Consumer, business and social telecom in India - Connect-World
Consumer, business and social telecom in India - Connect-World
Consumer, business and social telecom in India - Connect-World
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10 Years of Insight <strong>and</strong> Excellence<strong>Consumer</strong>,<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong><strong>and</strong> <strong>social</strong><strong>telecom</strong><strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong>Authors <strong>in</strong>clude: Pradip Baijal, Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of <strong>India</strong> (TRAI) Michiel Verhoeven, General Manager, Microsoft Communications Sector, Asia Pacific <strong>and</strong> Japan Rangu Salgame, President, Cisco Systems, <strong>India</strong> Amit Sharma, Vice President, South <strong>and</strong> South-East Asia, Motorola
“MY TV.MY PROGRAMS.MY SCHEDULE.“IPTVToday’s consumers expect to get the programs they want, when they want. IPTV builds onAlcatel’s worldwide leadership <strong>in</strong> broadb<strong>and</strong> technology, IP network<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> new multimedia<strong>and</strong> video applications to give consumers greater <strong>in</strong>teractivity than ever before. End-users willenjoy unique, excit<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> personalized services <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g video on dem<strong>and</strong>, <strong>in</strong>teractive TV,video communication, onl<strong>in</strong>e gam<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> shar<strong>in</strong>g of music, photos <strong>and</strong> home videos — alldelivered simply <strong>and</strong> seamlessly via a range of devices <strong>and</strong> networks. Welcome to a broader life.www.alcatel.com/tripleplayBROADEN YOUR LIFE19594
Contents1-Contents2-<strong>Connect</strong>ions48-SubscriptionNationaldevelopment–regulatoryaffairs4Regulat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>India</strong>’s Information Societyby Pradip Baijal, Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of<strong>India</strong> (TRAI)Industrialdevelopment10VoIP13The IT imperative for <strong>India</strong>n companiesby Rangu Salgame, President, <strong>India</strong> & SAARC <strong>and</strong> Manag<strong>in</strong>gDirector of South Asia, Cisco SystemsVoice over IP – the true value of IPby C S Rao, President & Chief Executive Officer, LucentTechnologies H<strong>in</strong>dustan Pvt LtdDigitalbroadcast<strong>in</strong>g15The DAB family – <strong>in</strong>ternational <strong>and</strong>versatile digital broadcast<strong>in</strong>g st<strong>and</strong>ardsby Quent<strong>in</strong> Howard, President, <strong>World</strong>DAB, <strong>and</strong> ChiefExecutive, Digital One, UKTelecommunicationservices17ICT – realis<strong>in</strong>g <strong>India</strong>’s full potentialby Michiel Verhoeven, General Manager, MicrosoftCommunications Sector, Asia Pacific <strong>and</strong> Japan, MicrosoftNationaldevelopment20Chang<strong>in</strong>g <strong>India</strong> – us<strong>in</strong>g the Telecom edgeby Amit Sharma, Vice President, South <strong>and</strong> South-East Asia,MotorolaSystemdevelopment23Service oriented architectures <strong>and</strong> webservices: opportunities for service providersby Shanker Annaswamy, Manag<strong>in</strong>g Director, IBM, <strong>India</strong>Infrastructuredevelopment26IP-based solutions <strong>and</strong> <strong>India</strong>’s evolutionby Vijay Yadav, Manag<strong>in</strong>g Director, UTStarcom, South AsiaOutsourc<strong>in</strong>g31Next generation outsourc<strong>in</strong>gby Simarprit S<strong>in</strong>gh, Founder <strong>and</strong> CEO, Compare Infobase PvtLtdTelecomdevelopment34Build<strong>in</strong>g <strong>India</strong>’s new ICT environmentby Manoj Tirodkar, Founder, Chairman <strong>and</strong> manag<strong>in</strong>g director,GTL LtdWireless38WiMAX: a key <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong>’s futureby Sunil Kumar, Liaison to WIMAX & Director of Asia Pacific,Beceem CommunicationsMobiletelephony43The mobile phone as an agent of change <strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>by TV Ramach<strong>and</strong>ran, Director General, COAIInformationaccess46Simplified ICT access for <strong>India</strong>’s rural usersby Ravi Baid, Founder <strong>and</strong> President, Alliance InfoTechAdvertisementsAlcatelBartronics <strong>India</strong> LtdIECGlobalcomm 2006CommunicAsia 2006ITU Telecom <strong>World</strong>WiMAX <strong>World</strong> EuropeTelecomm <strong>India</strong>IQPC GmbHISCe MediaEpsilon EventsJunction GroupVietnam TelecompCaspian Telecom<strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong>EricssonPromotionalFeaturesCBOSSIFC56912192229303536414245IBCOBC3All articles are available onl<strong>in</strong>e at: www.connect-world.com1
<strong>India</strong> is at the start of a process that will, <strong>in</strong>time, br<strong>in</strong>g the digitalisation of enterta<strong>in</strong>ment<strong>and</strong> the <strong>in</strong>troduction of advanced ICT technology<strong>in</strong>to the home. IPTV, convergent mobility, distancelearn<strong>in</strong>g, on-l<strong>in</strong>e shopp<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>and</strong> manyother new services – the list is long – will transformlives <strong>and</strong> leisure-time activities <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong>.Just as <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>and</strong> communication technologyhas already begun to revolutionise <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>,<strong>and</strong> <strong>India</strong>’s economy as a whole, it will soon startto monopolise the lives of many families as muchas TV once did, not just at home, but on themove.At work, larger <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>es throughout the worldhave long used computers for basic needs – forspreadsheets, correspondence, presentations<strong>and</strong> a host of specific applications. Today,though, ICT not only lets one br<strong>in</strong>g a laptophome or on trips, but can keep one connected tocolleagues <strong>and</strong> to office systems under almostany