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India to have 10-30 million broadband connections by 2010
New Delhi, Feb 09: India, struggling to penetrate broadband services from the existing abysmally low level of 0.02 connections per 100 people, has a potential to increase the total connections to 10-30 million by 2010, says a report, funded by the government and key IT and telecom players.
New Delhi, Feb 09: India, struggling to penetrate broadband services from the existing abysmally low level of 0.02 connections per 100 people, has a potential to increase the total connections to 10-30 million by 2010, says a report, funded by the government and key IT and telecom players.
The report, India's Broadband Economy-2010, was commissioned to IBM Business Consultancy Ltd by the National Broadband Economy Committee of CII and is yet in final stages of preparation.
The report, for which market research was conducted by IMRB, will also propose a vision for increasing broadband and suggests a national policy in this regard, committee chairman Sujit Kumar said here.
It will also give a year-wise roadmap for increasing broadband penetration in the country starting from 2004-05 to 2009-2010.
Though the report will be fully prepared by the next month, its research conducted so far says that India can achieve broadband connections to 10-30 million people by 2010.
The huge difference between the lower and upper limits are due to the definition of broadband that one applies. If the broadband is described at a speed of 256 kilo bytes per second and above, then the country can touch the mark of 10 million connections six years down the line. However, 30 million connections could be there if the speed is less than 256 kbps.
Generally, the speed of broadband is taken as 256 kbps or more. In general terms, broadband is referred to when interactive voice, data, video and Internet can be carried on a single network.
The report is funded by the it department, dot and telecom and industry players like BSNL, MTNL, Alcatel, Hughes Network, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Sify, Yahoo and Tata group.
The low level of broadband penetration has drawn the attention of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which held two open houses on the issue last month. The authority had earlier floated a consultation paper on the matter. The telecom regulator is likely to submit recommendations about increasing the broadband penetration to the government later this month.
Currently, only three countries in the world -- South Korea, Hong Kong and Canada have a broadband penetration of more than 10 per cent.
India is way behind even China and Malaysia, which have broadband connections of one and 0.21 per 100 people. Bureau Report
The report, for which market research was conducted by IMRB, will also propose a vision for increasing broadband and suggests a national policy in this regard, committee chairman Sujit Kumar said here.
It will also give a year-wise roadmap for increasing broadband penetration in the country starting from 2004-05 to 2009-2010.
Though the report will be fully prepared by the next month, its research conducted so far says that India can achieve broadband connections to 10-30 million people by 2010.
The huge difference between the lower and upper limits are due to the definition of broadband that one applies. If the broadband is described at a speed of 256 kilo bytes per second and above, then the country can touch the mark of 10 million connections six years down the line. However, 30 million connections could be there if the speed is less than 256 kbps.
Generally, the speed of broadband is taken as 256 kbps or more. In general terms, broadband is referred to when interactive voice, data, video and Internet can be carried on a single network.
The report is funded by the it department, dot and telecom and industry players like BSNL, MTNL, Alcatel, Hughes Network, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Sify, Yahoo and Tata group.
The low level of broadband penetration has drawn the attention of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which held two open houses on the issue last month. The authority had earlier floated a consultation paper on the matter. The telecom regulator is likely to submit recommendations about increasing the broadband penetration to the government later this month.
Currently, only three countries in the world -- South Korea, Hong Kong and Canada have a broadband penetration of more than 10 per cent.
India is way behind even China and Malaysia, which have broadband connections of one and 0.21 per 100 people. Bureau Report