The mother of all announcements proceeded the last parliamentary session. That was the day when the broadband policy was to be announced.
Typical in the style of the government, it was delayed and the unknown faces in the group of ministers decided and sealed our fates as to how Indians would access Internet. Lofty ideals had been proclaimed and a lot of noise was made in the media about the broadband access. Everyone conveniently chose to forget that dialup charges remain the highest in the world still. That is another sob story.
The broadband policy typically defined the broadband as “always on” connection with speeds over and above 256 kbps. Other ways to access the same could either be through ADSL, VSAT or cable. Unfortunately, the recommendations of TRAI were brushed off to protect the monopoly of BSNL and ever-lecherous sarkari officials who are used to plush comforts. Chief among them was the unbundling of the local loop. In lay mans terms, anyone with an ISP license and bandwidth could utilize the unused copper cables and start offering Internet services. Given the spread of BSNL, duplicating infrastructure makes no business sense and hijacks the cost factor. It would have much more sense to unbundle the local loop and allow unlimited competition. This would have ensured that tariffs fall and the end consumer would have benefited.
Typical in the style of the government, it was delayed and the unknown faces in the group of ministers decided and sealed our fates as to how Indians would access Internet. Lofty ideals had been proclaimed and a lot of noise was made in the media about the broadband access. Everyone conveniently chose to forget that dialup charges remain the highest in the world still. That is another sob story.
The broadband policy typically defined the broadband as “always on” connection with speeds over and above 256 kbps. Other ways to access the same could either be through ADSL, VSAT or cable. Unfortunately, the recommendations of TRAI were brushed off to protect the monopoly of BSNL and ever-lecherous sarkari officials who are used to plush comforts. Chief among them was the unbundling of the local loop. In lay mans terms, anyone with an ISP license and bandwidth could utilize the unused copper cables and start offering Internet services. Given the spread of BSNL, duplicating infrastructure makes no business sense and hijacks the cost factor. It would have much more sense to unbundle the local loop and allow unlimited competition. This would have ensured that tariffs fall and the end consumer would have benefited.
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