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Telecommunications in India hasevolved rapidly and consistentlyover the last decade or two.And in the process has
transformed the landscape of India inmany obvious and not so obviousways. In turn the growing consumerutilisation of telecom services acrossplatforms and functions - from socialmedia to gaming, from e-commerceand e-healthcare to everyday needssuch as utilising cab services via apps -is consistently driving the demand forincreasing amounts of high speedinternet access. In recent years theproliferation of low cost smartphonesand devices has only increased thepace at which consumer demand forhigh speed internetaccess, especially onthe go, is increasing.Equally, theconsumers are alsofocusing on quality of services beingoffered; thus the telecom sector isfacing simultaneously a surge inquantitative and qualitative demand.This in turn means that the telecomoperators need to continuouslyupgrade their network infrastructureand introduce newer technologies like
4G to enable faster data networks.The challenge for the serviceproviders, on the other hand, is withregards to business models that willenable them to grow and monetizethe new opportunities. The initialgrowth of the telecomsector was predicatedupon the growth of voicebased services withmessages, ring tones,etc., being offered asvalue add ons. But with thedevelopment of apps that offer manyof these services free of cost thatmodel no longer offers any significantgrowth. Data services are the next,imperative evolutionary step for thetelecom services in terms of businessgrowth. Thus the rollout of 4G services
becomes importantfor both consumersand the serviceproviders. Sometelecom operators
have already announced their rolloutof the 4G services and others are setto follow suit in the near future.
With the rollout of 4G servicesimminent the question many ask iswhat will be the impact on both, thetelecom services on offer to theconsumer and the virtual landscape of
India. And this is a conversation that istaking place against the backdrop ofthe Prime Minister's avowed aim ofmaking a 'Digital India' a functionalreality within the foreseeable nearfuture. Keeping in mind the business
growth potential for thetelecom sector; thepotential for a virtual, e-governance format andtechnological evolutionas an imperative; The
Economic Times in association withthe Global Group organised a paneldiscussion via the ET KnowledgeForum to discuss these issues andmore with a focus on "LTE/4G: TheNext Wave of Telecom Growth InIndia". Here stakeholders andindustry experts came together todiscuss many of the issues andconcerns centred around 4G.Moderated by Shivani Muthanna,Anchor, ET Now, the distinguishedpanel consisted of Vimal Wakhlu,CMD, TelecommunicationsConsultants India Limited (aGovernment of India enterprise);Arvind Bali, Director & CEO, VideoconTelecom; Ashwani K. Khillan, ChiefTechnology Officer, MTS India; andPrashant Singhal, Partner, AssuranceTelecom Sector Leader - EY (India).
DETERRENTS & DRIVERSThe session began with a welcomenote, delivered by T.K. Arun, Editor-Opinion, that focused on the nature ofthe need for mass availability ofwireless broadband services in India.Contrary to lazy perception, wirelessbroadband is not an elitist luxury. Infact its mass availability can serve as atool of empowerment for millionsacross India, especially in the ruralsector. Widespread wirelessconnectivity also has the potential torevolutionise sectors such as healthcare and governance. It has alreadybegun to change the commerciallandscape with the rapid growth of e-commerce in India. Of course themass availability of wirelessbroadband in India has to contendwith a couple of factors; withinfrastructure and pricing being thetwo most important. Ultimately, thewidespread availability of seamlessconnectivity is perhaps dependantupon a business model that allows forthin margins but a very high volume.But how do we get there? What areobstacles? What are the drivers?
According to Arvind Bali, "the firstand foremost deterrent is thequantum of Spectrum which isrequired. Spectrum in India is veryexpensive and ability is also an issue.The three key elements for launching4G service are Spectrum, Infrastructureand device eco-system." The Deviceeco-system in India is already welldeveloped and while pricing might bean issue the forthcoming availability ofdevices priced in the 100 dollarssegment should be a game changers.
