Why broadband sucks in India...

this is india and the main point is we are still a third world developing nation ( by IMF) yes we can self apploud ourselves but the truth is their is still lots to developedquality of life here is low as compared with developed country that include technologyaprt from this indian companies like airtel and hutch has the policy greedy business ( they dont think about quality or reach to consumer ) they think about earning moneyhad it not have reliance the mobile wud have remain rich mens toolsand indian govt never understand why it is so tech-less .. why they stiil have months and year for technology like 3g, mobile portability look at china they are goin with 4g red tapism and bribary greed is affecting this country a lot

this is india and the main point is we are still a third world developing nation ( by IMF)
yes we can self apploud ourselves but the truth is their is still lots to developed
quality of life here is low as compared with developed country that include technology

aprt from this indian companies like airtel and hutch has the policy greedy business ( they dont think about quality or reach to consumer ) they think about earning money
had it not have reliance the mobile wud have remain rich mens tools

and indian govt never understand why it is so tech-less .. why they stiil have months and year for technology like 3g, mobile portability look at china they are goin with 4g
red tapism and bribary greed is affecting this country a lot

Without a doubt there are Indians including government officials who have no clue how far ahead countries like China, S. Korea, Taiwan and Japan are in comparison. They think they are like China which is a joke.

On the other hand, even with a complete joke of a government, India is in a difficult environment. All of her neighbors are antagonistic towards her. Roughly the same population lives on 1/3 the land size of China. India of course has the Kashmir tension.

Poverty: This is sad but it is an enormous challenge to uplift a population of 250 million people who are in poverty as defined by the Indian government as those living on less than Rs. 50/day. The World Bank says India has 458 million people living on less than Rs. 60/day.

I am not sure how mobile telephones and broadband can impact India's larger problem of the large population living in poverty.

So, I guess I would not want to completely rail on India with respect to its lousy infrastructure because clearly there are enormous challenges in other areas.

heh true. we have bigger problems to deal with and providing cheap mobile services and broadband are not going to solve most of them. the government has essentially failed to do anything about poverty and the people living on less than a dollar a day even after 50 years of independence. and our bigger cities have already started crumbling to the pressure of excessive population. 😀

The govt. should encourage broadband penetration by bringing all govt. services online on the Internet and by increasingly hosting content in local language. Technology should reach the masses and govt. should be enthusiastic (and have a roadmap ofcourse) to do this. So, the 'chicken-and-egg' problem can only be resolved by the govt. offering 101 compelling reasons as to why the common man should get on the Internet. Some of these reasons could be online bill payment, online banking etc . (I am sure we can think of many more reasons if we sit quietly and think for a while).If this sort of drive comes from the govt., then this will fuel demand for broadband connections (not necessarily high speed connections) which in turn will bring the prices down (for everyone).It is not sufficient for businesses (including home-based) and middle-class alone to have high speed links (FUP or not) while the majority of the country's population don't even know that this thing called 'Internet' exists.So, in my humble opinion, broadband will stop 'sucking' only if it reaches the masses.Can anyone give me an example of any other country where the broadband prices are low even though only a few people in that country can afford it?

this is india and the main point is we are still a third world developing nation ( by IMF)
yes we can self apploud ourselves but the truth is their is still lots to developed
quality of life here is low as compared with developed country that include technology

Quality of life can be improved with broadband technology.

Quality of life can be improved with broadband technology.

Maybe be for you but others look at quality of life in terms of the basic essentials of life: food, shelter, clothing, water, healthcare and education.

As noted in a previous post, there are 458 million people in India living on less than Rs. 60/day according to the World Bank.

Broadband technology can have some long term role to play in those basic essentials (as it has in the United States) but to have a meaningful, direct impact on a large poor population in a developing country such as India is questionable.

It boggles the mind that 458 million people is larger than the United States and Russia and almost as large as the European Union.

