Transcript n-Logue Presentation Jul03

Internet and India:
Vision & Opportunities
Demystifying Broadband Internet in India’s Context
Ashok Jhunjhunwala, IITM, Chennai
[email protected]
Internet is Power

Internet is not just a means of communications, but is Power
 can enable people in all kinds of ways

But Internet in India has grown slowly
 is expensive
 Internet based Education, Internet based Commerce and
Internet based Entertainment is virtually non-existent

What does India require?
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
2
Dial-up Internet

Internet widely available on fixed telephone lines (45 million)
using dial-up
 provides 10 kbps average bit-rate on 33.6 kbps connection
at Rs 35 per hour
 Rural / Small town telephones often connect at 9.6 kbps


enables email and some browsing
Mobile (20 million) can support 100 kbps shared connection
(for all users in a sector) on GPRS/3G-1X
 less than even dial-up rate at Rs 26 per hour
 great for handsets -- but meaningless for homes/ small offices
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
3
What will we like at homes/ small offices?

Low bit-rate connection for messaging at Rs 100 per month

33.6 kbps (dedicated) Always On connection at Rs 250 per month
 will enable email, browsing and some education/commerce

100 kbps (dedicated) Always On connection at Rs 500 per month
 will enable video-conferencing, some entertainment

2Mbps (dedicated) Always On connection at Rs 1000 per month
 will enable video on demand, entrtainment

Can we get there??
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
4
Where are the bottlenecks?

International Network
 Rs 100,000 per month per Mbps (one way to/from USA)
 if one uses a 100 kbps connection to continuously pull traffic
from a US based server, the international network alone will cost
Rs 10K per month?

Backbone Network cost in India
 Rs 20,000 per month per Mbps (one way, farthest distance)

Access Network: connecting from PoP to home/office
 dial up costs Rs 26 per minute for telephony alone
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
5
International Link charges limits Internet
speed in India

At Rs 100K per month for a 1 Mbps Internet link
 and with most traffic going to servers located in the West
 Internet bandwidth can not be made affordable


Problem complicated by the fact that Indian ISPs often
connect to each other only via international links
Answer:
 Internet Exchange in India
 all traffic with source and destination in India must remain in India
 Create Indian Content and host it in India
 Mirror / host International sites in India
 reduce International traffic fraction from 85% to 25% in three years
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
6
Backbone Network cost in India still high

At a cost of Rs 20,000 per Mbps (one way) between Metros,
Backbone Network cost is still a bottleneck

reduce it by a factor of three to four in next couple of years

With huge fibre build-up taking place, this is likely
 incentives needed to speed this up
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
7
For home/office connectivity
Access is the primary bottleneck

Access Choices:
 Dial-up Internet: too costly and too little
 Mobile: too costly and far too little

DSL on Copper: available only with incumbent (BSNL/MTNL)

Coaxial Cable: Can we overcome Quality?

Wireless: Can we provide enough bandwidth?

Fibre to the home/curb: build may take time
(with Last METERS of Copper or wireless)
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
8
Digital Subscriber Loop on Copper

What is technologically possible today?
 ADSL: 6 Mbps downlink and 512 kbps uplink for 4 Kms cu
 VDSL: 20 Mbps downlink and 1 Mbps uplink for 700 m
 But who has copper links to homes/offices?
 Only BSNL/MTNL
 What are the lengths of such copper loop
 mostly 3-4 Kms; 5% may be 700 m (connected using DLCs)
 What is the quality of such copper?
 Poor, except when 700 m copper links with DLCs are used


can not be used to provide even lite-ADSL
Dishnet/Bharati are putting their own cables in a limited way
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
9
BSNL provide DSL service in 50 cities
using DIAS

V5.2
PSTN
IP
Internet

IAN
HDSU



128/64 kbps Internet + simultaneous voice
2 Mbps Internet + phones
Always ON Internet connection at Rs 850 per month
 is likely to come down to Rs 500 per month
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
10
Internet on Coaxial Cable

Widely used in USA
 10 to 40 Mbps broadcast in forward direction and 512 kbps
to 1 Mbps shared up-link

Coaxial provides TV to 60 million Indian homes
 at carrier charge of Rs 80 per month (in contrast to charge
of $ 20+ per month in most developing countries)
 how is this possible?
 Choice of cable, connectors, amplifiers and deployment and
maintenance methodology are all designed to provide TV
services at Rs 80 per month
 Most attempts in India towards conversion of the coaxial plant
for two-way Internet communication has been a failure
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
11
Wireless: The happening Area
can it solve our access problem to homes/ small
offices?

