Subject: Internet access in India
Author: raju@niitdel1.niit.co.in at Internet
Date: 2/19/98 5:02 PM
1. I recommend you visit the following sites:
<http://www.indialine.comalder/ITQ/index.htm/072198/species.asp>
<http://www.vsnl.net.in/tecder/ITQ/index.htm/072198/species.asp>
<http://www.ciol.com.in/tecder/ITQ/index.htm/072198/species.asp>
The first one talks about Internet in India, the second one has complete
set of documents for ISP in India and the third covers IT related news.
2. There is a plan to allow private ISP's to start operating soon. WWW site
#2 above has the following to say as on 18 Feb 1998:
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India's quasi-judicial
telecom regulator, has revoked the Internet policy announced on January
15, 1998, by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). This may delay
the start of private commercial Internet services in India.
The Indian regulator passed this verdict after hearing a petition filed
by the e-mail service providers as they felt the policy was unfair to
them. The policy didn't give the e-mail operators automatic ISP status
that was one of their major demands. Further, the DoT put a condition
that they could not use their existing infrastructure, even if they took
a fresh ISP licence.
TRAI will now consult with the industry and the DoT for drafting a fresh
policy paper. Speculations are that the DoT will challenge the verdict in
a higher court.
3. Thus, we were almost there, and suddenly we slipped. Maybe everyone
wishes that we must run even faster, but once again, unless a person
invests Rs. 45,000 and a telephone connection, Internet is not a reality.
In a country like India, it is getting too hot with too many things
happening at the same time to the same people in the urban and semi-urban
areas!! You may like to read the following extract from the 1st site
mentioned above:
Left, Right, Forward, Back, Halt!
The Story of India's Internet Privatisation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Rajesh Jain
------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Tuesday (17 Feb 1998), a day before the DoT was to issue applications
forms for private Internet Service Providers (ISPs), the TRAI declared
the Internet policy as "invalid" because it was not based on TRAI's
recommendations. The sale of application forms and guidelines, scheduled
to begin today, has been withheld by the DoT.
I don't know when we will get lucky in India. Phone calls from Mumbai to
Delhi during day-time cost Rs 40 (about a dollar) per minute. Net2Phone
resellers are promoting calls to the US for Rs 10 (25 cents) per minute.
30 months after commercial access to the Net was allowed (by VSNL), we
have just about 100,000 Internet users and a single ISP. This, in a
country which has one of the largest scientific talents in the world, a
200-million (!) middle class and English as one of its main languages.
India needs the Internet more now than ever before. We need to get a
million people and a hundred thousand businesses online if we are going
to ever realise the fruits of the revolution in computing and
communications. Building a knowledge-based economy is vital for a country
like India which has rich and abundance of one of the raw materials --
human resource.
Individuals need access to information and the ability to do transactions
-- irrespective of where they are. Businesses need to communicate and
collaborate across their offices spread all over the country. Knowledge
needs to flow -- rapidly, seamlessly and automatically. The computer
connected to the Net with a modem and phone line is the roti, kapada and
makaan of the Information Economy.
Indian entrepreneurs can build on some wonderful opportunities the
Internet throws up. New and efficient businesses can be created: we too
can have our Yahoos and Amazons. But we need to build the base: correctly
and quickly. India needs a Digital Dialtone.
A new government does not hold much promise: though many political
parties have put up websites, none have talked about the Internet. We
need to look not at the past, but to the future. In the world of 2001,
Internet access (anytime and from anywhere) is absolutely essential if
Indian business are going to compete in a global market -- where trade
barriers have been blown away, and distance irrelevant.
In India, the talk of the Great New Internet Policy has been there for
months. While not perfect in every respect, it would have at least got
the ball rolling. If the TRAI did want to intervene, it could have done
so much earlier: the policy has been out for over a month (since January
15).
That the DoT and TRAI don't get along with each other is quite clear. But
why are we penalising Indian consumers and businesses? Let the
marketplace decide. IndiaLine has long argued for a hands-off policy and
for considering the Internet as core infrastructure in the country.
We don't need an Internet Policy. We need the Internet which makes our
lives independent of both distance and government.
4. Telephony is indeed banned in India. 2nd site documentation clearly says so:
3.2 Voice over Internet: Voice over Internet is not permitted. The
ISP licence will be liable for termination for any violation. The licensee
will not take any measure which amounts to abetment of carriage of voice
over Internet. The licensee shall also take measures on his own and as and
when directed by the Government at his own cost to bar carriage of voice
over Internet.
5. The WTO alone would not solve the problem, steps to create a backbone
have been initiated and this would go a long way to provide good service.
The other reality is that the entrepreneurs who can profit from Internet
access and who are aware of it are definitely finding that they can do it.
NIIT now has one dedicated 256KB pipe for Internet access and probably
couple of hundred dial-up connections at various education centers and
development centers, all through the Govt ISP.My view is that these are
all pangs of an extremely regulated area like telecom opening up! There
are no short-cuts.
Even in Europe, it it is only in the last few years that the
Telecom sector has started getting deregulated; e.g., Deutsche telecom.
Too much criticism going on without looking at the positive side. One last
comment: The internet telephony in the short term is not a priority for the
poor and the illeterate! They need access to lower cost communication, that
is all.
The telephone instrument costs Rs. 400 and works without the need
for a local power supply. Internet access needs someone's PC or NC and
local uninterruptible power!