Maybe be for you but others look at quality of life in terms of the basic essentials of life: food, shelter, clothing, water, healthcare and education.

As noted in a previous post, there are 458 million people in India living on less than Rs. 60/day according to the World Bank.

Broadband technology can have some long term role to play in those basic essentials (as it has in the United States) but to have a meaningful, direct impact on a large poor population in a developing country such as India is questionable.

1) I don't speak for myself.
2) Poverty can be eradicated by education - empower people with information and let's see how long they remain in poverty.
3) Politicians take our people for a ride because these people are in ignorance due to lack of education.
4) Now, broadband technology can be an enabler in imparting education to such people thereby having a *direct* impact on them. To achieve this you need to have the right approach to the problem and workable solutions.
5) And here is an example from the USA (which I just googled and you can find many more) as to how a right attitude and approach can actually get *real* results - http://www.muniwireless.com/reports/docs/CivitiumPEC.pdf
6) Finally, there are numerous examples of communities in India today who use broadband technology to offer a better quality of life. Unfortunately, it is not widespread yet.

1) I don't speak for myself.
2) Poverty can be eradicated by education - empower people with information and let's see how long they remain in poverty.
3) Politicians take our people for a ride because these people are in ignorance due to lack of education.
4) Now, broadband technology can be an enabler in imparting education to such people thereby having a *direct* impact on them. To achieve this you need to have the right approach to the problem and workable solutions.
5) And here is an example from the USA (which I just googled and you can find many more) as to how a right attitude and approach can actually get *real* results - http://www.muniwireless.com/reports/docs/CivitiumPEC.pdf
6) Finally, there are numerous examples of communities in India today who use broadband technology to offer a better quality of life. Unfortunately, it is not widespread yet.

From what I have seen from the Government of India and the various State/Municipal Governments of India, public policy and planning seems wrought with both incompetence and corruption. And, I am not sure if the upper class which controls most of the economy should be given a free pass either. They seem to be more concerned about cars than the roads, mobile phones before solid land based infrastructure, luxury homes before reliable electricity and water, etc.

I absolutely agree with the general premise that infrastructure is critical to a nation's development which has made countries like the United States and Japan successful. They have poured trillions of dollars (converted into present day dollar value) into roads, airports, railroad tracks, etc.

High quality roads were developed before the onslaught of cars...not after.

I guess those same politicians you reference as getting in the way of the people's development are the same ones who will get in the way of broadband technology.:huh:

From what I have seen from the Government of India and the various State/Municipal Governments of India, public policy and planning seems wrought with both incompetence and corruption.

If you don't have the need to interact (verbally or face-to-face) with a person then you are unlikely to be directly impacted by corruption.

So if more and more people can access govt. services online (thereby eliminating the need to interact with a real person) and be able to get reliable information first-hand online, then this should reduce corruption dramatically.

My belief is that corruption will reduce to a significant extent as the country becomes information-rich (in the sense that an increasing number of people will get direct access to reliable information via broadband).

And this is another reason why broadband access should extend to the masses.

with india (and really its only with india ) the problem remain not the unavailibility (look at our nation nature has given us every thing - natural resources, manpower,brainpower,knowledge ,land , space , evrything) but the problem is utilisation

now this ustilisation of resources is the part of the govt . the rules they made the way they HANDLE the problem with available resources

rajiv ghandhi once said that when 100 rs is given to the poor by the govt then it is down to just 1 rs when it reaches the common man. we have all the resources to solve all the problems within our country but the govt has failed to utilise them

and yes making broadband reach common man wont make india number 1 nation in world but it definetley make us a step closer ( at least better then taking us a step back or standing)_
i took the example of china and other countries who started with us in 1950 just to show the time period the progress they made and we made
and yes every country has problems unique to them but its wiser to solve problem reather then keeping it. the very first step to solve a problem is to recognise it and say " yes we have a problem and there is way to solve it and we will solve it "
we just accept any problem and thnk we r doin the best in given sitution while the truth is a lot can be done here
secondly priotisation of problem is very imp ------if the main problem of india " poverty " can not be solve immediately why not develop fields at hand like broadband which can be solved very quickly ( i still dont get why the govt bsnl is stuck with UL750@32KBps and why 3g spectrum and mobile portability is lagging since years? these are not big problems and can be solved )
yes our india is great but to make it greatest we have put a lot of effort :cool2:

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Maybe be for you but others look at quality of life in terms of the basic essentials of life: food, shelter, clothing, water, healthcare and education.