From the perspective of serviceproviders there is, however, animportant reality to be pointed out.Ashwani K. Khillan summed thesituation concisely in stating that therollout of 4G would be a part of thecontinuum. Again it is important to
realise that what really changes isthe speed of the services not thefundamentals of the tasksperformed with those services. Theimportant point that he stressed wasthat firstly, the adoption of 4G is aslow evolution, not an overnightrevolution. And most importantlythat it did not mean a disruption ofthe 3G eco-system. In any case, ashe pertinently pointed out; thequantum of the eco-system today isgeared for 3G. With the introductionof 4G the eco-system will also haveto adapt to 4G requirements andpotential. Prashant Singhal agreedwith the assessment of 4G as anatural evolution. "You have to," hepointed out, "go through the stagesof evolution, 4G is nothing but fasterdata access. The speeds are biggerand better than 3G but there is nomarket in the world where 3G hasbeen overtaken by 4G or scaleddown with the introduction of 4G."
DIGITISING INDIAThe achievement of the PrimeMinister's vision of a digital India ispredicated upon the availability ofwireless broadband services acrossthe approximately six lakh villagesacross India. That poses a significantinfrastructural challenge for thetelecom sector. The first andforemost challenge is backhaul. Thesecond, of course, is course power.With many villages not on the powergrid and others enjoying a verypatchy and meagre supply of power,providing broadband connectivityseems a huge challenge. It is herethat government has a vital role toplay. Without active governmentparticipation the infrastructuralinadequacies are a significantobstacle. But Vimal Wakhlu points tothe government initiatives thatpromise to help overcome theseobstacles. These include helpingwith Backhaul and also becoming amajor client of the servicesthemselves through the adoption ofvarious e-governance initiatives andthe development of initiatives insectors such as healthcare wherethere huge potential.
The key takeaway at the end of thediscussion was that ultimately therollout of 4G services is a naturalprogression but at the same time isdoes pose significant challenges thatcan be overcome in two ways. Thefirst is the potential offered by theco-operation between the telecomsector and the governmentobjectives of achieving e-governanceand e-empowerment. The secondchallenge is for the telecom serviceproviders to evolve new businessmodels that allow them to providemass connectivity while remainingfinancially viable. And it seems thatboth are possible pointing towards abetter, more e-empowered India.
A CONSUMER CONNECT INITIATIVE
QUOTE UNQUOTEBackhaul, layingfibre in India, thecost, the break-downs, etc., arechallenges thatimpact the 4Grollout. The mostimportant factor,however, is theROI. From thatperspective it isperhaps too early
for most companies to really commit toinvest. Experience shows that it takesapproximately three years for services tobecome mass usable like in the case of3G. The challenge then for companies isto keep investing their resources duringthis gestation period.
We should see thearrival of 4G not asa disconnect butas the evolution ofthe network. Justas we moved from2G to 3G similarlywe are now adopt-ing 4G. Certainly,the quality of serv-ices being offeredby 4G mayincrease.
If we believe thatwe are going to get600 million sub-scribers or broad-band connectionsby 2020 it isimportant andparamount thatboth technologiesco-exist. 4G isgoing to providebroadband con-nectivity at home,nomadic use is
going to replace dongles. 3G is going tobe more like wireless, smartphone,handset, on the mobile, on the go serv-ice. So both 3G and 4G will co-exist.
The major chal-lenges in the tele-com sector is thebackhaul but thegovernment hasalready initiatedthe National Opti-cal Fibre Networkwhich ensures aminimum band-width of 100mbpsto 2.5 lakh villagesin the first phaseand subsequentlyto the remaining 4
lakh villages. The second is the initiationof GUN - Government User Network.Both of these initiatives will make the4G deployment commercially viable.
Arvind BaliDirector & CEO,Videocon Telecom
Ashwani K.KhillanChief Technology Officer, MTS India
PrashantSinghalPartner, AssuranceTelecom SectorLeader - EY (India)
Vimal WakhluCMD, Telecommuni-cations ConsultantsIndia Limited (a Government of Indiaenterprise)
Noida resident Arvind no longercomplains about his longcommuting hours, as he can
enjoy the high speed benefits of 4Gon his mobile. Now he can watchmovies, play games, downloadmovies from torrent and have videocalls, all this while on the move andcommuting between his residenceand Green Park office. "Now while inMetro I can have my 'Me Time' anddo a lot of activities," says Arvind,who is one of many mobile users fastswitching to 4G Internet, despite notso friendly price.
