Internet Service Providers

The licensor had earlier detected alleged misreporting of revenues by certain mobile service providers, even as it ordered inquiry into illegal long distance operations of certain multinational companies.

One of the main concerns of the licensor is that the ISP licence does not have clauses to deal with active infrastructure sharing among ISPs and national and international long distance (NLD and ILD) service providers, according to a source close to the development.

The DoT now wants a provision to be included in the ISP licence that will enable segregation of costs and revenues of various licences, he said.

The licensor's finance division will also "scrutinise" the calculations based on which ISPs report their adjusted gross revenues (AGRs). This will be mainly done for companies that have multiple licences and share infrastructure with telecom operators in the country, he said.

It would also issue guidelines to ISPs on reporting of revenues earned from usage of NLD networks, mainly from internet subscribers.

There are 164 ISPs in the country, with the top five being BSNL, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, MTNL and Sify Technologies. The ISPs provide internet connectivity to around 13 million customers in the country, of which 5.65 million are broadband connections.

The government is planning to increase the broadband connectivity in the country to around 20 million by 2010. Earlier, the government had decided to undertake a special audit of telecom companies including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular and Aircel over alleged mis-reporting of revenues.

Airtel has now launched the service based on optic-based DSL technology in Delhi and planning to launch the same in Chennai and Bangalore soon. The average broadband speed in India is 256 Kbps currently, while in countries such as France and Korea, this is in excess of 16 Mbps.

The new service comes at a premium. For those in New Delhi, the monthly charges are Rs 2,999, with up to 20 GB of download, in addition to modem and installation charges of Rs 850. Subscribers in Gurgaon will have to pay Rs 4,999 for up to 50 GB of download.

"Broadband has an extremely high potential of growth not just from the possible conversions of dial-up connections, but also in the expansion of internet homes," said R. Chandrasekar, Head (Brand and Media), Bharti Airtel.

The broader implications are that it allows ISps to control acces to the internet. Vaibhav Kumar Spokeperson, IBF

Bharti Airtel Ltd and Tata Communications Internet Services Ltd, or TCISL, in February adopted a so-called fair usage policy, or FUP, as part of the terms and conditions that govern the use of broadband Internet which puts data caps or download restrictions on unlimited plans.

Another broadband service provider, Sify Ltd, recently indicated to the country's telecom regulator that it too favours limiting unlimited plans.

As per this new usage policy, even those Airtel or Tata customers who have subscribed to an "unlimited Internet plan" will be subjected to restricted Internet usage. Through its FUP, Airtel, for instance, has "defined fair usage levels for unlimited data transfer plans" and "on reaching the fair usage level, the plan speed would be rationalized by up to 50% for the rest of the monthly billing cycle".

This means that in the 256 kilobytes per second (kbps) connection, where Airtel has a download limit of 50GB, once this limit is reached, it halves the speed to 128kbps.

Source: Live Mint Service Providers Set Data Transfer Limits On Unlimited Internet Plans

The rules involve following measurable numbers to monitor network congestion that can affect speed of data traffic. Broadband Internet resembles road traffic, with better flow if fewer subscribers share the same bandwidth, much like roads. The number of subscribers sharing the same bandwidth is called the contention ratio, the publication of which has been made mandatory under the QOS rules. TRAI will also receive the numbers. The transparent ratio sharing is expected to help subscribers choose tariff plans.

TRAI officials said operators will have to ensure availability of minimum required bandwidth in their network according to maximum contention ratio suggested by TRAI for different services, based on number of subscribers.

This move comes as the regulator has been flooded with complaints that broadband/dial- up speeds are almost always lower than those promised by the operators.

Trai has also said that the regulations would also protect the interests of consumers and enhance customer satisfaction'. Further, justifying its plan, Trai said that the concept of virtual office, remote office is gaining popularity. E-Commerce, e-health, video world, virtual tours and E-marts are some other emerging popular applications requiring huge bandwidth which are time sensitive also. In such a scenario, quality of service becomes of prime importance.

The number of high speed Internet connections an ISP can support depends on the bandwidth availability. The regulator wants norms that will specify the ratio between the number of customers per unit bandwidth which is known as contention ratio. As per international practices, the average contention ratio for a home user package is 50:1 and that for business package is 20:1.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) in association with Smart Digivision Pvt Ltd launched an Interactive Personalised Television and Video Services (IPTV) for BSNL customers here today.

