Transcript itu_towards_Rural_Prosperity_Sep03

Commercial Internet Connectivity in every village
Towards Rural Prosperity
Ashok Jhunjhunwala
TeNeT Group, IIT Madras, Chennai, India
[email protected]
-
The Dream
Current Rural GDP in India = $ 150 billion
For a Population
= 700 million people
GDP / Person
= $ 220
Rural Prosperity
DOUBLING Rural GDP
$ 400 / Person
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Rural Micro-Enterprises are the Wealth
Creators

Micro-enterprises need
 Finance
 Knowledge and Training
 Buying & Selling
 Insurance

Can Communications Enable
these ?
Agriculture
Trade &
Commerce
Animal
Husbandry
IT-Based
Services
Agricultural
Processing
Industry
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How does one
connect Rural
India?

India has 600,000+ villages
 700 million people


can Rural India afford Connections?
Needs



Technology
Sustainable Business Model
Organisation which thinks and acts Rural
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Serving people with incomes of
less than a dollar a day
Dollars spend per month on Telecom by HH assuming 4% of income can be spent on Telecom
$2.4
Number of HH in millions
120
7.2
10.4
14.4
20.8
33.6
52
89.6
3.9
1.9
1
0.3
0.3
360
520
840
1300
2240
102.1
100
80
60
40
17
20
10
0
60
180
260
HH Incom e in $ per m onth
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75% rural households can spend barely $2.4 per month on telecom
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n-Logue uses Innovative Technology to
connect Rural India

BSNL has fibre connectivity to most Talukas (county hq)

CorDECT WLL developed at IITM
• provides a telephone line and Internet connection in a 30 Km radius
• can connect 85% of Indian villages
• start-up costs very low

To PSTN
To Internet
35/70 kbps Internet plus
simultaneous telephone
• $ 150 per line price
•1 million lines being deployed
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Aggregate Demand

Entrepreneur-driven telephone booths (STD PCOs)
introduced in 1987
• night-time long distance charges reduced by a
factor of 4

Today
• 950,000 STD PCOs covering every street of
smallest town
• generate 25 % of total telecom income
• 300 million people use these PCOs
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Innovative Business Models

n-Logue : A Rural Service Provider

aggregate demand into a kiosk

$1000 (including taxes) per Kiosk providing telephone, Internet,
multimedia PC with web-camera, printer and power back-up for PC
• plus Indian language software, video conferencing software, training and
maintenance

set up by a village entrepreneur on the lines of STD PCOs
• needs only $2.5 per day to break even
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n-Logue Deployment Strategy
Telephone Backbone
Application &
Content Providers
Internet Backbone
•
•
•
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•
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
$1000 / Kiosk
KIOSK
OPERATOR
Banks
Micro Finance Organisations
Word-processor in Indian Languages
Multi-lingual Office Package
IITM Chennai Kavigal
Digital Studio – Low cost
Photography
Photograph taken
with a Web Camera
Printed
Photograph
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Video-conferencing
IITM - OOPS
Video conferencing from a village with the Communications
Minister (Shri Thirunavakarasu)
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The Agricultural Expert is no longer
far away …
Before
In a Village in
Madurai, the Lady’s
Finger (Okra) crop
was turning white
The problem
was sent to the
experts at the
Department of
Rural Extension,
Madurai
Agricultural
College and
Research Centre
who diagnosed
it as “Yellow
Mosaic disease”
After
Saving to farmer - $3500
Cost of Information - half dollar
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The Vet is On The Net …
•This goat had a wound
near its mouth and could
not eat for a week
• The advice from the
doctor cured its problem
in 2 days
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Emergencies are no longer Calamities …
In the village of T
Ulgapitchanpatti,
all
hens are dying one by
one. The symptoms for
these hens are …... At
this
stage
they
die
immediately. Until now,
300 hens have died in
this way.
How do we
stop this? Please give us
a solution immediately.
From A. Sakkarai"

A visit from the Government Veterinary
Officials to vaccinate all hens
Epidemics can be prevented with a
Doctor on Call

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A potential epidemic of Chicken Pox was halted by a simple
email to the right people
Instant response from the Government Doctors
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Ordinary People have a Voice …


Veeramani, a man with disabilities was
fired as pump operator by Village
Headman
Through the kiosk, he sent an email petition
to the Chief Minister’s Cell, attaching his
photograph
A letter came back from
the CM’s Cell asking that
he be reinstated
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Eye Care
• An email is sent to the Aravind Eye Hospital
with a photograph of patient’s eyes
• The patient is told that her problem is not
serious and could wait for some time
Enhanced Interaction with
the doctor through video
conferencing
General Health – An Online Clinic
with a Doctor
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Talking to an Agricultural Expert
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Video-conferencing (6 kiosks in conversation)
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Bridging the Digital Divide – Computer
Education for Rural Children
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Can Kiosks become Micro-banks?
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TeNeT and n-Logue working with ICICI Bank
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Remote Bill Payment
Rural ATM
Micro-finance
Remittance
Credit and Product Marketing is one of the biggest
requirements of Rural India
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Knowledge and Training

Another Driver of Rural Prosperity

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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
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The Extension Centre
• 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
There will about 1000 such
Extension Centres in Every
District
Sparse Area Communications -- where
there is no fibre backbone

Microwave or Satellite back-haul required
 microwave link costs have come down
• can be optimised further -- tower costs dominate

satellite back-haul needs special design providing significant
data-rate at each remote hub
• Hub serves 50 to 100 villages in 15-25 Km radius
• driving down the total cost to connect a village
• finance and buying/selling may make even larger sense
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ISRO-IITM
For inaccessible Rural Areas


3.8 m antenna
2.4 m antenna
15 -25 Kms with 50 connections
PSTN
Internet
• 8-10 voice channels + 64/128 kbps Internet satellite backhaul
• Each hub supports 16 to 20 remote sites with 2 Mbps downlaod
• $200 corDECT + $200 backhaul cost per connection
To Sum Up
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Doubling Rural GDP will change India
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Finance, Commerce, Training & Information are key
Wireless Internet can enable these
Sparse Areas will require special efforts
Internet in Rural Areas is the key Infrastructure
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