Internet and India: Vision & Opportunities Demystifying Broadband Internet in India’s Context Ashok Jhunjhunwala, IITM, Chennai

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 2 Internet is Power  Internet is not just a means of communications, but is Power can enable people in all kinds of ways But Internet in India has grown slowly  is expensive  Internet based Education, Internet based Commerce and Internet based Entertainment is virtually non-existent  What does India require?

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 3 Dial-up Internet  Internet widely available on fixed telephone lines (45 million) using dial-up provides 10 kbps average bit-rate on 33.6 kbps connection at Rs 35 per hour  Rural / Small town telephones often connect at 9.6 kbps enables and some browsing  Mobile (20 million) can support 100 kbps shared connection (for all users in a sector) on GPRS/3G-1X less than even dial-up rate at Rs 26 per hour  great for handsets -- but meaningless for homes/ small offices

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 4 What will we like at homes/ small offices?  Low bit-rate connection for messaging at Rs 100 per month  33.6 kbps (dedicated) Always On connection at Rs 250 per month  will enable , browsing and some education/commerce  100 kbps (dedicated) Always On connection at Rs 500 per month  will enable video-conferencing, some entertainment  2Mbps (dedicated) Always On connection at Rs 1000 per month  will enable video on demand, entrtainment  Can we get there??

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 5 Where are the bottlenecks?  International Network Rs 100,000 per month per Mbps (one way to/from USA)  if one uses a 100 kbps connection to continuously pull traffic from a US based server, the international network alone will cost Rs 10K per month?  Backbone Network cost in India Rs 20,000 per month per Mbps (one way, farthest distance)  Access Network: connecting from PoP to home/office  dial up costs Rs 26 per minute for telephony alone

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 6 International Link charges limits Internet speed in India  At Rs 100K per month for a 1 Mbps Internet link and with most traffic going to servers located in the West  Internet bandwidth can not be made affordable Problem complicated by the fact that Indian ISPs often connect to each other only via international links  Answer:  Internet Exchange in India  all traffic with source and destination in India must remain in India  Create Indian Content and host it in India  Mirror / host International sites in India  reduce International traffic fraction from 85% to 25% in three years

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 7 Backbone Network cost in India still high  At a cost of Rs 20,000 per Mbps (one way) between Metros, Backbone Network cost is still a bottleneck reduce it by a factor of three to four in next couple of years With huge fibre build-up taking place, this is likely  incentives needed to speed this up

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 8 For home/office connectivity Access is the primary bottleneck  Access Choices:  Dial-up Internet: too costly and too little  Mobile: too costly and far too little DSL on Copper: available only with incumbent (BSNL/MTNL) Coaxial Cable: Can we overcome Quality? Wireless: Can we provide enough bandwidth? Fibre to the home/curb: build may take time ( with Last METERS of Copper or wireless)

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 9 Digital Subscriber Loop on Copper  What is technologically possible today?  ADSL: 6 Mbps downlink and 512 kbps uplink for 4 Kms cu  VDSL: 20 Mbps downlink and 1 Mbps uplink for 700 m  But who has copper links to homes/offices?  Only BSNL/MTNL  What are the lengths of such copper loop  mostly 3-4 Kms; 5% may be 700 m (connected using DLCs)  What is the quality of such copper?  Poor, except when 700 m copper links with DLCs are used  can not be used to provide even lite-ADSL Dishnet/Bharati are putting their own cables in a limited way

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 10   HDSU IAN Internet PSTN 128 kbps 2 Mbps V5.2 IP BSNL provide DSL service in 50 cities using DIAS 128/64 kbps Internet + simultaneous voice 2 Mbps Internet + phones  Always ON Internet connection at Rs 850 per month  is likely to come down to Rs 500 per month