BSNL is currently providing the facility in 11 cities -- Pune being the first followed by Bangalore, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jodhpur, Kota, Kanpur, Varanasi, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ambala. "We have planned to extend this facility to 98 cities by end of 2009," Aggarwal informed.

BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal inaugurated the service. "IPTV reception is much better than the cable," he claimed. The service is available in 11 cities across the country.

What is IPTV?

The transmission of content through internet protocol television describes a system wherein digital content services are delivered to subscribing customers using internet protocol over a broadband connection using closed network infrastructure. Separate virtual circuits for voice, data and video applications are created in the same telephone connection to deliver the Triple Play services.

"Selected BSNL residential customers in NCR are experiencing the next generation of TV Entertainment Services. By using high-speed BSNL internet connection and Smart Digivision Set Top Box, customers are able to connect to a set of interactive lines that cost Rs 180 which is much lesser than the cable charges," said Goyal.

BPOs, IT firms and enterprise users of Internet should brace up for higher prices of bandwidth if they want capacity that is disruptionproof even in case of disasters like the latest undersea cable cuts in the Mediterranean region. Operators are mulling increasing prices for offering round-the-clock or restorable leased line services, top industry sources told ET.

Leased lines are dedicated circuits which provide permanent Internet connectivity and are heavily used by IT and IT-enabled services industry for voice and data transfer.

The simultaneous disruption of services on submarine cables SeaMeWe3, SeaMeWe4 (backed by 16 telecom companies) and Reliance Communications' Flag in the Mediterranean region has highlighted the need for submarine cable operators to have capacity on cables on different routes. While it will provide full redundancy (back-up) in case of a disaster, it will jack up costs for operators. This is because they have to keep capacity free 24X7 on a different cable route. This cost of keeping spare capacity will be passed on to end users.

 "Operators are thinking that enterprises must pay more if they want highly secure and reliable connectivity amid increasing incidents of cable cuts. Service providers will keep back-up on another route, rather than on nearby cables, which may also be affected in a disaster," said the source. While SMW3 and SMW4 have restoration contracts, meaning that one will take the load of another in case of a disaster, in the latest incident, both the systems have been impacted at the same time and in the same region. Coupled with breakdown of Flag, around 80% of users were affected in India.

India, which is expected to have the world's largest WiMAX deployment by 2012, offers great opportunity and some unique challenges to the wireless digital communications technology. It may perhaps be the market that would define the success of this technology as a solution to connect rural and untapped territories.

Unlike the mobile front, the major initiative for WiMax is set to be from the state-owned telecom provider, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). The company has already announced plans to install WiMAX base stations in 1,000 blocks across India by the end of this financial year and to provide high-speed internet access to 25,000 villages through CSCs.

"Villages will be equipped with infrastructure such as PCs, printers, software and staff for delivery of e-governance services pertaining to health, education and agricultural information," a BSNL official said. BSNL has also partnered with Intel to promote WiMAX-based broadband access in rural India. Under the pact, Intel will review state-owned BSNL's road map for the WiMAX rollout in the country and develop basic standards for the rollout and applications.

Private players have not shunned the WiMAX road either. Motorola is strengthening its presence in the hinterlands through extensive broadband wireless access (BWA) projects for state governments. Network major Alcatel-Lucent has set up a joint venture with C-DOT (the R&D arm of the telecom department) to focus on exclusive BWA/WiMAX solutions that are targeted towards rural connectivity. The company has completed field trials using Aircel's licensed WiMAX spectrum and the technology is ready for commercial deployment. "WiMAX has the potential to provide India with widespread broadband access that can usher in economic growth, better education and health care, and improved entertainment services," Alcatel-Lucent chief marketing officer A Sethuraman said. Alcatel Research Centre is also in the process of developing a product that would act as a receiver for WiMAX services, which is expected to cost less than $100.

Click on "Full Story" for more... With ICT-enabled kiosks or common service centers (CSC) dotting India's rural map, WiMax could play a major role in delivering various applications to rural India. These include online bill payment, delivery of agriculture, healthcare and entertainment services, solutions for e-commerce activities, including commodity price information, online trading and banking transactions.

