India ponders why just three per cent of its broadband services are wired
- Reference: 1621483266
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/05/20/india_ponders_why_just_three/
- Source link:
The nation currently relies on wireless for most of its broadband connections: just 22 million services are wired, compared to 747.41 million wireless connections, so about three per cent. Mobile phones and dongles account for 725 million of the wireless connections.
As noted in a new [1]consultation paper [PDF] published yesterday by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, 2020 saw a vast increase in video consumption over Indian networks, either for entertainment or as part of remote collaboration. The Authority assumes that trend will continue post-pandemic, states “fixed-line Broadband is the most reliable medium for video streaming and conferencing applications” and therefore likely to benefit the nation.
[2]
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The paper therefore sets out a range of policy options to get more fixed-line connections built, with giving carriers a break from licence fees the most-discussed option. Subsidies for subscribers are also suggested. Telcos’ obligations to operate an orderly application process for wired services are also discussed, with questions raised about whether carriers are doing enough.
Another issue the paper touches on is how to get 5G rolling in India, with access to street furniture as sites for small cells identified as an issue that needs to be better understood if the new standard is to make an impact.
[4]Indian telcos giving away services as customers fear going outside to top up their accounts
[5]India’s vaccination-booking API criticised for excluding millions, containing bugs, and overflowing with elitism
[6]Dell, Foxconn sign up for Indian servers-and-PCs manufacturing subsidies
[7]Malware attack that crippled Mumbai's power system came from China, claims infosec intel outfit Recorded Future
The paper also notes that India has considered how to stimulate wired broadband twice , in 2015 and 2020, and that discussions in those years appear not to have made much progress towards wider provision or adoption of wired connections. Maybe the third time will be the charm? We’ll get some idea of the potential for change from June 3rd, as that’s the deadline to submit comments on the Telecom Regulatory Authority’s paper. The Authority has promised to post comments online and has set a June 10th deadline to receive counter-comments. ®
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[1] https://trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/CP_19052021_0.pdf
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YKYzPehZr8N663o9ekNvqwAAAMY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YKYzPehZr8N663o9ekNvqwAAAMY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/17/india_mobile_carrier_covid_giveaways/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/13/co_win_criticism_india/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/05/dell_foxconn_india_server_pc_subsidies/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/01/statesponsored_chinese_group_attacked_india/
[8] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Take care of the poverty first.
I'll upvote you because your heart is in the right place. And I too would like to see the 80% of humanity that doesn't live in developed countries a lot better off than they are.
Two points though:
1. "If I'm too poor to afford a car, what use is it to me if you build better roads?" Well, if the "road" to your village is a 20km pair of ruts that washes out regularly every rainy season, the selection of even simple basic goods in your local store is likely to be poor. And their availability erratic. And if you get sick, you better to be hobble to the nearest clinic because the chances of an ambulance or periodic doctors visit to your village are somewhere between slim and none. Some amount of basic infrastructure really is a good thing.
2. Why is everyone so hard over on delivering glitzy state of the art technology to the boondocks? If the US is any example, that mostly doesn't happen even in developed countries. How about the alternative of designing essential services to work with simple devices and slow, low bandwidth, connections?
Re: Take care of the poverty first.
A tall order.
India definitely seems to be a land of contrast, that we can agree on.
However, given that 2020 saw [1]millions of laptops sold in India, there are quite a few people that do have the means to use a wired connection.
And I would argue that increasing the means to access the Internet in any country is going to help alleviate poverty because it will lower the barrier to access, meaning even more people will be able to get online and find, or even create, solutions.
Not all Indians cook their meals on dung fires. Yes, there are poor people, even very poor people, for sure. I don't have the solution for that, but I do think that every little bit helps.
[1] https://gadgets.ndtv.com/laptops/news/india-pc-market-shipment-idc-notebooks-idc-dell-hp-asus-acer-lenovo-2-9-million-q4-2020-2373473
Take care of the poverty first.
You've already admitted that the bulk of your citizens are online mainly/only via their phones. Why might that be? Because they can't afford a desktop computer that would, in turn, need a wired connection.
Instead of giving companies subsidies to entice them to build more wired connections for folks that probably have nothing to use said connections with, how about raising the general standard of living so that the bulk of your citizens can afford a desktop computer, a wired internet connection, electricity, sanitation, & food? You know, the Must Have's of life rather than the merely Nice To Have's that might be so far on the back burner it's not even in the same damned time zone as the dung fire over which they're currently cooking their food?
And before you smack me for being an elitest twit, please keep in mind that I'm trying to be as open minded as I can with the resources I have at hand. I subscribe to news sites like ElReg, the BBC, the Guardian, ARS Technica, and others in an attempt to get as broad a viewpoint as I can from as many sources as possible. From what I've read in places like ElReg, India has issues with their populace being mostly poor unto the point of hand to mouth existence in badly (if at all) maintained cities that contain small islands of more prosperous folks; the divide between the Have's & the Have Not's is so stark that it's like two different worlds trying to occupy the same physical space. So if that is true, if the bulk of Indians can't afford much beyond their cellphones as a means to get online, what's the point of a wired connection they can't use?
There but for the grace of God go I; I can't farm my own food, I can't work to earn the money to pay someone else to grow my food, and I'd be up shit creek without an internet connection by which to apply for all the government services I need.
I feel bad for those folks, which is why I'm wondering why the government is so worried about something that many of their citizens can't afford much less access.
If I'm too poor to afford a car, what use is it to me if you build better roads? If you want me to care about the roads, improve my standard of living to the point where I can afford to get one instead of worrying where my next meal might come from.
=-/