WHAT IS 4G: 4G wirelessInternet service is four to ten timesfaster than 3G networks. The latteroffers download speeds of 600kilobits per second (kbps) up to 1.4megabits per second (mbps), withbursts up to 3.1 mbps. Whereas 4Ghas average download speedsbetween 3 mbps and 6 mbps, withbursts up to 10 mbps. Oops!Confusing? Let me simplify it for you.If you are using Whatsapp on your 3G
network then while receiving apicture you can see a circular whichinforms you of the download in termsof speed. But on 4G the downloadtime will be reduced to zero. It will belike moving an image from one folderto another folder with no downloadtime. When you are sending pictureon mobile the speed of upload willbe applied which is estimated at 5
MB or less than 20 seconds to uploadthe image. When the user receivesthe image on his phone, thedownload speed is expected to be 11
Mb or less than 10 seconds todownload the image. Personally, thebenefit I see is that the price of 3Gwill drop significantly as telecomcompanies try to promote 4G whichmeans 3G speed will become as slowas 2G, so you will have no choice butto upgrade to 4G if you like speed.But for students it will be a treat whoenjoy speed but at the price of 2G.
GOTCHA: 4G promises of speedup to 40 MB, but even in the USA thetelecom providers have beenproviding 11 MB download and 5 MBupload, so India is a different story.The telecom promise of 4G is goingto be huge but will they be able todeliver? I guess not. We have notachieved the maximum in 3G yet. 4Gis still a dream. I guess when 4G
happens then we will achieve ourdream of full 3G. The benefit of 3Gand 4G is primarily to users whoprefer to work on mobiles, want towatch videos on the go and doconferencing on the go, in short, doall that you see in Samsung ads.
5G ON CARD: No country in theworld has 5G technology while somecompanies claim to have tested 5Gtechnology. There have been claimsby companies that 5G technologywill be in place by 2020. The versionsof technology 2G, 3G, etc., arelabelled on the basis of the internetspeed they offer on mobile devices.Technology experts believe 5Gtechnology will enable people tohave a fibre network like userexperience on a wireless connection.It can provide speed of 10 gigabit persecond internet speed, which is 100times faster than the mobiletechnology used these days. TheIndian government has startedprocess to "constitute joint workinggroup" to work in the area of 4G and5G.
The Promise & Potential of 4GMass wireless connectivity brings with it the potential for connectingand empowering millions of Indians, especially across rural India butthere are challenges in the adoption of 4G
Catch the coverage of the ETIGKnowledge Forum on ET NOW on
November 1, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. and repeattelecast on November 2, 2014 at 6:30 p.m.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Prashant Singhal, Vimal Wakhlu, Shivani Muthanna, Arvind Bali, and Ashwani K. Khillan
E-empowerment:
HONG KONG - Global rank: 1Internet Speed: 49.2 Mbps
SOUTH KOREA - Global rank: 2Internet Speed: 46.9 Mbps
JAPAN - Global rank: 3Internet Speed: 40.5 Mbps
ROMANIA - Global rank: 4Internet Speed: 38.6 Mbps
LATVIA - Global rank: 5Internet Speed: 33.5 Mbps
SWITZERLAND - Global rank: 6Internet Speed: 29.9 Mbps
BELGIUM - Global rank: 7Internet Speed: 29.5 Mbps
SINGAPORE - Global rank: 8Internet Speed: 28.3 Mbps
HUNGARY - Global rank: 9Internet Speed: 28.0 Mbps
BULGARIA - Global rank: 10Internet Speed: 27.9 Mbps
UNITED STATES- Global rank: 11Internet Speed: 27.1 Mbps
INDIA - Global rank: 116Internet Speed: 6.9 Mbps
THE BESTINTERNET
SPEED CHART
LTE, an acronym for Long TermEvolution, commonly marketed
as 4G LTE, is a standard forwireless communication of high-
speed data for mobile phonesand data terminals
?Did youknow
Get ready for the Fourth GenerationThe higher internet speeds being promised by 4G are generating a lot of user interest and anticipation. But how
much of that is reality and how much mere promise? Read on to get the 4G facts straight
Simply put, the versions oftechnology 2G,3G,etc.,arelabelled on the basis of theinternet speed they offeron mobile devices
THE ECONOMIC TIMES, MUMBAI, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014
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