaysia is the extension of voice, data and Internet

service to citizens in even the nations most remote areas.

Best Practice 2: Invest in Intermediate Infrastructure and Technology

In developing nations, where the infrastructure is not likely to be fully developed,

investment is necessary to support the intermediate infrastructure including

everything from utilities to computers that in turn enables successful diffusion

of broadband networks.

The World Bank found that in industrialized countries, if a technology reaches 5%

of the market, it is highly likely to reach 50% of the market. However, in emerging

markets, only six of 67 technologies that reached 5% of the market went on to

capture 50%. The difference is due, to a great extent, to intermediate technology,

which must be in place to ensure successful diffusion of any new technology.

For governments, the bottom line is that broadband must be supported by a solid

infrastructure that includes, for instance, reliable electricity and dependable roads.

Over time, investments in the general infrastructure, in combination with

investments in ICT initiatives, will enable successful and sustainable broadband

deployments.

Best Practice 3: Release Spectrum

Releasing spectrum enables governments to place bandwidth in the hands of private

businesses that can then develop its use through emerging industries and

technologies, thus offering a significant source of sustained revenue.

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Brazils government recognizes the urgency: Broadband adoption must be spread

quickly across the vast country to keep pace with other emerging markets, and at

the same time, to catch up with developed nations.

Intel is serving as a trusted advisor in Brazil, helping to deploy broadband networks

in remote areas and also identifying ways to make the spread of broadband more

sustainable and affordable. With the help of telecommunication companies,

affordable technology bundles that include broadband connectivity are now being

developed. At the same time, Intel is working with the government to change

existing policy and allow available Universal Service Funds (USF) to be used to

expand broadband services into remote and rural areas.

Vietnam: Working with Telecoms to Make Broadband Affordable

More than 70 million households in Vietnam have landline telephone subscriptions,

but less than 2 million have broadband Internet connections delivered over those

landlines. To improve the countrys broadband penetration, Intel worked with

VNPT, a state-owned telecommunications company.

Initially, VNPT offered broadband services to its 10 million telephone customers,

but the setup and monthly service charges put broadband out of reach of ordinary

citizens. As late as 2002, less than 100,000 people had subscribed to the service.

Extensive promotions, low-cost purchase programs and increased competition from

other service providers have now driven down the monthly service charges, from

about $60 per month to as little as $5 per month.

As a result of the increased competition and targeted purchase programs, nearly

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2 million VNPT subscribers now have broadband Internet access, and many more

are expected to sign up in the years to come.

Ghana: Delivering Broadband to Small and Medium Businesses

In Ghana, as in most of Africa, business is often limited by the lack of access to

affordable broadband connectivity. An innovative program established by Intel and

USAID and supported by local businesses is changing that reality for 90 small and

medium businesses.

The businesses can purchase an eBiz Box business bundle that includes a reduced-

price Intel HP laptop computer, broadband connectivity, a package of accounting

software and four training classes. The broadband connections are offered by two

service providers, so businesses can choose between a wireless, pay-as-you-go

option and a fixed ADSL service that comes at a fixed monthly price.

India: Present condition of Broadband

As per the consultation paper on National Broadband Plan issued by TRAI,

Availability of Broadband services at affordable tariff will provide access to

enormous information, facilitate delivery of civic services, increase GDP

contributions, generate more employment and enhance productivity.

Broadband penetration in India is low in spite of the fact that 104 telecom service

providers are providing broadband services. The broadband penetration is just0.74% when compared with teledensity of 52.74%. A need is being felt to identify

impediments and create an environment to encourage broadband growth. The net

broadband addition per month is just 0.1 to 0.2 million in contrast to approximately

18 million mobile connections per month.

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Though 70% of Indian population lives in rural areas; broadband facility is limited

to metro and major cities. Availability of broadband is critical for development of

rural areas. Out of total 9.45 million broadband subscribers at the end of June,

2010, just 5% are in rural areas. The low broadband penetration in rural areas is

attributed to non availability of transmission media connectivity upto village level.

Conclusion

Broadband networks are an increasingly essential part of the global information

society, enabling overall economic growth, and creating new jobs, fostering

innovation and enhancing national competitiveness. To achieve these and other

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benefits of broadband, developing nations need to establish enabling environments

that support long-term, cost-effective broadband deployments.

Governments can lead the way by working with partners to develop plans and

programs that encourage the rapid and strategic expansion of broadband and ICT.

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References

[1] Telecom Subscription data as on 30th June 2010. Available:

http:// www.trai.gov.in

[2] Broadband Policy 2004. Available: http://www.dot.gov.in

[3] ASSOCHAM and Frost & Sullivan, Report on Broadband in India

[4] Atul Bindal, Broadband demand in India 2007.

[5] Broadband across Africa 2009, Available: http://www.cisco.com

[6] World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report 2010. Available:

http://www.itu.int

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