Domestic mobile industry is 6.5% GDP and expected to be 8.2% by 2020. Employment generation (direct and indirect) is only 4.8 million. By then, 280 million of the billion mobile subscribers will have switched to NextGen technologies like 4G & 5G. New growth is expected to come from rural areas. Centre wants power and broadband access to every rural household, which means connecting 600 million people in 250,000 GP.
First phase, to connect 100,000 GP with underground optical fibre, is more or less over. What remains is "activation" of GP. Govt envisages private sector (cable TV, telecom, etc) to operate GPs within set quality and price—eg. Rs 100/month— and provide last mile connectivity. Operators are chosen through an auction on "gap funding" basis.
Second phase, for covering remaining 150,000 GP, allows flexibility for States to appoint private sector contractors and specifies different modes (underground & overhead cabling, Radio, Satellite) to reach remotest villages.
Under the Digital India policy framework, Govt and private sector have created platforms for various beneficial purposes, eg.
Mobile operators — Telephony, Internet
Cable TV — Entertainment
Post office portals — E-commerce
Bank portals —E-payment, E-banking, Financial services
Common Service Centre — E-education, T-medicine, etc
Govt platform — E-governance (eg. monitoring, procurement)
BPO scheme — IT outsourcing use
MyGov, Jeevan Pramaan, etc — Information, Feedback
Digital locker — Storing personal documents
Details
¶⤞ BharatNet will touch every settlement, make available on demand at an affordable broadband capacity of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps for households
¶⤞ Higher capacity is available on demand for all institutions.
¶⤞ Funded by Universal Service obligation fund
¶⤞ Private sector and States can enter into a partnership.
¶⤞ States will assist in right of way.
¶⤞ Laying overhead cables on power poles is cheaper, faster and operationally simpler.
¶⤞ Last mile connectivity via Wifi hotspots /or direct cable connection
¶⤞ For fault-free working, cable spec was upgraded (eg durable for the weather; dark fibre) and some old cable replaced.
¶⤞ Phase 3 from 2018-2023, will add huge lengths of fibre for cross-links with other districts, blocks & GP. A fault in district/ block/ GP level is isolated and bypassed using cross-links to neighbouring infra.
¶⤞ Update: Phase 1 target has been extended to 125,000km. On 14.5.17, pipe laying started/ finished are at 119k & 102k. Finished cable laying is lagging at 91k.
Thoughts on broadband
TRAI chairman points out that India lags in data connectivity (138/175 countries). He believes optical fibre network would be a key driver for rapid scaling up of data connectivity, and this will get completed in phases by 2018. He suggests broadband can be done cheaper through cable TV (with 100m connections). He would like an exclusive broadband spectrum for free public WiFi and lease excess capacity in foreign satellites.
JS Deepak, telecom secretary, says, the optical fibre network is designed to be state of art, replaceable, scalable and robust. He compliments Indian telecom manufacturing, saying Indian products were "impeccable quality at affordable prices."
Spare capacity in fibre pipes
The network provides spare cables and empty spaces in-between, for 3rd party leasing. The response is muted, most probably because end-user demand is not there yet. It has a utility, eg. telecom operator can set up a tower using cable.
Government User Network
Under the Government user network, govt will fund 800,000+ direct fibre connections to schools, health centres, police, GP office. Post Office dept has signed an MOU for direct fibre connections to 150,000 Post offices. PO pays installation and operating fees to BBNL (infrastructure services) and BSNL (telecom services).
Response of States
Many have set up public Wifi using purchased spectrum. They can be connected to fibre at a later stage. Karnataka is using Wifi as pilots for gauging price levels for a future roll-out. Tamil Nadu is preparing DPR and may form JV with a private cableTV player. Maharashtra will build ph3 fibre network along with ph2. 15-20% extra cost, is recovered as fault-free communication is attractive for businesses like warehouses, BPO, common service centres, banks, etc. It has fast-tracked complete district coverage eg. Nagpur benefits as it is an ideal logistics hub. Madhya Pradesh is preparing blocks of GPs to go cashless, just prior to getting activation. Haryana is prioritising citizen services through CSC franchises, run by small entrepreneurs. It is building robust, standardised CSC infra, platforms and protocols. BBNL will do last mile connectivity. Jharkhand has chosen private sector Technology partners for e-governance and focusing on early Wifi connectivity in 7 districts. Andhra Pradesh will lay overhead cables with private contractors. North Eastern states also favour overhead cabling but leave it entirely with BSNL. In Assam, BSNL has promised to connect all 1518 GPs by 2017-18!!
Other initiatives
BSNL (telecom PSU) has covered important tourist places and prominent cities with Wifi Hotspots. IR is progressively covering major IR stations sited in busy city centres. Bharti Airtel will run 20,000 Wifi —with sponsorship—from remote locations for a small user fee. White-fi uses Wifi and backhaul TV spectrum to reach remote locations. Govt is thinking of licensing it. BSNL is upgrading existing Cable TV infra and jointly marketing high-quality services through fibre or FTTH. Others are using copper wires for the same.
Common service centres & e-governance: CSC chief
¶ Our target is 95,000 in towns and 250,000 in villages (or 1 per GP). We are halfway to the target (on 9/16). Wifi is cheap, easy. We use solar, batteries and BNSL spectrum. Once the fibre is connected, our Wifi will provide last mile connectivity.
¶ We charge a small fee for broadband access. Citizens can find all govt services in one place. E-governance such as land records, birth certs, income certs, BPL certs, NREGA, new jobs and loans. We are planning to do digital literacy courses at our centres. Most states are supporting so we can do a lot on their behalf. Digital India potential to transform agriculture
ISRO high-speed internet connectivity
Three launches from IRSO's GSAT series, from June to end-2018, will add huge additional capacity, to run high speed and high-quality broadband, phones, HD videos and TVs in all parts of India. Each satellite is heavier because they carry multiple spot beams. While a single spot beam can only give high definition over a small area, the combination of beams enhances the area of each beam by reusing signals at the outer borders of the beams. The first launch will be in June 2017. GSAT-19 will have 8 beams and 4Gb/s. It is four faster than earlier satellites and has eight times higher capacity. Next GSAT-11 will have 16 beams and 13Gb/s. Finally, GSAT-20 will have 80 beams—40 beams with two polarisations— and 60-70 Gb/s. India to enter high-speed internet era with Isro's new satellites
Broadband Connectivity: A Challenge Under Work
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