OVERVIEW OF TELECOM SCENARIO IN INDIA including rapidly changing technology in the telecom K. Sridhara Member (Technology) Department of Telecom TDSAT SEMINAR 26 November 2006

26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 2 Contents Telecom Sector Current Telecom scenario Key Policy initiatives Technology development Issues & challenges

26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 3 Telecom Sector Most vibrant sector with highest growth rate – more than 60 lakh customers are added every month Plethora of services Easier access/ availability Drastic reduction in tariff World class service

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Major classes of Services Fixed Copper, Optical Fibre, Wireless Mobile GSM and CDMA based Narrow band Voice, Internet, Fax Broad band High speed Internet, Video

26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 6 Current Telecom Scenario Total Number of Operators - Above 800  Access Service (Mobile & Fixed)  National Long Distance - 13  International Long Distance - 8  ISPs, Infrastructure providers etc. - Above 650

26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 7 Current Telecom Scenario (contd) Fixed lines 49.2 m Mobile lines m WLL Fixed6.79 m Total wireless lines m Teledensity Internet connections 8.4 m Broadband connection 1.92 m

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26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 10 Fall in STD Rates Pre – April April October January March April September March (Rs/min)

26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 11 Key Policy Initiatives/milestones New Economic Policy (1991)  Opening up of Telecom service sector (Mobile – metros) National Telecom Policy 1994  Telecom, key for development  Inadequacy of public resource to meet demand  Private sector to supplement Govt.  Provide world class telecom service at affordable cost

26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 12 Key Policy initiatives (contd..) Establishment of TRAI (1997) New Telecom Policy (NTP 99)  Transition from fixed license fee to revenue share  Introduction of free competition  Technology neutral licenses  Tariff rebalancing Creation of BSNL (2000) Establishment of TDSAT (2000)

26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 13 Key Policy initiatives (contd..) Opening of National & International long distance Launching of mobile service by BSNL (2002) Establishment of USO Fund Broadband policy (2004)

26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 14 Technology Trend Optical fiber based wireline networks Wireless networks GSM,CDMA based mobile VSAT based satellite WiMax Next Generation Networks Voice, Data,Video convergence Telecom networks increasingly software intensive

Subscribers Wish List VIRTUAL PRESENCE Speak, Hear, See, Seek, Store Info Instantaneously & Interactively Perhaps feeling and sharing ambience Seamlessly, Everywhere, Always at Affordable cost with Agreed Quality of Service

Convergence Scenario for Residences Members of the same household are On-line Simultaneously Browsing Web Watching, Downloading & Recording Video Digital Audio & Video Broadcast

26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 17 Future Growth Demand for Wireless based services. Content rich services. IP based technology to provide requisite cost economics to achieve attractive business cases.

26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 18 CONTENT RICH TELECOM SERVICES LOCATION BASED SERVICES, USING DIGITAL MAPS. VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS VIDEO CONFERENCING. e-EDUCATION e-MEDICINE INTERACTION WITH GOVERNMENT ENTERTAINMENT

Issues to be addressed in the Indian Scenario Unique Rural Scenario : low teledensity Need for Spectrum re-farming & re- allocation Lack of Content in Local Languages Confidence on e-Commerce Network Security Bridging Digital Divide

26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 20 The real Challenge ! How effectively can the:  Government with its policies  TRAI with regulation &  TDSAT with dispute resolution can keep pace with the fastest growing and complex Telecom sector

26 November 2006 Dept. of Telecom 21 THANK YOU