Government to implement time bound policy for Broadband rollout

Broadband Tech India 2013 – 10th International Conference


Broadband Tech India 2013, the 10th International Conference was inaugurated today by Shri N Ravi Shanker, IAS, Administrator (USOF), Department of Telecommunications & CMD, Bharat Broadband Network Ltd.

During his inauguration speech, Shri Shanker said, "The Government of India is committed to a time bound rollout of broadband network up-to every Gram Panchayat numbering about 250,000. What is required from the industry is the utilization of the network by providing all possible applications across the country."

Over the past decade or so broadband has become a critical infrastructure pre-requisite for the economic and social development of the nation. A significant enabler to a number of businesses and is a corner-stone of digital empowerment of the masses. In India, the drive to facilitate widespread broadband access has been high on the national agenda for some time now. Whereas, the Government of India has played a pivotal role in developing broadband infrastructure in the country. The creation of the National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) has opened up new possibilities of development in the Indian broadband market. The National Telecom Policy (NTP 2012), with its 'Broadband on Demand vision', has also been heralded by the industry as a step in the right direction and is expected to add significant fillip to India's broadband penetration and growth.

"Today, India has over 1 billion connected gadgets and hunger for connectivity is growing at a rapid pace," said Mr. Shyam P Mardikar, Chief - Strategy, Architecture & Engineering, Bharti Airtel Ltd.

While speaking during the day long deliberations Mr. Vijay Jain, Chief Operating Officer & Director, Telecom Infrastructure Business, Sterlite Networks Limited said, "Capacity and coverage are going to define the experience of broadband, to end user in an under-served market. Due to high cost of deployment and limited data carrying capacity of copper based network, fiber is having a clear cut advantage & is future ready." Sterlite Networks Ltd. (SNL), is the first organized private player in the country to have undertaken a project of mass roll out of Fiber connected homes. SNL presently has the largest base of FTTx homes of 100,000 with over more the 20,000 subscribers.

During his welcome speech, Managing Director, Bharat Exhibitions Mr. Shashi Dharan said that broadband has significant potential to facilitate economic and social development, especially in rural India, where broadband connectivity is expected to play a crucial role in empowering the masses. Addressing the above-mentioned issues could result in achieving greater traction in the Indian broadband market.