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 11 Internet on Coaxial Cable  Widely used in USA 10 to 40 Mbps broadcast in forward direction and 512 kbps to 1 Mbps shared up-link  Coaxial provides TV to 60 million Indian homes at carrier charge of Rs 80 per month (in contrast to charge of $ 20+ per month in most developing countries)  how is this possible?  Choice of cable, connectors, amplifiers and deployment and maintenance methodology are all designed to provide TV services at Rs 80 per month  Most attempts in India towards conversion of the coaxial plant for two-way Internet communication has been a failure

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 12 Wireless: The happening Area can it solve our access problem to homes/ small offices?  Wireless Technologies: 2.5 G Mobile: 3G-1x/GSM/GPRS  can deliver 100 kbps shared connection to all subs in a sector  may deliver 1 Mbps shared connection in future (3G)  still at best comparable to 56 kbps dial-up; uses huge spectrum; will be costly --- can compete with dial-up corDECT WiLL: 35/ 70 kbps dedicated Always On connection  comparable to dial-up: require aggressive strategy to provide  Low bit-rate connection for messaging at Rs 100 per month  33.6 kbps (dedicated) Always On connection at Rs 250 per month  2.5G corDECT will provide Always On 100 kbps dedicated connectivity

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 13 Wireless Technologies (continued) Wireless LAN  ideal LAN for office, homes, public places (100 meters)  but required fibre/DSL connection to base station PMP Systems (proprietary) providing 64kbps to 2Mbps connection  companies like SIFY provides 64 kbps at Rs 20K per month  shared connection to multiple user in a building WiMax (OFDM)  new standard Mbps shared connection in a sector  may amount to 500 kbps dedicated connection to each user  what price point and when? 4G wireless / MIMO  promises more: when, how much and at what cost?

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 14 Fibre Access Network finally beating the bandwidth game  Fibre to the Building / Curb last Meters on copper (Ethernet) or wireless (802.11)  100 Mbps to each user possible  is being used today by almost all operators  BSNL, MTNL, Reliance, Bharati, Tata-Tele, Shyam, HFCL STM-1 Ring Gig E ring Subscriber Services RT COT Broadband Switch Narrowband Support.. ISDN Leased line n X 64 VDSL HDSL ADSL POTS Ethernet PSTN DATA

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 15 But is Fibre Access affordable?  How deep can the Fiber go? Key drivers  Cost of Fiber Termination  Line Terminating Electronics  Power Backups Depends on  Customer Density and Affordability For dense urban areas of India, Fibre to the building is the most cost effective solution  comparable to wireless provided one can get it 1 in 3 homes  but can one install fast enough? FTTB FTTH

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 16 Terminals  PCs are too expensive for India’s homes VIA PC and AMD has brought cost below Rs 15K  still too high beyond 7 to 10 million homes Need new solutions:  Rs 10K devices to reach next 20 million homes  Rs 5K devices to reach next 50 million homes Messaging terminals at Rs 1.5K for 50 million homes  may be handheld

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 17 Can we get there?  Low bit-rate connection for messaging at Rs 100 per month  Mobile or corDECT immediate  33.6 kbps (dedicated) Always On connection at Rs 250 per month  corDECT or 3G mobile immediate  100 kbps (dedicated) Always On connection at Rs 500 per month  DIAS (incumbent) or 2.5G corDECTimmediate  or DSL on new copper slow deployment  2Mbps (dedicated) Always On connection at Rs 1000 per month  Fibre Access Network with Ethernet/ or DSL on new copper slow deployment  or (only about 500 kbps)early 05

TeNeT Group, IITMTelecom India, Nov03 18 To Sum Up  To enable India with Internet, we need Indian traffic to stay in India: NIXI  Indian content and hosting/mirroring International sites  Education, Commerce and entertainment content needs push  Reduce International traffic percentage from 85% to 25% Reduction of Backbone network cost in India by a fourth Always On Access providing differential services at costs of Rs 100 to 1000 per month  2 Mbps Broadband connection possible only by Fibre Access  growth will be slow till we find new technology solution Terminals widely affordable in India