With demand for high-speed Internet on the rise, optical fibres appear the only medium that can provide relief. But there are bottlenecks. Worse, the failure to execute a pan-India fiber optic installation plan can lead to a disastrous outcome
Another comparison with China. And a parameter that would be of interest to netizens – speed of broadband Internet. According to a 2012 ‘State of the Internet’ report by Akamai Technologies, the average broadband speed of Internet in India is 0.95 Mbps, while that in China is 2.1 Mbps. Even Philippines, Vietnam and a host of other countries that you would term “Third World” record Internet speeds far greater than in India. And since we are already talking comparisons, Asian countries like Japan and South Korea are years ahead of India with 10.5 Mbps and 14.7 Mbps of average Internet speeds respectively. What is interesting about these numbers is that ISPs in China, Japan and South Korea have been delivering over 2 Mbps of connectivity speed for over a decade now! And India? Thanks to 40 million copper loops (last mile connectivity count as per TRAI) spread across India and owned mostly by State-run telcos MTNL or BSNL (of which only 50% can support even 1 Mbps of Internet transfer), except for rare glimpses of real broadband connectivity, Internet users (on various devices including tablets and mobiles) in the country are still feeding on “pseudo-broadband” connections! The advent of fiber optics can however improve the situation. But given the current ecosystem, fiber optics in India appears a thing of the future.
The Delhi metro rail is an example of how optical fibers can infuse efficiency into a process. To ensure on-schedule running of trains and minimum waiting time for millions of users every day, the system works on a high speed optical fibre network that was set up at an initial cost of Rs.200 million a decade back (the network connects all the spoke servers at various stations to the central server at Shastri Park station). What if such a highly efficient fiber optic-enabled communication network was made available to everyday mobile phone or Internet users sitting at work or home? Greater voice clarity, better TV viewing experience and faster data transfer would change the experiences of millions of users of telecommunication devices in the country.
Lack of infrastructure is the reason why such experiences would be hard to come by for the average Indian, for at least the next decade. Some refer to coaxial fibers or wireless technologies as alternatives. At present, coaxial fibers used by cable operators (serving 80 million households across India) are not capable of carrying high bandwidth digital signals. There is much data loss and disturbance during signal transfers on coaxial fibers. Of the thousands of operators of cable TV across India, less than 7% have the expertise or pockets to make coaxial fibers ready for two-way data transfer (a necessity for high-speed transfers). As for wireless technology, 3G or 4G wireless technologies are an option. However, experiences in the past two years have made clear that additional spectrum (needed by telecom operators to serve the broadband needs of millions of customers) isn’t an asset that can be bought for a song. As per TRAI, in Delhi alone, on average, ‘each’ wireless operator would need about 300 MHz of spectrum to meet broadband connectivity demands – 1400% more than the ‘total’ spectrum allocated in the 2010 auctions. Therefore wireless mode is not a practical alternative to fiber optics. It is also important to note that when compared on the basis of loss of data, fibre optics is the best medium. Copper or coaxial cables are not reliable when transmitting data over long distances. These mediums require repeaters at regular intervals to ensure data reaches the intended destination, adding to the cost of equipment required to install a reliable system. On the contrary, fibre cables can transmit data over very long distances without the aid of repeaters.
Another comparison with China. And a parameter that would be of interest to netizens – speed of broadband Internet. According to a 2012 ‘State of the Internet’ report by Akamai Technologies, the average broadband speed of Internet in India is 0.95 Mbps, while that in China is 2.1 Mbps. Even Philippines, Vietnam and a host of other countries that you would term “Third World” record Internet speeds far greater than in India. And since we are already talking comparisons, Asian countries like Japan and South Korea are years ahead of India with 10.5 Mbps and 14.7 Mbps of average Internet speeds respectively. What is interesting about these numbers is that ISPs in China, Japan and South Korea have been delivering over 2 Mbps of connectivity speed for over a decade now! And India? Thanks to 40 million copper loops (last mile connectivity count as per TRAI) spread across India and owned mostly by State-run telcos MTNL or BSNL (of which only 50% can support even 1 Mbps of Internet transfer), except for rare glimpses of real broadband connectivity, Internet users (on various devices including tablets and mobiles) in the country are still feeding on “pseudo-broadband” connections! The advent of fiber optics can however improve the situation. But given the current ecosystem, fiber optics in India appears a thing of the future.
The Delhi metro rail is an example of how optical fibers can infuse efficiency into a process. To ensure on-schedule running of trains and minimum waiting time for millions of users every day, the system works on a high speed optical fibre network that was set up at an initial cost of Rs.200 million a decade back (the network connects all the spoke servers at various stations to the central server at Shastri Park station). What if such a highly efficient fiber optic-enabled communication network was made available to everyday mobile phone or Internet users sitting at work or home? Greater voice clarity, better TV viewing experience and faster data transfer would change the experiences of millions of users of telecommunication devices in the country.
Lack of infrastructure is the reason why such experiences would be hard to come by for the average Indian, for at least the next decade. Some refer to coaxial fibers or wireless technologies as alternatives. At present, coaxial fibers used by cable operators (serving 80 million households across India) are not capable of carrying high bandwidth digital signals. There is much data loss and disturbance during signal transfers on coaxial fibers. Of the thousands of operators of cable TV across India, less than 7% have the expertise or pockets to make coaxial fibers ready for two-way data transfer (a necessity for high-speed transfers). As for wireless technology, 3G or 4G wireless technologies are an option. However, experiences in the past two years have made clear that additional spectrum (needed by telecom operators to serve the broadband needs of millions of customers) isn’t an asset that can be bought for a song. As per TRAI, in Delhi alone, on average, ‘each’ wireless operator would need about 300 MHz of spectrum to meet broadband connectivity demands – 1400% more than the ‘total’ spectrum allocated in the 2010 auctions. Therefore wireless mode is not a practical alternative to fiber optics. It is also important to note that when compared on the basis of loss of data, fibre optics is the best medium. Copper or coaxial cables are not reliable when transmitting data over long distances. These mediums require repeaters at regular intervals to ensure data reaches the intended destination, adding to the cost of equipment required to install a reliable system. On the contrary, fibre cables can transmit data over very long distances without the aid of repeaters.
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