circumstance <strong>in</strong> any place. Today, as those<strong>in</strong>volved with BPO can tell you, many <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>applications do not just use communications;they do not exist without the communications,<strong>and</strong> the marketplace, provided by the Internet.In <strong>India</strong> ICT is also facilitat<strong>in</strong>g the delivery of<strong>social</strong> services – of education, health services<strong>and</strong> government services – <strong>and</strong> prov<strong>in</strong>g to be anunexpectedly efficient vehicle for economic <strong>and</strong><strong>social</strong> betterment.This issue of <strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong> <strong>India</strong> explores how<strong>in</strong>formation <strong>and</strong> communications technology is –even at this early stage – start<strong>in</strong>g to transformthe lives of <strong>India</strong>ns from all walks of life. Thetheme for this issue of <strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong> <strong>India</strong> is<strong>Consumer</strong>, Bus<strong>in</strong>ess <strong>and</strong> Social Telecom <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong>.<strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong> <strong>India</strong> sponsors a number ofevents <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong> <strong>and</strong> the Asia Pacific regions.Copies of this issue, <strong>in</strong> addition to our normaldistribution, will be available atConvergence <strong>India</strong>; Telecom <strong>India</strong>;Carriers <strong>World</strong> Hong Kong; theBroadb<strong>and</strong> <strong>World</strong> Forum Asia, HongKong; Caspian Telecoms, Turkey.In <strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong>’s Africa <strong>and</strong> theMiddle East, Europe, <strong>India</strong>, Lat<strong>in</strong> America, NorthAmerica <strong>and</strong> EMEA issues, each region’s leaderslook at the issues that drive the development oftheir home regions or countries. Current discussionscentre upon the changes wrought <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>dustry<strong>and</strong> society by the latest generation of <strong>in</strong>formation<strong>and</strong> communications technology, especiallyInternet protocol digital communications,broadb<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> personalised services – <strong>and</strong> howboth <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> <strong>and</strong> society are chang<strong>in</strong>g, need tochange, as a result.<strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong> North America will be dedicatedto what the dramatic, ongo<strong>in</strong>g, shifts <strong>in</strong> networktechnology <strong>and</strong> usage will mean to us all.Telephony will never be the same; neither willour societies or our lives. Network shifts –telephony will never be the same, is the themeof our North American issue.<strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong> will, as usual, be at a number ofmajor <strong>in</strong>dustry events <strong>in</strong> the com<strong>in</strong>g months. InMarch, we will be present at the Carriers <strong>World</strong>Asia-Pacific event <strong>in</strong> Hong Kong, at CeBIT <strong>in</strong>Hanover, Germany <strong>and</strong> at Convergence <strong>India</strong> <strong>in</strong>New Delhi. If you will be attend<strong>in</strong>g any of theseshows, send us a note. It would be a pleasure tomeet you.Fredric J. Morris,Editor-<strong>in</strong>-Chief<strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong><strong>Connect</strong>ionsEditor-<strong>in</strong>-Chief:Fredric J. Morrisfredric.morris@connect-world.com;Publisher:David Nunesdavid.nunes@connect-world.com;Manag<strong>in</strong>g Director:Valetta Brownvaletta.brown@connect-world.comPr<strong>in</strong>ters: Pr<strong>in</strong>t House of <strong>India</strong>All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored <strong>in</strong> a retrievalsystem or transmitted <strong>in</strong> any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy<strong>in</strong>g,record<strong>in</strong>g or otherwise, without prior permission from the publishers. The contentof this Publication is based on best knowledge <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation available at the time ofpublication. No responsibility for any <strong>in</strong>jury, death, loss, damage or delay, howevercaused, result<strong>in</strong>g from the use of the material can be accepted by the publishers or othersassociated with its preparation. The publishers neither accept responsibility for, nornecessarily agree with, the views expressed by contributors.<strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong> <strong>India</strong> Issue 2006 is published under Licence by WORLD INFOCOMMS LTDExecutive Office: Global House 12 Albert Road London E16 2DW United K<strong>in</strong>gdomTel.: +44 20 7540 0876 Fax: +44 20 7474 0090email: <strong>in</strong>fo@connect-world.com URL: www.connect-world.comISSN 1369-894X2
J. Trevor AndersonSenior Vice President, Bell CanadaMatt BrossGroup Chief Technology Officer, BTMassimo CoronaroTechnology Officer, Telecom ItaliaTadanobu OkadaExecutive Director, InformationShar<strong>in</strong>g Laboratory Group, NTTBerit SvendsenExecutive Vice President <strong>and</strong>Chief Technology Officer, Telecom ItaliaGlobal Innovation:BUILDING YOUR ICT FUTURELondon, Engl<strong>and</strong> 27–30 March 2006 CONFERENCE28–29 March 2006 EXHIBITIONTHE 21 ST CENTURY COMMUNICATIONS WORLD FORUM 2006 connects theright buyers <strong>and</strong> sellers with the right technologies <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation at this<strong>in</strong>ternational <strong>in</strong>fluential ICT event. We’ll provide the <strong>in</strong>dustry’s top names <strong>and</strong>the ideal audience to help you grow your <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>. Build your ICT future byparticipat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the 2006 21 ST Century Communications <strong>World</strong> Forum.For more <strong>in</strong>formation or to register, go to www.iec.org.Please reference VIP Code 6300 when register<strong>in</strong>g.OFFICIAL SPONSORInternational Eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>gConsortiumwww.iec.orgCORPORATE SPONSORSCORPORATE DELEGATE SPONSOR
