What are the factors that drive internet access and usage in India?
An overriding factor is the growth of wireless devices and traffic as a global phenomenon.
Cisco estimated in June 2016 that in 2015, wired access comprised 52 per cent of IP traffic, but would reduce to one-third by 2020, while wireless access would increase to two-thirds.
This trend is reinforced by another factor: Innovation that lowers costs and improves performance in mobile wireless.
Metropolitan and urban areas have additional factors, such as intense competition in Optical Fibre Communication (OFC) in localities with high commercial potential.
Fibre is preferable provided the installation is feasible at reasonable cost, and is commercially sustainable.
There are exceptions, as in the high-speed trading links mentioned above, or where users are geographically dispersed. Even in dense urban areas, it is sometimes impractical to install OFC connections because of congestion and/or rights-of-way costs.
The third factor is the combination of the geographic spread of our population, the concentration of broadband penetration and the limited coverage of OFC networks.
What are the problems associated with OFC?
While major cities and their connecting links are covered by OFC, less populated and less commercially attractive areas between them are not connected.
In hilly terrain, there is considerable difficulty in laying OFC, which extends far beyond cost.
In urban areas, cost can be a deterrent because we lack reasonable, uniform charges for rights-of-way.
Such procedures and practices are difficult to institute and enforce viable OFC networks.
It’s not only the installation of the OFC, but of ensuring quality and reliability.
OFC networks in India apparently suffer from 12 to 14 cuts per km per month, whereas the international benchmark is 0.7 km per month.
Apart from more frequent repairs, the capital expenditure is nearly three times as high as in Australia or the US.
Estimates for installing OFC using standard procedures vary from about Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 lakh per km. However, there have been attempts at getting costs down by radical changes in approach.
Redesigning the approach:
For all these reasons, we need concerted action to redesign our approach to broadband, covering the fundamentals of infrastructure, spectrum and market designs.
We have the experience of building other infrastructure such as roads and airports on revenue-sharing principles.
We have to take a similar systematic, phased approach to designing and implementing broadband networks.
Policies on infrastructure resource use including spectrum need to be rationalised, and the sector organised through participative path-finding and problem solving.
We have to build national champions in manufacturing to keep costs affordable, for instance, using TV White Space.
India could set the standard with its IPR and products where OFC is infeasible or unviable for connectivity to villages and rural clusters.
Both the administrative and political leadership need to do this, working with all stakeholders, and not treating any of them as adversaries, or cronies.
