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S I
X T E E N
I
f we really want to make India a software
superpower, then adequate, affordable and reliable bandwidth is a must. That means
quick roll-out of a robust telecom infrastructure.
Besides, we need sane policies which do not stifle technology. My pointer is directly
towards allowing voice over-IP (VOIP), maybe after addressing the genuine concerns
of telecom players.
First, the issue of bandwidth. With a $4.1 trillion market potential over the next
few years, e-commerce is poised to become the engine of growth in this century.
India has done well in software but this is only the tip of the iceberg. The future is
in leveraging IT skills for e-commerce, IT services and the like. All this depends
on a very strong telecom infrastructure
—
adequate and affordable bandwidth.
In the emerging Net-economy, per capita bandwith consumption is an important
indicator of overall economic growth. Broadly, our aim should be to ensure at least
2
Mbps bandwidth to every citizen in this country within the next five years.
At present the whole of India has only 325 Mbps of international Internet bandwidth.
The
demand,
meanwhile,
with
less
that
one
million
Internet
connections, has touched 5 Gbps and is expected to double by year end. China
already has an International bandwidth of 55 Gbps, UK has 120 Gbps and Japan,
160
Gbps.
For now, 10 Gbps international bandwidth is available to VSNL through submarine
cable FLAG (Fiber Optic Link Across the Globe), while another 20 Gbps is available
from SMW3 (Sea-Me-We 3).This is used both for voice and data.
Within India the Internet bandwidth ranges from 8 to 34 Mbps. There is a complete
mismatch between demand and supply. Besides 2.4 Gbps of national bandwidth is
The Times of India-It@Times July 18, 2000
Bandwidth, Bandwidth, Bandwidth…