Wireless Technologies:
 2.5 G Mobile: 3G-1x/GSM/GPRS
 can deliver 100 kbps shared connection to all subs in a sector
 may deliver 1 Mbps shared connection in future (3G)
 still at best comparable to 56 kbps dial-up; uses huge spectrum; will
be costly --- can compete with dial-up

corDECT WiLL: 35/ 70 kbps dedicated Always On connection
 comparable to dial-up: require aggressive strategy to provide


Low bit-rate connection for messaging at Rs 100 per month
33.6 kbps (dedicated) Always On connection at Rs 250 per month
 2.5G corDECT will provide Always On 100 kbps dedicated connectivity
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
12
Wireless Technologies (continued)

802.11 Wireless LAN
 ideal LAN for office, homes, public places (100 meters)
 but required fibre/DSL connection to base station

PMP Systems (proprietary) providing 64kbps to 2Mbps connection
 companies like SIFY provides 64 kbps at Rs 20K per month
 shared connection to multiple user in a building

802.16 WiMax (OFDM)
 new standard -- 10 Mbps shared connection in a sector
 may amount to 500 kbps dedicated connection to each user


what price point and when?
4G wireless / MIMO
 promises more: when, how much and at what cost?
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
13
Fibre Access Network
finally beating the bandwidth game

Fibre to the Building / Curb
 last Meters on copper (Ethernet) or wireless (802.11)
 100 Mbps to each user possible
 is being used today by almost all operators
 BSNL, MTNL, Reliance, Bharati, Tata-Tele, Shyam, HFCL
RT
Gig E ring
DATA
Subscriber
Services
PSTN
n X 64
COT
Broadband
Switch
TeNeT Group, IITM
STM-1 Ring
Narrowband
Support
Telecom India, Nov03
ISDN
Leased line
POTS
HDSL
ADSL
..VDSL
Ethernet
14
But is Fibre Access affordable?
FTTB

How deep can the Fiber go?

Key drivers
 Cost of Fiber Termination
 Line Terminating Electronics
 Power Backups

FTTH
Depends on
 Customer Density and Affordability

For dense urban areas of India, Fibre to the building is the
most cost effective solution
 comparable to wireless provided one can get it 1 in 3 homes
 but can one install fast enough?
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
15
Terminals

PCs are too expensive for India’s homes
 VIA PC and AMD has brought cost below Rs 15K
 still too high beyond 7 to 10 million homes

Need new solutions:
 Rs 10K devices to reach next 20 million homes
 Rs 5K devices to reach next 50 million homes

Messaging terminals at Rs 1.5K for 50 million homes
 may be handheld
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
16
Can we get there?

Low bit-rate connection for messaging at Rs 100 per month
 Mobile or corDECT

33.6 kbps (dedicated) Always On connection at Rs 250 per month
 corDECT or 3G mobile

immediate
100 kbps (dedicated) Always On connection at Rs 500 per month
 DIAS (incumbent) or 2.5G corDECT
 or DSL on new copper

immediate
immediate
slow deployment
2Mbps (dedicated) Always On connection at Rs 1000 per month
 Fibre Access Network with Ethernet/ 802.11 or DSL on new
copper
slow deployment
 or 802.16 (only about 500 kbps)
early 05
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
17
To Sum Up

To enable India with Internet, we need
 Indian traffic to stay in India: NIXI
 Indian content and hosting/mirroring International sites
 Education, Commerce and entertainment content needs push
 Reduce International traffic percentage from 85% to 25%


Reduction of Backbone network cost in India by a fourth
Always On Access providing differential services at costs of
Rs 100 to 1000 per month
 2 Mbps Broadband connection possible only by Fibre Access
 growth will be slow till we find new technology solution

Terminals widely affordable in India
TeNeT Group, IITM
Telecom India, Nov03
18