National development – regulatory affairsSeveralregulatory<strong>in</strong>itiativesledtotheexplosivegrowthofvoicetelephony<strong>in</strong>urbanareas:–UnifiedAccess(technology-neutralaccess) – enabl<strong>in</strong>g co-existence ofGSM/CDMAnetworks<strong>and</strong>truetechnologyagnosticcompetitionbetweenall service providers, fixed <strong>and</strong>mobile.–CPP(onlycall<strong>in</strong>gpartypays)–lead<strong>in</strong>gto reduction <strong>in</strong> tariffs <strong>and</strong> a consumer-friendlypaymentregime.– Tariff forbearance (market driven)severecompetitionhasledtoafall<strong>in</strong>mobile tariffs to fixed-l<strong>in</strong>e levels.Lower tariffs put mobiles with<strong>in</strong> thereachofthework<strong>in</strong>gclass<strong>and</strong>ledtoahugegrowth<strong>in</strong>subscribers.Asaresultof the <strong>in</strong>creased volumes, the networksrema<strong>in</strong>ed viable despite thesteepfall<strong>in</strong>averagerevenueperuserorARPU.– Cost-based Interconnection UsageCharge (IUC) – based upon a ‘workdone’ pr<strong>in</strong>ciple, encouraged competitionfromotherareasofthenetwork.–Fix<strong>in</strong>gofterm<strong>in</strong>ationchargesbasedupon very strict cost analysis led toverylowrates<strong>and</strong>encouragedseverecompetition <strong>in</strong> call orig<strong>in</strong>ation, lead<strong>in</strong>gtoverylowtariffs.–Repeatedreductions<strong>in</strong>licensefeesfor <strong>in</strong>frastructure providers –Category-II<strong>and</strong>all<strong>telecom</strong>operators,<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g long distance operators, bythegovernment.– Fix<strong>in</strong>g of ceil<strong>in</strong>g tariffs forInternational <strong>and</strong> Domestic LeasedCircuits based on cost – result<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>the drastic reduction <strong>in</strong> broadb<strong>and</strong>tariffs.–Recommendationsforopen<strong>in</strong>gupofequal access to Submar<strong>in</strong>e CableL<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g Stations, <strong>in</strong>troduction ofRuralServiceProviders(nicheoperators),resale <strong>in</strong> International PrivateLeased Circuits (IPLC) ‘ClassLicense’/‘Authorization’ based UnifiedLicens<strong>in</strong>g, Spectrum Allocation <strong>and</strong>Pric<strong>in</strong>g, Rural Penetration throughInfrastructureShar<strong>in</strong>g,Unbundl<strong>in</strong>gofLocalLoopbyTRAI<strong>and</strong>partacceptanceof some of these recommendationsbythegovernment.The regulatory actions taken <strong>in</strong> thepast have led to the follow<strong>in</strong>g salientfeaturesofthe<strong>India</strong>nICTl<strong>and</strong>scape:– Mobile tariffs (US $0.025 perm<strong>in</strong>ute)<strong>and</strong>ARPUs(US$8/month)arethelowest<strong>in</strong>theworld.Figure 1: The idea that <strong>telecom</strong>munications also <strong>in</strong>cludes Internet/Broadb<strong>and</strong>/Data(Information) has gradually ga<strong>in</strong>ed acceptance.– Telephony growth of more than 5million/month (mobile 4.8 million/month),thehighest<strong>in</strong>theworldtoday.– Rural teledensity is still below 2%,s<strong>in</strong>ce USO (Universal ServiceObligation)fundusageisonlypermittedforveryexpensivefixedl<strong>in</strong>es<strong>and</strong>nottheexpansionofmobilenetworks.Without competition, then, ruraltelephony is still be<strong>in</strong>g driven by thegovernment/publicsector.–Mobilenetworkscoveronly35%ofthecountry’spopulations<strong>in</strong>cemobileplayers are reluctant to exp<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>totherema<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gregionsduetothehigherrisk/lower profit <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> case forsuchareas.–Reduction<strong>in</strong>broadb<strong>and</strong>tarifffrom$15/month for 100 KBPS to$2/month–an<strong>in</strong>itiativebythepublicsector <strong>in</strong>cumbent operat<strong>in</strong>g companyresult<strong>in</strong>gfromtheregulator’ssubstantiallower<strong>in</strong>gofthetariffceil<strong>in</strong>g.– Residential broadb<strong>and</strong> penetrationis still below 0.1%; there is highdem<strong>and</strong> but the <strong>in</strong>cumbent operatorhas been unable to meet it. The<strong>in</strong>cumbenthasalsoresistedeffortstounbundle the local loop thereby h<strong>in</strong>der<strong>in</strong>gtheabilityofotheroperatorstosetupsuchnetworksquickly.–Over-capacityof<strong>in</strong>ternationalb<strong>and</strong>width<strong>and</strong>domesticb<strong>and</strong>width–bothmostly unutilized – <strong>in</strong>dicates atremendous potential for growth oftrafficonexist<strong>in</strong>gnetworksifcompetition<strong>in</strong> services could be <strong>in</strong>itiatedus<strong>in</strong>gthesenetworks.–Light-h<strong>and</strong>edregulation<strong>and</strong>licens<strong>in</strong>gfor the Internet, broadb<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong>cable TV, enables exist<strong>in</strong>g <strong>telecom</strong>operatorstoconverttheirnetworkstoconvergednetworksevenwithoutthepromulgationofaconvergencelaw.–Technologyneutralityforallservices– Wireless Local Loop/mobile/fixed –7
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEENSUPER &GLOBAL?SUPERCOMM ®June 2005 <strong>in</strong> ChicagoTriple PlayIMS: Myth or Reality?Went out with a bangFormer event for the <strong>in</strong>dustryEveryone was thereGLOBALCOMM June 2006 <strong>in</strong> ChicagoQuad PlayIMS: Legit Architecture450+ exhibitors & 20,000 attendeesAll new event for the <strong>in</strong>dustryEveryone will be thereChange is the only constant. So say good-bye to SUPERCOMM ® <strong>and</strong> hello toGLOBALCOMM 2006. For TIA, GLOBALCOMM replaces SUPERCOMM ® as TIA’s annual event forthe <strong>in</strong>dustry. So what’s the difference? Decide for yourself <strong>and</strong> make the connection atwww.globalcomm2006.com.JUNE 4 – 8, 2006 | MC CORMICK PLACE | CHICAGO USASUPERCOMM is a registered trademark of TIA <strong>and</strong> USTA. GLOBALCOMM is a trademark of TIA.The last SUPERCOMM took place June 2005.