Unlike the mobile front, the major initiative for WiMax is set to be from the state-owned telecom provider, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). The company has already announced plans to install WiMAX base stations in 1,000 blocks across India by the end of this financial year and to provide high-speed internet access to 25,000 villages through CSCs.

"Villages will be equipped with infrastructure such as PCs, printers, software and staff for delivery of e-governance services pertaining to health, education and agricultural information," a BSNL official said. BSNL has also partnered with Intel to promote WiMAX-based broadband access in rural India. Under the pact, Intel will review state-owned BSNL's road map for the WiMAX rollout in the country and develop basic standards for the rollout and applications.

Private players have not shunned the WiMAX road either. Motorola is strengthening its presence in the hinterlands through extensive broadband wireless access (BWA) projects for state governments. Network major Alcatel-Lucent has set up a joint venture with C-DOT (the R&D arm of the telecom department) to focus on exclusive BWA/WiMAX solutions that are targeted towards rural connectivity. The company has completed field trials using Aircel's licensed WiMAX spectrum and the technology is ready for commercial deployment. "WiMAX has the potential to provide India with widespread broadband access that can usher in economic growth, better education and health care, and improved entertainment services," Alcatel-Lucent chief marketing officer A Sethuraman said. Alcatel Research Centre is also in the process of developing a product that would act as a receiver for WiMAX services, which is expected to cost less than $100.

The work will likely to begin later this year after spectrum is allocated through the proposed e-auction. DoT will use Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) to fund the ambitious project that would provide e-governance and data services in rural areas, said an official statement.

To accomplish its wireless broadband plan, DoT has already held discussions with major technology providers, telecom service providers (TSPs) and Internet service providers (ISPs) to formalise the modalities of tender procedures, specification and benchmark settings.

The scheme envisages that the TSPs may utilise the existing passive and core infrastructure available with them. Consultants for the purpose have already been appointed. Requirements of the Department of Information Technology (DIT) and other user ministries like the Human Resource Development, Health, Panchayati Raj and Home Affairs are being firmed up so that block-wise villages can be prioritised and requisite infrastructure be kept ready.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is providing broadband services to 1,000 out of over 6,000 blocks. About 50,000 of the proposed 1-lakh common service centres would be covered by the BSNL broadband service. The DoT is likely to cover the remaining blocks and all the CSCs. Besides, the department is also likely to support wireline broadband by USOF wherever feasible.

Current downlinking norms only allow broadcasters to share their channels for the cable and direct-to-home platforms. Now, these will be amended to include sharing of channels with the IPTV platforms too, Minister of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said today after the Cabinet meeting.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had submitted its recommendations for IPTV to the I&B ministry some months back and it was pending the approval from the government.

State-owned BSNL and MTNL are already providing IPTV services across several cities, while private players like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications are waiting to launch their IPTV services.

IPTV uses high-speed internet to deliver not only the television channels but also other value-added services including time-shift TV, interactive advertising, movies without any advertisements and games.

Allowing ISPs to extend their internet telephony operations will effectively create an alternative domestic telephone network and has been criticised by mobile service providers as being unfair.

NET GAINS
(Key points of Trai's internet telephony recommendations)

•  Internet service providers will be allowed to provide unrestricted internet telephony within and outside the country and vice versa. They can now connect to landlines and mobile numbers within the country

•  ISPs will be allowed to have interconnection with national long-distance (NLD) operators through the internet for such services

• The annual gross revenue (AGR) of an NLD for calculating the licence fee to include revenue from carriage of internet telephony apart from normal revenue

•  Each service provider that intends to provide internet telephony service within India will install lawful interception equipment to comply with regulations set out by security agencies.

• Telecom Engineering Centre to conduct study on the basis of which appropriate number blocks will be earmarked for internet telephony under an eleven digit numbering plan

This auction will probably be the last spectrum auction in decades and could contribute as much as $5 billion-$7 billion to the exchequer -- a huge benefit in the season of soaring global oil prices, huge subsidy payouts, 12% inflation and slowing growth.