As noted in a previous post, there are 458 million people in India living on less than Rs. 60/day according to the World Bank.

Broadband technology can have some long term role to play in those basic essentials (as it has in the United States) but to have a meaningful, direct impact on a large poor population in a developing country such as India is questionable.

It boggles the mind that 458 million people is larger than the United States and Russia and almost as large as the European Union.

i never understand why we should pull out of a race just coz we are a poor nation if we can do somethning good why shoudnt we should do it

broadband can be solved easily perhaps for bigger cities.

you are forgetting about smaller towns and villages. they have people too.

india is too far to make broadband a legal requirement just like finland.

for some of us high speed broadband is a commodity that is available but too expensive. but for a lot of people in india, safe drinking water is like a dream. 🙂 its simply not available.

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and indian government can take on simple step that could revolutionize broadband availability in india. force BSNL to open their wireline network to private operators.

they cannot do it because BSNL babus would go on a nationwide strike crippling the services in the country.

the fact remains... BSNL can make good money by just renting their infrastructure which was well developed by tax payers money.

that reminds me of another stupid thing that is happening all over india today. roads are supposed to be build with tax money. and it is in most cases. but still the government force us to pay a toll tax for highways and even local roads in some areas.

broadband can be solved easily perhaps for bigger cities.

you are forgetting about smaller towns and villages. they have people too.

Wireless broadband might just be the solution for these smaller (and remote) towns and villages.

Kerala has 1400 villages and recently the state govt. there has claimed 100% broadband penetration and the first to do so in India. And BSNL is a partner in this.

See Kerala to become 1st state with 100% Broadband Penetration - India Microfinance

And this is a reality today because the local govt in Kerala has taken the initiative. Is there any reason why the rest of India cannot do the same?

Solving the issue of broadband penetration is probably a lot easier than drinking water issues. But broadband penetration will bring benefits in a lot of other areas.

Kerala is very different from the rest of India. People are educated. They pick smarter politicians 😀 And I bet villages are in much better condition compared to other parts of the country.

I still do not understand how internet connectivity would help villages which does not have access to safe drinking water!

Ok, it can be a helpful tool for farmers. Nokia I think is already working on a mobile solution that would work through SMS.

http://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Microsites/Entry_Event/Materials/Nokia_Siemens_Networks_Village_Connection.pdf

To summarize (and just to make it clear that we are not diverting from the initial topic of this thread):

Broadband sucks in India for various reasons but I believe the biggest reason is lack of penetration.

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I still do not understand how internet connectivity would help villages which does not have access to safe drinking water!

It would at least provide access to reliable information and help to educate the local people who can then figure out why they don't have access to safe drinking water in the first place 🙂.

They can voice their concerns which might be electronically heard (by the right people) which till now could not be done for various reasons?

The possibilities are endless.

I still do not understand how internet connectivity would help villages which does not have access to safe drinking water!




the biggest use of internet is in villages this is the area where the remotibility and poratability can be used
consider a farmer who cannot go to distant town he can view and receive all the vegatables rates
he can have his son result on net
listen to weather forecast and other related news
put his opinion and problem to govt or other thru email (which is way cheaper then visiting a oficials)yes of drinking water supply problem also!
e-education can e brought to villages
costy study e-book (ranging from simple wordpad ) for education purpose can be viewed and downloaded and subseqntly printed
i feel like writing a 2 page essay on this