Industrial developmentThe IT imperative for <strong>India</strong>n companiesby Rangu Salgame, President, <strong>India</strong> & SAARC <strong>and</strong> Manag<strong>in</strong>g Director of South Asia, Cisco Systems<strong>India</strong>’s economy, its GDP, is grow<strong>in</strong>g rapidly. The <strong>in</strong>creases <strong>in</strong> productivity <strong>and</strong> the<strong>in</strong>creased<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>confidencearedue<strong>in</strong>goodparttothegrow<strong>in</strong>guseof<strong>in</strong>formation<strong>and</strong>communicationstechnology.<strong>India</strong>’sthriv<strong>in</strong>g<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>processoutsourc<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>dustry,forexample,setsapaceforallof<strong>India</strong>tofollow.Unfortunately,<strong>India</strong><strong>in</strong>vestslessthan1percentofrevenues,comparedtoanaverage8percentforitspeers<strong>and</strong>competitors,<strong>in</strong>IT.Thisraisesseriousquestionsregard<strong>in</strong>gthelong-termsusta<strong>in</strong>abilityof<strong>India</strong>’sgrowth.RanguSalgameisthePresidentofCiscoSystems,<strong>India</strong>&SAARC<strong>and</strong>theManag<strong>in</strong>gDirectorofSouthAsia,encompass<strong>in</strong>gS<strong>in</strong>gapore,Indonesia,Malaysia<strong>and</strong>the<strong>India</strong>region.Priortojo<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gCisco,Ranguspentfouryearsadvis<strong>in</strong>g<strong>and</strong>manag<strong>in</strong>gventurecapitalbackedcompanies.HewasthePresident&CEOof Edgix, a content delivery network (CDN) <strong>in</strong>frastructure company, with operations across NorthAmerica, Lat<strong>in</strong> America <strong>and</strong> Europe. Prior to Edgix, he was the founder <strong>and</strong> President of VerizonCommunications’datasolutionssubsidiary,aswellasVicePresidentofEnterpriseMarket<strong>in</strong>gforthecompany.Beforejo<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gVerizon,RanguwasaManagementConsultantatCoopers&Lybr<strong>and</strong>,nowPWC/IBM.RanguholdsanMBAfromTheWhartonSchool,UniversityofPennsylvania,anMS<strong>in</strong>eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>gfromVirg<strong>in</strong>iaTech<strong>and</strong>aBEfromMSUniversityofBaroda,<strong>India</strong>.<strong>India</strong>isonthecuspofwhatmanypredictto be a decade of growth. For<strong>India</strong>, 2005 was the year when thepromiseofabettertomorrowbegantoberealised.Bus<strong>in</strong>essconfidencelevelsrosetoanalltimehighasdidtheSEN-SEX capital market <strong>in</strong>dex, <strong>and</strong> theattitudetowardsthefuturewashighlypositive.<strong>India</strong>, today, is exhibit<strong>in</strong>g a sense ofself-confidence not seen before. It isone of the fastest grow<strong>in</strong>g economies<strong>in</strong> the world <strong>and</strong> the growth is susta<strong>in</strong>ed<strong>and</strong>broadbasedacrossarangeof sectors. The economic outlook isbuoyant<strong>and</strong><strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>esarelook<strong>in</strong>gtothefuturewithoptimism.Thelastfewyearsshowedsignsofthebuild<strong>in</strong>g momentum. Factors such asWTO (<strong>World</strong> Trade Organisation)membershipcancreatenewopportunities<strong>and</strong>openthe<strong>India</strong>nplayerstoglobalcompetition.Therobustgrowthof8.1percent<strong>in</strong>grossdomesticproduct(GDP)<strong>in</strong>thefirsthalfoffiscalyear2005/06showedthis,<strong>and</strong>thesecondhalfof2006isexpectedtosusta<strong>in</strong>thesamegrowthrates.Itis,therefore,nosurprise that <strong>India</strong> was the cynosureof global attention at the <strong>World</strong>Economic Forum held at Davos,Switzerl<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>January2006.How can <strong>India</strong>n companies susta<strong>in</strong>their momentum long enough for<strong>India</strong>torealizeitsglobalpromise?A recent McK<strong>in</strong>sey research reportshowed a direct correlation betweenGDPpercapita<strong>and</strong>labourproductivity.<strong>India</strong>’s current GDP of $440 percapita ranks it among the poorernations.AseriesofNetImpactstudiesconfirmthedirectcorrelationbetweenproductivityga<strong>in</strong>s<strong>and</strong>theuseoftechnology-driven<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>solutions.The first Net Impact Study <strong>in</strong> 2002showed that, through the use ofInternet<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>solutions,organizationsacrosstheUnitedStates,UnitedK<strong>in</strong>gdom, France <strong>and</strong> Germany realizeda cumulative cost sav<strong>in</strong>gs ofUS$163.5billion,mostlys<strong>in</strong>ce1998.In the USA alone, the adoption ofInternet <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> solutions hasalreadyyieldedacurrent,cumulative,cost sav<strong>in</strong>g of US$155.2 billion. Theadoption of Internet <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> solutions<strong>in</strong>theUnitedK<strong>in</strong>gdom,France,<strong>and</strong> Germany resulted <strong>in</strong> a current,cumulative, cost sav<strong>in</strong>gs of US$8.3billionattheorganizationsdeploy<strong>in</strong>gthem. We believe that the rate ofgrowthofthesesav<strong>in</strong>gshascont<strong>in</strong>uedunabated<strong>in</strong>thethreeyearss<strong>in</strong>cethisresearch, further re<strong>in</strong>forc<strong>in</strong>g thestrategic importance of IT <strong>in</strong>vestmentsto accelerate productivity <strong>and</strong>quality.Unfortunately, <strong>India</strong>n companies onthewhole<strong>in</strong>vestless<strong>in</strong>ITthantheirglobal counterparts. <strong>India</strong>n companiesspendlessthan1percentoftheirrevenue on IT, compared to peers <strong>in</strong>thedevelopedworld,wheretheaveragespend<strong>in</strong>g on IT averages aroundeightpercentofrevenues.Accord<strong>in</strong>g to a study conducted byNasscom last year, the country's ITspend<strong>in</strong>g is the lowest, <strong>in</strong> relativeterms,amongthe30countriesonitslist.Morereveal<strong>in</strong>gisthefactthat<strong>in</strong>terms of domestic IT <strong>in</strong>vestment,<strong>India</strong>rankslowerthancountriessuch10
