The Broadband song

Exactly nine months ago in June 2004, I wrote a column on the sad state of bandwidth in India. I was in the interiors in Almora district in Uttaranchal and simply wasn't able to connect to even send my column. Though finally I did manage connecting after 4 days of trial and tribulation, I cribbed about the state of bandwidth. I also mentioned about the proposed Broadband Policy and like many others wished it would be launched soon enough in our lifetime!

Guess what? The new Broadband Policy did launch on schedule last December. If that wasn't enough on March 11, the telecom regulator TRAI slashed the bandwidth prices from 35% to 71%.

Maran the hero and a Ministry that delivers

Politics, nah! Politicians, never! I, like many others of my generation have perhaps little to do with politics and politicians and feel its best left ununderstood. My daily dose of politics is perhaps not more than ten minutes, waking up to the Hindustan Times headlines and the 10 o'clock news at night. Yes, I do spend a few minutes everyday, introspecting, that inspite of our politicians India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world. That sure is a feat for India and for an Indian like me to be proud of.

However, I have found an exception. An exception called Mr Dayanidhi Maran, our Telecommunications Minister. This man and his Ministry have actually delivered what they promised. Hey! Wait a second, the timely implementation of the Broadband Policy is just one feather in his cap, the others being, taking a rightful stand against a giant called Reliance, introduction of .IN domains, the increased penetration of phones to nine per 100. It means that there are, on an average, nine phones for every 100 people. Consider this, ten years ago when the telecom sector was opened to private participation, India's tele-density was 0.8 or less than one phone for 100 people.

I also believe his future promises will be on track. His future agenda besides Broadband being the spectrum policy, creation of manufacturing hub for cellphones in India to reduce dependence on imports, increase India's tele-density to a 250 million lines besides several other plans.

Congrats Mr Maran, we wish there were more people like you.

The Broadband effect

Six years ago it took over a few lakhs annually to get dedicated access to Internet in the national capital of India. If the phone-modem combination suited you, the charges were Rs 35 per hour. How much we wished someday in India we would see a 'always on' Internet connection.

Forward to 2005. Options range between 32 kbps to 512 kbps for consumers. Price wise it starts at Rs 500 and goes on to Rs 3000 per month. Now that's what you call a change.

The Broadband target

The Broadband Policy has a target figure of 20 million Broadband subscribers by 2010. Can it be achieved?

A look at some figures first. PC and Internet penetration in the country is only 0.8 connections per 100 persons and 0.4 connections per 100 persons respectively. India has only 0.02 Broadband connections per 100 persons, compared to South Korea's 25.

Well, there are rants. The figure is being called un-achievable by many besides the policy is said to have several drawbacks vis-à-vis local loop unbundling.

My say? Well, I do believe in figures but vision and plans cannot solely be based on them. Optimism and hope have turned many a plan into a story of success. With people like Maran and his team, I am both hopeful and optimistic that we truly can see change in the right direction.

About the author

Puneet Mehrotra is a web strategist at www.Cyberzest.com and edits www.MidnightEdition.com He is the Interent Economy Columnist for HindustanTimes.com

You can mail him on: ebiz333@yahoo.com