Monday, October 7, 2002		Guest Speak

Satellite solution for the last mile problem
Pranav Roach

Pranav Roach,  President, Hughes Network Systems, India

KNOWLEDGE, based on timely and relevant information, has become the most precious resource today. The Internet offers us a magnificent opportunity to reach out, connect and share information with persons like never before. However, even today, one of the great frustrations has been the difficulty of communicating and sharing information with all potential users across the world. As the Internet becomes more and more widespread and relevant to businesses, institutions, governments and the consumer – it becomes important to get the benefits of the network to the most remote users.

Technology is evolving as fast as the speed of light, some say. They are talking about the science of photonics – which refers to carrying data, voice and video as light over fibre optic networks. These networks have astounding capacity – estimated to go up to almost Petahertz (10 to the power of 15)! Fibre optics will undoubtedly be the core of the Internetwork that spans the globe today. Even the fibre optic enthusiast admit how difficult it is to hardwire the world together. The phrase "last mile" was invented with exactly THAT intent – and it still remains the last, longest and the farthest mile. Satellite-based Broadband Internet Access may be the answer to the challenge.

Satellites offer a tremendous opportunity for two, "converged" reasons – one, the fact that they are ideal for broadcasting to virtually unlimited numbers of people; and two, because they are capable of delivering truly integrated communications. Today, satellite network systems can meet or exceed the customer’s exacting budgetary or operational constraints. Satellite networks cost much less than international spot rates. They are stable, reliable, and upgradeable- insuring continued revenue generation. Satellite solutions are also transportable, allowing for flexibility under changing markets or evolving political conditions. This is a critical benefit, since fibre implementation is slow, with uncertain completion dates. However, the world at large is yet to wake up to the exciting potential of satellite broadband. Today, even in the USA, - which has the most advanced telecommunications infrastructure in place - there are barely 1,00,000 consumer broadband satellite users. But, the potential exists. As per a research report published by Northern Sky Research, the global market for broadband satellite access services is forecast to rise from $330 million in 2001 to $12.43 billion in 2006.

The current slowdown in the telecommunications scene along with the overall economic decline has given many service providers, governments and enterprises a chance to relook and rethink on their strategies for driving consumer adoption and proliferation of the Internet. Governments and companies today realise that terrestrial broadband build out is a costly exercise often fraught with unrealised revenue and subscriber totals. Preplanned build outs decrease the flexibility and scalability of the network. Already, there are thousands of miles of unlit fibre in the Western World – laid by Telco who expected to cater to a market that did not exist where they thought it did! Such build-outs simply left scores of critical and valuable users in both remote and suburban locations. The current slowdown has strengthened the case for satellite Internet access.

For India, one of the direct benefits of satellite-based Internet broadband is the opportunity to connect the remote parts of India to the World Wide Web. The fact remains that in spite of all that is said about the success of the Indian IT story – our country is still only 2 per cent of the global IT market. To drive this percentage up, our best bet is to equip our population – especially those living in semi urban and rural locales - with the opportunity to educate themselves and contribute to the Global Revolution.

Taking the Internet to the Indian backwaters will deliver some compelling benefits to India – both as a market, as well as a contributor to the Indian success story in IT.

Look at it. India has been acknowledged as an intellectual powerhouse with its successes in the global IT market. Despite the current slowdown, nobody disputes that the Internet is the biggest revolution after the Industrial revolution – and that there is an immense opportunity for IT professionals going forward. With the right resources, the next wave of growth for the Indian IT Industry may be provided by the rural middle-class. A satellite-based Internet platform can provide the ideal medium to deliver the power of the Internet to the backwaters of India. Satellites are the first call for the last mile.

Something is buzzing – and it is up to us to take the opportunity head-on. The satellites are here – and they may be the last opportunity that India has - to plug the digital divide forever.