Industrial developmentas Colombia, Chile <strong>and</strong> Turkey –countriesthatareclearlynotasvisibleas<strong>India</strong><strong>in</strong>theglobalITspace.While the low spend<strong>in</strong>g on IT <strong>in</strong> thepast was not of serious concern, itsconsequence <strong>in</strong> the present competitivescenariocanbedisastrous.Threesectors of the <strong>India</strong>n economy wherenear-termIT<strong>in</strong>vestmentsarelikelytobeverycriticalforsusta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gthecurrentGDPgrowthmomentumare:1.Theexport-orientedservicessectorthat rema<strong>in</strong>s the ma<strong>in</strong> eng<strong>in</strong>e of<strong>India</strong>’sGDPgrowth;2. The traditional <strong>in</strong>dustries that arenow look<strong>in</strong>g to unlock their hiddenvalue<strong>and</strong>becomesignificantcontributorstothe<strong>India</strong>neconomy;3. The <strong>in</strong>frastructure <strong>and</strong> otherdomestic services sectors needed tosupportanyGDPexpansion.In keep<strong>in</strong>g with the upbeat <strong>India</strong>neconomy, <strong>and</strong> largely responsible forits growth, is the export driven softwareservicessector.WithaforecastofUS$23.4billion<strong>in</strong>revenuesfromtheexportofsoftware<strong>and</strong>servicesdur<strong>in</strong>gfiscal ’05-’06, the <strong>in</strong>formation technology(IT) sector is now one of thebiggestexportearnersforthecountry.In fact, the 2005 Nasscom-McK<strong>in</strong>seyreportpostulatesthattheoffshoreIT<strong>and</strong> BPO (<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> process outsourc<strong>in</strong>g)<strong>in</strong>dustries have the potential tocontribute US$120-150 billion to<strong>India</strong>’s GDP by 2015, or 12 to15 percent of <strong>India</strong>’s GDP. At these growthlevels,thesoftwareservices<strong>in</strong>dustriescouldgeneratedirectemploymentforover 4 million <strong>in</strong>dividuals <strong>and</strong> anadditional12-15millionnewjobswillbeneeded,<strong>in</strong>directly,tooffersupportcapabilities.To achieve these lofty goals, <strong>India</strong>’sCEOswillneedtotakeahardlookattheir IT vision <strong>and</strong> significantlyexp<strong>and</strong>theirITspend<strong>in</strong>giftheywishtoderivetheproductivityreturns<strong>and</strong>added value needed to susta<strong>in</strong> their<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>competitiveness.Domesticrivals<strong>India</strong>n<strong>in</strong>dustryhastolookbeyondthedomestic rivals, as competition nowcomes from the best-<strong>in</strong>-class globalcompanies. With the governmentopen<strong>in</strong>gsectorstoforeigndirect<strong>in</strong>vestment(FDI),thebestglobalbr<strong>and</strong>sareexcited about the potential of the<strong>India</strong>nmarket<strong>and</strong>are<strong>in</strong>tentonestablish<strong>in</strong>gtheirpresence<strong>in</strong>thecountry.Success <strong>in</strong> <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> today requires aglobalstrategy<strong>and</strong><strong>India</strong>ncompaniesare<strong>in</strong>factlook<strong>in</strong>gbeyondthedomesticmarkettomakeamark<strong>in</strong>theglobalmarketplace.Tosucceed,however,they need to, among other th<strong>in</strong>gs,br<strong>in</strong>gtheirsystems<strong>and</strong>IT<strong>in</strong>frastructureonparwiththeirglobalcounterparts.In the post-WTO world, the markethas suddenly exp<strong>and</strong>ed for <strong>India</strong>nfirms. Nevertheless, to succeed, eachcompany will have to compete <strong>in</strong> allspheres <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g technology. For<strong>in</strong>stance,themuchtalkedabouttextileopportunitywillonlycomealiveifourplayers can provide world qualitymaterial<strong>and</strong>,atthesametime,beabletomatchcompetitors<strong>in</strong>IT<strong>in</strong>frastructure.A small-scale textile manufacturer <strong>in</strong>Coimbatore <strong>and</strong> an automobile componentmaker<strong>in</strong>Punecannowaimtobe global suppliers to Wal-Mart <strong>and</strong>major automobile manufacturers<strong>in</strong>Detroit. However, when Wal-Martrecentlyreachedoutto<strong>India</strong>toselectpotential suppliers, only those whowereelectronicallyreadywereallowedtoparticipate<strong>in</strong>theprelim<strong>in</strong>aryroundof discussion; the m<strong>and</strong>ate to be ITenabledisclear.<strong>India</strong>n companies across myriad<strong>in</strong>dustry verticals such as retail,biotechnology,pharmaceuticals,manufactur<strong>in</strong>g,transportation, FMCG,energy <strong>and</strong> utilities, among others,st<strong>and</strong> to benefit significantly by<strong>in</strong>vest<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>strongITsystems.How?Investment <strong>in</strong> build<strong>in</strong>g a strong <strong>and</strong>agile IT <strong>in</strong>frastructure translates <strong>in</strong>toefficient <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> processes; the supplycha<strong>in</strong>,distribution,sales<strong>and</strong>support,customer contact, <strong>and</strong> time-tomarketare just a few areas that canexploitITto<strong>in</strong>creaseefficiencylevels.The good news is that some of thelead<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>dustriesarestart<strong>in</strong>gtoheedthisnewITimperative.Selectbank<strong>in</strong>g<strong>and</strong> manufactur<strong>in</strong>g leaders havelearnedtheneedto<strong>in</strong>vest<strong>in</strong>ITearlyenough<strong>and</strong>areamongthelargest<strong>and</strong>mostprolificusersof<strong>in</strong>formationsystems<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>.TheStateBankof<strong>India</strong><strong>and</strong> Mah<strong>in</strong>dra & Mah<strong>in</strong>dra are aptexamplesofhowIT<strong>in</strong>vestmentshavehelped make <strong>India</strong>n companies globallycompetitive.Automation<strong>in</strong>thebank<strong>in</strong>gsector,forexample, has come a