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through new technologies, principally, dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM),
which makes it possible to upgrade the capacity of existing media
—
copper,
wireless, fiber optic, etc.—by huge multiples easily, although commercial viability
will be a consideration.
Internet demand too needs to be stimulated. Demand stimulation and aggregation
is important to assist the market work better, particularly in regional areas. The
government should, along with other stakeholders, develop sound online strategies
across key areas of service delivery, such as health and education.
The other major issue is the need for reduction in tariffs for international
connectivity. We can take a cue from the US, where coast-to-coast connectivity
of 56 Kbps costs around $660 per month (frame relay) and leased line $1,000.
The cost of a 1MB link coast-to-coast is around $4.000 per month—this
gives about 18 times more bandwidth for four times more cost. Tariffs are
discounted heavily as volumes increase. Similarly, the cost of a 64 Kbps link
from the US to UK is around $2,000. The charge for a 64 Kbps link to India
from the US is around $5,000 per month. For 1 MB, the charge is almost
$35,000 per month.
Thus, drastically lower tariffs and steeper discounts are a must for companies to
provide better bandwidth and improved customer service. More importantly, if
India desires to produce more IT professionals to meet the demands of the future,
low cost Internet connectivity for schools and colleges is imperative.
Not addressing the bandwidth issue could have serious repercussions. According to
a Nasscom-McKinsey report, India can potentially lose its right to compete by at
least 30 percent of its target export markets because of the inability to link with
the global telecom infrastructure. India will thus face a significant disadvantage in
providing back-end services to global e-commerce, like providing remote network
management.
Bandwidth paucity could adversely impact the domestic market as well. Indian
users will be unable to deploy state-of-the-art global networking applications/
products that are going to be developed for high speed telecom networks. India
could also lose as much as $22.5 billion in earnings and 6,50,000 jobs.
International bandwidth is the lifeline of IT-enabled services, especially call
centers. IT-enabled service companies should be permitted to establish their
own international gateways and use alternate satellite networks. Delays will