The government also took a definitive step towards the introduction of mobile number portability (MNP) by announcing guidelines for an MNP service licence. MNP allows subscribers to retain their mobile number while migrating to a different service provider. When implemented, this will allow consumers more choice, lower prices and significantly better quality of service.

MNP can be expected in metros towards the end of FY 2007-08. Consumers will be able to switch their operator within two days of making a request to their existing service provider. The 3G auction may also bring new, global competition to the telecom sector.

The bottom line, says curator Ameeshi Tapuriah, is aesthetic or visual appeal and affordable prices. Her four-day show of contemporary art, 'Odyssey', featuring 26 artists, opened at the arts and culture hub Epicentre in Gurgaon Friday.

"What do you expect the people of a satellite township like Gurgaon to buy? Definitely not signature brands by masters. They cannot afford it. Our works are all priced between Rs 20,000 to Rs 80,000 barring a clutch of senior artists, whose works run into hundreds of thousands. It is this Rs 20,000-Rs 80,000 price segment, which is steering the mass market for art," Tapuriah said.

Need your help Per the subject, i need High Speed Firewall protected internet connection, for 2 weeks from 18th July to 1st August, in Gurgaon .

Any ideas on how to have it ?

Suggestions are appreciated .

"We are very focused on India as a strategic market," said Shailesh Rao, Google India's managing director. "The vibrant video community will only grow."

Yet for all the hype, few Indians have fast broadband internet, which is critical for using high-bandwidth services such as videos, graphic-heavy computer games and internet telephony such as Skype.

With just 4m broadband connections, India is woefully behind government targets of 10m by 2010. "We are seriously lagging behind on broadband front," India's telecoms regulator said in a report early this year.

A recent OECD report showed that China adds 3.32m broadband connections in a quarter, whereas India adds just 80,000. The penetration numbers are all the more surprising given that India is known for its technology hubs and grabs headlines as the world's fastest-growing mobile phone market, with nearly 270m subscribers. India signed up 10m mobile customers in March alone.

"It is hard to rationalise the extremely low penetration of broadband," says Mr Rao. "It definitely makes you scratch your head."

Many factors are responsible. India's dearth of personal computers; lack of relevant computer services for the masses; poor infrastructure; a multitude of local Indian languages; and problems establishing last-mile internet connections are some of the reasons broadband has stalled in India.

David Appasamy, spokesman for Indian internet service provider Sify, puts it more bluntly. "India is supposed to be the IT superpower of the world, but we have an abysmally low penetration of PCs at home. It's got to turn around."

The biggest hurdle is low PC penetration of just 3 per cent, or 6m, says Mr Appasamy. Relatively high prices for computers was thought to drag down sales. But although Indian manufacturers have recently come up with a $200 computer, sales have not grown substantially.

The challenge is to make computers more relevant to average Indians. "The utility of a phone is very clear," says Kunal Bajaj, director of BDA India, the telecom consultancy. "But people don't need computers."

Most urban Indians use computers for e-mail, instant messaging and searching job websites. But these services are less relevant for rural dwellers, who account for nearly 70 per cent of India's 1.1bn population.

India claims 49m internet users, 40m of whom are in cities, according to internet research firm Juxtconsult.

Gaining relevance is also complicated by the fact that India has more than a dozen official languages, each with its own script, which demand special keyboards.

To address the linguistic challenge, popular Indian web portals Rediff and Sify have local language websites. Yahoo, India's most popular website, has local language instant messaging while Google offers search in five languages.

But even if computers become more relevant, there is a larger issue of connecting the crucial "last mile" to customers' homes. Government policy does not allow internet service providers to share the cost of delivering the final leg of connectivity from a communications provider to a customer with telephone companies.

Yet for all these hurdles, internet companies are keen to grab an early foothold in India, especially as new technology helps spur convergence of mobile phones and the internet. "If Google and YouTube don't establish themselves now, they won't be in position to compete in the future," says Mr Bajaj.

Delivering his address in the 2nd Day ASSOCHAM organized Global Telecom Summit here on Saturday, Mr. Scindia further disclosed that US$ 1.5 billion investment for providing broadband access to rural India would be generated through private sector. Remaining US$ 0.5 billion of investment would be poured into the project from government sources, added the Minister. The Minister clarified that 1,12,000 community service centres would be set up in 2008-09 at various places in all part of the rural India under the extension of Knowledge Mission, initiatives for which were taken by former Prime Minister,Mr. Rajiv Gandhi.