long way <strong>in</strong> thelast two decades. Today, the corebank<strong>in</strong>g capabilities of many of the<strong>India</strong>n banks are on par with their<strong>in</strong>ternational counterparts. By connect<strong>in</strong>gbranches across the country,these banks have ensured that theircustomerscanenjoytheconveniencesof"anytime,anywhere"bank<strong>in</strong>g.Invest<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>astrongIT<strong>in</strong>frastructureshould therefore be a top priority forevery CXO. Companies with efficientIT systems <strong>in</strong> place are now able toreact quickly to changes <strong>in</strong> the <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>environment <strong>and</strong> can thus competeeffectively.With ‘Br<strong>and</strong> <strong>India</strong>’ grow<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> popularity,theWal-Martk<strong>in</strong>dofopportunityis just the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g of whatpromisestobeadelugeofglobal<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>orders.Thebestwaytocapitalizeonitistomakeaplanned<strong>in</strong>vestment<strong>in</strong>IT.<strong>India</strong>nenterprisesneedtostrategicallybuild their IT <strong>in</strong>frastructure toenableastrongsupplycha<strong>in</strong>,distribution<strong>and</strong> customer support network.Aneffectivesupplycha<strong>in</strong>,forexample,br<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong>numerable benefits such asimproved delivery, reduced cycletimes, cost controls, <strong>and</strong> improvedproduct quality. Today, IT read<strong>in</strong>esstranslates<strong>in</strong>to<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>read<strong>in</strong>ess<strong>and</strong>thiswill<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>glybethecase<strong>in</strong>thefuture.Inclos<strong>in</strong>g,webelievethatanagileIT<strong>in</strong>frastructureisaprerequisitetosuccess,not only because the <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>dem<strong>and</strong>s it, but also because companiesnow have to deal with a rapidlychang<strong>in</strong>g market scenario. While aclutch of <strong>India</strong>n corporations haveembraced IT, the vast majority cont<strong>in</strong>uetobelaggards,mostly<strong>in</strong>vest<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>IT<strong>in</strong>reactiontocompetition.Underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>gtheimportanceofhav<strong>in</strong>gawelldef<strong>in</strong>edITvision,willhelp<strong>India</strong>n companies who want toachieve global success be nimbleenough to match or even better theircompetitorsacrosstheworld.We propose a proactive approachbasedupontheunderst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>gthatITdoes matter, especially when focusedby measurable productivity goals,coord<strong>in</strong>atedwith<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>processreeng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g<strong>and</strong> supported by formalperformancemeasurementprograms.With<strong>in</strong>justonecritical<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>function,customer service <strong>and</strong> support,organizations that leveraged IT totransform <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> processes sawsome impressive results aga<strong>in</strong>st theircompetitors.11
VoIPVoice over IP – the true value of IPby C S Rao, President & Chief Executive Officer, Lucent Technologies H<strong>in</strong>dustan Pvt LtdVoIPhasservedcarriernetworksasameansoftransportforyears.Today,operators,carriers,cablecompanies<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>dependentserviceprovidersareallsupply<strong>in</strong>gtheircustomerswithVoIPsolutions.TheissueisnotwhatIPnetworksc<strong>and</strong>o,but,rather,howtodeliverconvergedvoice,video<strong>and</strong>dataservices<strong>in</strong>aseamless,converged<strong>and</strong>effortlesslyblendedmannerthatengages<strong>and</strong>excitesthesenses.IPMultimediaSubsystem(IMS)br<strong>in</strong>gsaseamless‘lifestyle’communicationsexperience,us<strong>in</strong>gthefullcapabilitiesofthenetwork,directlytosubscribers.The new IMS-based systems enableservice providers to create the seamlesslifestyle communications experiencethatbr<strong>in</strong>gsthefullcapabilitiesofthenetworkdirectlytosubscribers.Atrue IMS-enabled portfolio of nextgeneration<strong>in</strong>frastructure solutionssupports complete convergence ofnetworks<strong>and</strong>services<strong>and</strong>helpsserviceproviders attract <strong>and</strong> reta<strong>in</strong> highvaluecustomers. In this way, serviceprovidersc<strong>and</strong>eploynewlifestyleservicescont<strong>in</strong>uously,quickly<strong>and</strong>easily.CSRaoisthePresident&ChiefExecutiveOfficerofLucentTechnologiesH<strong>in</strong>dustanPvt.Ltd.HespearheadsLucent’scomplete<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>activitiescover<strong>in</strong>gsales,market<strong>in</strong>g<strong>and</strong>deploymentofthewirel<strong>in</strong>e<strong>and</strong>wireless<strong>telecom</strong>municationsnetworkprojectswith<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>.Mr.Raohas24-yearsof<strong>in</strong>ternationalexperience<strong>in</strong>thefield,hav<strong>in</strong>gworkedacrossNorthAmerica,Europe<strong>and</strong>theAsiaPacificregions.Priortojo<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gLucent,Mr.RaowastheRegionalDirector,SAARCatTellabswherehesetuptheirmarket<strong>in</strong>g<strong>and</strong>salessupport<strong>and</strong>theirsoftwaredevelopmentcentrefor<strong>India</strong>.PriortoTellabs,MrRaowasassociated with Center for Development of Telematics (CDOT) Telecom Research, where he held theprestigiouspositionofadvisortothePrimeM<strong>in</strong>isterof<strong>India</strong>.Mr.RaostartedhisprofessionalcareerwithECIL<strong>India</strong>.Mr. Rao holds a Bachelor’s degree <strong>in</strong> Technology