Transcript toronto

How the Internet can advance the
lives of people in rural India
-Talk at Toronto
Can we begin with a dream ?
Dream of …
A collaboration between Britney Spears
in the US and an unknown old lady in a
remote village in India to produce
fusion music ?… ………
Rural
Opportunity
• India has 600,000+ villages
– 650 million people, $130 billion Rural annual GDP
• Can we double the Rural GDP in the next ten years….
What Should We Aspire For?
Current Rural GDP in India = $ 130 billion
For a Population
= 650 million people
GDP / Person
= $ 200
Rural Prosperity
DOUBLING Rural GDP
$ 400 / Person
Rural Wheel of Prosperity - The
Wealth Creators
Agriculture
Trade &
Commerce
Animal
Husbandry
IT-Based
Services
Agricultural
Processing
Industry
Rural Wheel of Prosperity – The
Enablers
Agriculture
Trade &
Commerce
Animal
Husbandry
• Finance
• Commerce
• Training &
Information
IT-Based
Services
Agricultural
Processing
Industry
Enabling Finance, Commerce
and Training and Information
Agriculture
Trade &
The
Commerce
Key
Animal
EnablerHusbandry
is
Communications
IT-Based
Services
Agricultural
Processing
Industry
Income and Telecom Spend of Rural
Indian households
Monthly telecom expenditure (assuming 4% income can be spent on telecom)
3.2
million households
120
6
8.8
12
17
25
42
100
3.9
1.9
1.0
0.3
0.3
290
420
630
1040
2510
102.1
100
80
60
40
17.0
20
10.0
0
80
150
220
monthly household income in $
• 75% (119 million) households can spend barely $ 3.2 per
month on telecom
To Connect Rural India
We need
• Low cost technology
• Aggregation of demand
• Multi-service establishments
Low Cost Technology
Rural India requires
• Telecom Infrastructure at a Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) of
under $200 per line
– Not a problem of the West, as affordability there is much
higher
– a task of scientists of Developing Countries
• In doing so and serving the large potential market of India and
other Developing Countries
– we can be amongst the world leaders in telecom technology
Where have we come so far ?
Cost front
• Innovative Technologies (CorDECT) and better buying has
reduced CAPEX to around $325 per line
– moving towards $200 per line enabling 50% of Indian homes to afford
telecom
• rural connectivity cost reduced from $1500 to about
$300 per connection
Where have we come so far ?
Technology Front
•BSNL’s Contribution: on the average one fibre connected rural
exchange for every 150 sq km
• a wireless system with 10 km range at existing fibre
connected exchange would cover 80 - 85% of
villages in India
•CorDECT Wireless in Local Loop developed by IITM and Midas
Communications, Chennai
•provides a telephone line and Internet connection in 30 Km
radius
IITM - Midas
corDECT Wireless in Local Loop

To PSTN
To Internet
35/70 kbps Internet plus
simultaneous telephone
• $ 150 per line price
•1 million lines in 03-04
Aggregation of Demand
Two big success stories of Indian Entrepreneurship
in the recent years
• Cable TV revolution
• Run by a local businessmen over a small area
• 50% of TV households are C&S homes
• STD PCO revolution
• Run by an individual working 16-18 hrs
• 30% of population has access to phones today
Highlights of these models
• Local and small entrepreneurship
• service customised to local needs
• Affordable
• operation cost about a third of that of corporate
sector and benefit of lower operation cost passed on
to the customer
• Can we repeat this success in rural internet
connectivity ?
Multi-service establishments
Rural Internet requires
• Contents and applications in local language
– remote jobs and services
– education, training, literacy
– health and veterinary services
– communication and entertainment
– commercial services, micro-credit, money orders and banking,
agricultural management, forest products
– e-governance
– voice mail, video mail, voice enabled chats, bulletin board
– Development activities
• Water harvesting, Inter-village chat
To enable these India needs
A communications company which
– would focus and operate only in Rural Areas
– looks at rural areas as large potential business and
provides wireless Internet connectivity in villages
– thinks and acts rural
n-Logue Comunications - A Rural
Service Provider
• aggregate demand into a kiosk using
• corDECT Wireless in Local Loop
• ISP in a box : Minnow
• Reliable power back-up
• $1000 (including taxes) per kiosk providing telephone, Internet,
multimedia PC with web-camera, printer and 4 hour power
back-up for PC
• plus Indian language software
• set up by a village entrepreneur on the lines of STD / PCOs
• needs only $60 per month to break even
n-Logue Deployment Strategy
Telephone
Backbone
Application &
Content
Providers
Internet Backbone
Scope:
• 1 –3 Talukas
• 25 Km radius, 2000 sq km
• 4 – 500 K population
• 2 - 5 towns
• 300 -400 villages
500 + Connections (at least 1 in
each village)
ACCESS
CENTRE
Connections:
• Individuals
• Government
— schools and PHCs
• Kiosks
LSP
Banks
KIOSK
OPERATOR
$ 1000 / Kiosk
Banks
Micro Finance
Organisations
What is the monthly income?
• STD PCO
• Children learn typing
– all kinds of on-line and off-line education
• Kiosk is a photography shop
– also a video parlour on weekend evenings
• email and browsing
– voice mail and video mail
• e-governance access
– connect to taluka Government office for services
• and much more
$ 20+
$ 10+
$ 6
$ 6
$ 10+
$4
Word-processor in Indian Languages
Multi-lingual Office
Package
IITM Chennai Kavigal
Mundi . . . .
• A 60 year old from a village
near Melur had lost vision for
2 years
– through tie-up with Aravind eye-care
hospital, vision was restored in one
eye
• IITM trying to develop Remote
Diagnostic tools
– Blood Pressure, Sugar & Iron, ECG
Monitor, stethoscope
– at total cost of $ 200
Consultancy on Crop Disease
• Top: Ladies Finger
Diseased with yellow mosaic
• Below : Post treatment
• Savings of $ 3000
• Cost of information $0:50
E- Dr Vet ?
• In Attapati village ,
Priya’s chicken was
limping
• Photo sent to Veterinary
college
• Identified as Curled toe
paralysis
• Cost for process
– Earlier $ 4
– This case $0:40
IITM - OOPS
The Power of multi-party video
communication
Low bit-rate Video Conferencing (audio +
video + text at 20 kbps and more)
Can Kiosks become Micro-banks?
• TeNeT and n-Logue working with ICICI Bank
–
–
–
–
Remote Bill Payment
Rural ATM
Micro-finance
Remittance
• Credit and Product Marketing is one of the biggest
requirement of Rural India
Knowledge and Training
• Another Driver of Rural Prosperity
– Information Dissemination and Knowledge
Enhancement
• Need a Virtual University in every District
to enable this
• Basic Structure would
• Consist of a Central Hub
• And Knowledge Extension Centres in every village
The Extension Centre
There will about 1000
such Extension Centres in
Every District
• Virtual Extension of the
University
• Located in Every Village
• Enhanced Village Internet
Kiosk equipped with
•Computer(s)
•Internet Connection
•Web Camera and
Multimedia
•Power backup
•Local Language
Software
• Run by a local person
who is trained to facilitate
the learning process
To Sum up
• Internet is Power
– Every village in India needs Internet
• Connecting 600,000+ Indian villages can happen
– only with commercially viable connections
• Telecom will
– help in doubling Indian rural GDP
– make rural prosperity a reality
and ….recalling our dream in the
beginning
…we are not being so starryeyed after all in dreaming
thus………