The government would declare its broadband policy shortly as well a policy for Wi-Max so that connectivity for broadband particularly for rural India becomes easier and convenient and the entire countryside is provided with this facility largely under the public-private partnership.

The Ministry of Communication & IT would unfold its 3G service guidelines by June and their execution would be effected by end of current calendar, said the Minister. The aim of the new policies would also be to provide wireless telephone and mobile telephone to almost every households of rural India as promised by the UPA government by 2010, said the Minister.

He called upon the telecommunication players to adopt a collaborative approach, the benefits of which should become available to end-users as tariff have fallen and there is much more scope that tariffs for short and long distance calls should further come down, provided there is unanimity in the collaborative approaches of telecom manufacturers and policy makers.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. T V Ramachandran, Chairman, ITU Regional Working Group for Private Sector issues called for new convergence policy which is due for long as the government has rolled out only its policy initiatives on issues relating to convergence in bits and pieces. Likewise, the policy for content access and IPTV are yet to be framed, he asked.

Ms. Sujata Dev, Managing Director, TBSL, Mr. C S Rao, Chairman, ASSOCHAM Communications Convergence Committee and its Secretary General, Mr. D S Rawat jointly called for initiatives through which voice transfer and internet movement can be run through mobile telephones. In the days to come, everything will move from PCs and TVs to mobile screen and therefore, content access policy and voice transfer regulation should be put in place so that all entertainment and information can converge on mobile, demanded Ms. Dev and Mr. Rao.

Tata Communications was the first company to launch broadband services on the WiMax platform on a large scale for retail consumers in India. In the initial phase, the company's WiMax network will offer broadband internet access and content services to enterprises and residential customers in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin, Chandigarh, and Kolkata. In fact, as per data provided by the company, Tata Communications currently serves over 5,000 enterprise and retail customers across ten cities where it offers this service.

While India's telecom (read mobile) is booming, its braodband sector is witnessing rather slow growth and is way behind the targets set by the Department of Telecom. India has just under 3.5 million braodband users as of January end according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). While WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is still an evolving technology, it is still considered a threat to third generation mobile services. As per global industry experience, WiMax offers data speeds that are 10-30 times faster than 3G. To put this in perspective, the data speeds of 3G networks are over five times faster than those offered by 2G cellular networks that telcos in India currently use.

iPass Inc. (NASDAQ: IPAS), a global provider of services that unify the management of enterprise mobility, and O-Zone Networks Pvt., the latest operator to enter the Indian Wi-Fi market, today announced that they have signed an agreement to add O-Zone's growing number of hotspot locations to the iPass leading Global Broadband Roaming footprint. Recently launched, O-Zone is working in partnership with India's largest listed real estate developer, DLF, to bring Wi-Fi internet access to popular venues across the country.

With a long-term goal of rolling out more than 6,000 locations within the next four years, O-Zone expects its customers and visitors roaming on its network to benefit from reliable access to more than 500 high-speed wireless internet points in its first year. The new network will include comprehensive coverage in the popular business destinations of Delhi & Gurgaon IT as well as various Cyber Parks.

"This agreement with iPass is fantastic news for O-Zone and will really help to validate our rapidly growing network," said Sanjeev (Bobby) Sarin, Founder and CEO of O-Zone. "We're excited that business travelers from around the world will be able to securely connect to their corporate networks or the internet, when and where they like, during their trips to India."

Prior to full integration in the iPass network, the O-Zone network infrastructure will go through iPass' Enterprise Ready Certification process, ensuring adherence to high levels of access reliability and compatibility with enterprise systems. These locations will add to the world's largest active Wi-Fi network of over 91,000 business-friendly broadband venues including 83 of the world's top 100 airports and 520 airports in total.

"India is rapidly becoming a priority destination for iPass Global 2000 customers," commented Anurag Lal, Chief Business Development and Sales Officer, iPass. "We're delighted to have an agreement in place with O-Zone as their expansion plans look very exciting."

The O-Zone network is due to cover a wide range of venues including shopping complexes, coffee shops, fast food chains and hotels as well as major international airports.