from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University(JNTU)<strong>and</strong>aMaster’sdegree<strong>in</strong>ElectricalEng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>gfrom<strong>India</strong>nInstituteofTechnology,Chennai.ThevalueoftheInternetProtocol(IP)has become immediately apparent tothe retail end-user <strong>in</strong> the last fewyears.IP has shifted from be<strong>in</strong>g anarcane transport medium forresearchers<strong>and</strong>theliketobe<strong>in</strong>gsynonymouswith ubiquitous access toInternet services. More recently, ithasga<strong>in</strong>edfameforthedramaticlower<strong>in</strong>gofthecostofvoicecommunicationsthrough VoIP. The traditionalversionofVoIP,orVoiceoverInternetProtocol, provided no more than thetransmissionofvoiceoveranIPnetwork.However,theemergenceoftheIPMultimediaSubsystemarchitecturehas had a def<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g effect on the conceptof VoIP. Properly implementedIMS is a "game changer" that willunlock new opportunities across networklayers <strong>and</strong> services. With theemergence of IMS, VoIP has come,today, to symbolize the value that IPbr<strong>in</strong>gstothecommonuser.The new applications enabled by IPbasedcommunications enhance theways <strong>in</strong> which people can communicate.Newmultimediaservicestalkedabout, <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> some cases delivered,todaytypically<strong>in</strong>clude: Voice services (DID, Caller ID, CallWait<strong>in</strong>g); F<strong>in</strong>dme/followme; Onenumber; Clicktocall; Workanywhere; Secure<strong>in</strong>stantmessag<strong>in</strong>g; Bus<strong>in</strong>esscont<strong>in</strong>uity; Presenceservices; Oneunifiedmailbox; Onl<strong>in</strong>edirectories; Personalcallmanagement.Voice services delivered by VoIP areneverthelesstheheadl<strong>in</strong>enewsatthemoment. A recent survey fromDeloitte&Touche<strong>in</strong>dicatedthatmorethantwothirdsofGlobal2000companieswould deploy VoIP by 2006.The delivery of VoIP equipment willsurpass that of TDM (time divisionmultiplex<strong>in</strong>g) <strong>in</strong> 2006. The TIA’sTechtrendspredictsthattherewillbemore than 19 million VoIP l<strong>in</strong>es<strong>in</strong>stalledbytheendof2007.VoIPhasbeenan<strong>in</strong>tegralpartofcarriernetworks for several years now,serv<strong>in</strong>g as a means of transport.Carriers, cable companies <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>dependentservice providers are alldeploy<strong>in</strong>g VoIP solutions to the marketplacesuccessfully. These IP networksare capable of deliver<strong>in</strong>g convergedvoice,video<strong>and</strong>dataservices.Theissueisnotsomuchwhattheyc<strong>and</strong>o, but how to make it happen <strong>in</strong> aseamless, converged <strong>and</strong> effortlesslyblended manner that engages <strong>and</strong>excitesthesenses,enhanc<strong>in</strong>gthecommunicationsexperience.13
VoIPWith all-IP IMS based architecture,the real convergence occurs at thecore,thusthedevicebecomes“TripleA” or Any/All Available. By contrast,convergence that takes place <strong>in</strong> thedevice alone – via the latest voice/data/music<strong>in</strong>tegratedh<strong>and</strong>setorPDAcan be illusory – creates a specific,specializedbutsoon-obsolescentplatformfordeliveryofservices.Asdevicepreferences change, device-specificconvergencecanresult<strong>in</strong>churn–customerturnover–awayfromthenetwork,someth<strong>in</strong>gthatisquitecontrarytotheoperator’sbest<strong>in</strong>terests.IMS,theIPMultimediaSubsystem,isthe biggest eng<strong>in</strong>e of convergencego<strong>in</strong>g–<strong>and</strong>itdoesprettymuchwhatyou would expect. It provides an IPbasedsystemthatcanmoveanycontentbetweenanyterm<strong>in</strong>alsconnectedtothenetwork;thetrickistomakeallofthemobile<strong>and</strong>fixedsystemspartofthat network. This, normally, cannotoccur <strong>in</strong> a service-by-service,“stovepipe”,manner.Instead,theflexibilitytoconvergenotonlyatthenetworklevel,butattheapplications<strong>and</strong>device levels as well, needs to be<strong>in</strong>corporated <strong>in</strong>to the network fromthestart.ThatiswhatIMSdelivers.Major cell phone makers unveiledphones at the 3GSM <strong>World</strong> Congress<strong>in</strong>BarcelonathisFebruarythatswitchbetween cellular coverage outdoors<strong>and</strong> cheap wireless Internet call<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>side,allonas<strong>in</strong>glephonenumber.These new h<strong>and</strong>sets can connect tothe Internet via WiFi, rather thanBluetooth, to make cut-price callsfrom the home, office or publichotspot. Smaller manufacturers haverecentlyannouncedah<strong>and</strong>fulofsimilarphones. The underly<strong>in</strong>g transportmedium<strong>in</strong>allthesecasesisIP.As the next step <strong>in</strong> this evolution,high-powerednetworksarebecom<strong>in</strong>gmuch smarter.Through the convergenceofservices<strong>and</strong>thedeploymentof IP Multimedia Subsystem, networkssoon will be able to recognizeyou,rememberyourpreferences,<strong>and</strong>deliver to you any of the voice, videoor data services you have subscribedto – regardless of where you are orwhatdeviceyouareus<strong>in</strong>g.Provided that st<strong>and</strong>ards such as IMSare upheld <strong>and</strong> that the <strong>in</strong>dustryavoids artificial barriers such as proprietarytwistsontheprotocols,excessiveDRM(digitalrightsmanagement)squabbl<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> other attempts at a"walledgarden",theservices’richnesscan actually <strong>in</strong>crease the <strong>telecom</strong>"shareofwallet"forthefirsttime<strong>in</strong>alongwhile.Recentend-userprimaryFromatechnicalst<strong>and</strong>po<strong>in</strong>t,thebenefitsoftheIMSarchitecturearefairlyobvious.TheIMSarchitectureenablesthedeliveryofwhatweliketocallBlendedLifestyle