Date:11/09/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/09/11/stories/2004091101350500.htm

Back Rural areas to gain more from broadband: TRAI

Our Bureau

The regulator would come out with its final recommendations on unified licence by next month.

New Delhi , Sept. 10

MORE than the urban population, it will be the rural India that would reap benefits with the introduction of broadband telecommunication services, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Speaking at the Wireless and Mobile India 2004 seminar, Dr D.P.S. Seth, Member, TRAI, said, "Many non-voice benefits like distance education, tele-medicine, farm extension services too will become possible. This is besides the fact that the rural population will become part of the information age."

"Of the 20 million subscribers six to seven million of these probably will use DSL (digital subscriber line) technologies. The balance will be served by other competing technologies. However, the success of broadband would depend upon the quality of the service and the content it will provide," Dr Seth said.

He also revealed that the regulator would come out with its final recommendations on unified licence by next month.

Mr P.S. Saran, former Secretary, Department of Telecom, said, " Services like e-Chaupal by ITC have demonstrated the value of Internet for rural areas. Technologies are available for providing broadband services to rural areas, but the market will finally decide which of these competing technologies would actually thrive."

Mr Jagbir Singh, Group Chief Technical Officer, Bharti Infotel, pointed out that the impediments to growth of wireless broadband were limited availability of spectrum and non-availability of standardised technologies at the right cost.

Mr Biswapati Chaudhuri, Director, wireless monitoring unit, Department of Telecommunication, said the Government's decision to de-licence 2.5 GHz spectrum would promote larger use of the latest Wi-Fi technologies.