services.Morespecifically,theIMSarchitecturemakesitpossibletocreateservicesthatblendvoice,data,video<strong>and</strong>othermultimediacontent–deliveredtosubscribersanytime,anywhere–<strong>in</strong>waysthatenhancetheirlifestyles.Primarymarketresearch<strong>in</strong>dicatesthatthereissignificantdem<strong>and</strong>forthesek<strong>in</strong>dsofservices.Whatisablendedlifestyleservice,really?Tostartwith,itisimportanttopo<strong>in</strong>toutthatblend<strong>in</strong>gisdifferentfrombundl<strong>in</strong>g.Blend<strong>in</strong>gcomesaboutbyenabl<strong>in</strong>gtraditionally<strong>in</strong>dependentservicesto<strong>in</strong>teractwithoneanother,typicallybyshar<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>formationsuchasbuddylists,locationdata,presence<strong>in</strong>formation<strong>and</strong>subscriberpreferences<strong>and</strong>profiles.Becausetheyarebasedonas<strong>in</strong>gledeliveryplatform,servicessuchas<strong>in</strong>stantmessag<strong>in</strong>gcanbecomb<strong>in</strong>edwithIP voice<strong>and</strong>videocapabilitiestocreatesuchnewoffer<strong>in</strong>gsasmultipartyvideoconferenc<strong>in</strong>g.IMSmakesitpossibleforenterprisesofallshapes<strong>and</strong>sizestotakeadvantageof<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>productivityservicesthattraditionalnetworkarchitecturessimplycannotsupport.Whenyouth<strong>in</strong>kaboutit,thepossiblecomb<strong>in</strong>ationsareendless,<strong>and</strong>thisisoneofthekeyvaluepropositionsofIMS.IMSmakesitpossibleforoperatorstocreateahugevarietyofapplications,customizedtotheneedsofparticularcustomersegments.IMSalsomakesitpossibletobr<strong>in</strong>gtheseapplications–alleasilymodifiabletoaddresschang<strong>in</strong>gmarketdem<strong>and</strong>s–tomarketmorequickly<strong>and</strong>atlowercostthaniscurrentlypossible.Naturally,therearechallengestomak<strong>in</strong>gIMSservicesareality.IMSsystemsarecomplex.Assur<strong>in</strong>gthatthesystemsdeployed<strong>in</strong>serviceprovidernetworksarecompatible<strong>and</strong>cansupportservices<strong>and</strong>subscribersfromotheroperators’networksisnosmalltask.Fortunately,thest<strong>and</strong>ardsbodiesthataredriv<strong>in</strong>gtheestablishmentoftheIMSst<strong>and</strong>ard–the3rdGenerationPartnershipProject(3GPP)<strong>and</strong>3GPP2–haveagreatdealofexperiencemanag<strong>in</strong>gthedevelopmentofcomplextechnologyst<strong>and</strong>ardsthatrequirethe<strong>in</strong>tegrationofavarietyofdiverseelements.ProgressontheIMSst<strong>and</strong>ardisbenefit<strong>in</strong>gfromthatexperience<strong>and</strong>mov<strong>in</strong>gforwardatarapidpace.Similarly,vendors<strong>and</strong>operatorsarealsoleverag<strong>in</strong>gtheirwealthofexperience<strong>and</strong>depthofknowledge<strong>in</strong>deployment<strong>and</strong>managementoflarge,sophisticatednetworks<strong>and</strong>apply<strong>in</strong>gittothedevelopmentofIMSsystems<strong>and</strong>serviceoffer<strong>in</strong>gs.researchhasidentifiedcustomersegments<strong>and</strong>servicesblendsthatrepresentaveryhigh<strong>in</strong>crease<strong>in</strong>valuedueto the use of IP <strong>in</strong> the only way thatultimately matters – customers’ will<strong>in</strong>gnesstospend.Itistheabilityofthenetworktoadaptto <strong>in</strong>dividual customer’s preferences,profiles, context (e.g. work or play)<strong>and</strong> proximity to friends, colleagues<strong>and</strong> desired suppliers via “presence”-based <strong>in</strong>telligence, that enables theattractive <strong>and</strong> valuable new services,blended any way you want, just likethe coffee at your premium-pricedcorner coffee shop. Customers willstartchoos<strong>in</strong>gprovidersbasedonhowwelltheirnetworksprovidethesepersonalized,adaptiveservices.IP Communications is no longer thediscussion of the future – it is heretoday<strong>and</strong>readytodef<strong>in</strong>ethewaywecommunicate.Thevaluedeliveredbytheseapplicationstoday,aswellastheability to build applications aroundvoice services, will br<strong>in</strong>g tremendousvaluetoorganizations.Thedeliveryofthese services is secure <strong>and</strong> the toolsavailable today can further enhancethem.Still, we need to take IMS from an<strong>in</strong>cremental enabl<strong>in</strong>g technology to atransformational technology byenhanc<strong>in</strong>g the core IMS networkarchitecture with tools that delivertrue“personalization”.Weareattheedge of that real transformation – atransformation <strong>in</strong> how people areenterta<strong>in</strong>ed, share <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>and</strong>communicate, connect<strong>in</strong>g everyoneeverywhere to virtually everyth<strong>in</strong>g –seamlessly,simply,<strong>and</strong>securely.Thistransformation will unlock the truepotentialofVoIPcommunications.Operators look<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>in</strong>troduce compell<strong>in</strong>gnewservices,generaterevenuequickly, seize <strong>and</strong> ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong> futuremarketshare,tosecurenewrevenues,<strong>and</strong>simultaneouslyenhancetheuser’sexperience<strong>and</strong>choicewouldtypicallybenefitfromchoos<strong>in</strong>gasolutionbasedonamarket-readyIMSarchitecture.Asthebattlefortheconsumer<strong>in</strong>tensifies,carriers are view<strong>in</strong>g seamlessvoice convergence as the first step <strong>in</strong>improv<strong>in</strong>g customer loyalty <strong>and</strong> revenues.CarrierscanalsouseIMSeffectivelytoexp<strong>and</strong>theirdualmodeservicesmarkettotheenterprisesegment<strong>and</strong>, as well, offer both the <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong><strong>and</strong>consumersegmentsarevolutionaryset of flexible <strong>and</strong> personalizedcommunications services. By transform<strong>in</strong>gtheuserexperience,IMSwillhelp drive take-up of enhanced dataservices,reducechurn<strong>and</strong>unlockthetruerevenuepotentialofnext-generationnetworks.14
Digital broadcast<strong>in</strong>gThe DAB family –<strong>in</strong>ternational <strong>and</strong> versatile digital broadcast<strong>in</strong>g st<strong>and</strong>ardsby Quent<strong>in</strong> Howard, President, <strong>World</strong> DAB <strong>and</strong> Chief Executive, Digital One, UKTraditionalanalogueradiobroadcastissubjectto<strong>in</strong>terferencefromothersignals,theweather,build<strong>in</strong>gs<strong>and</strong>naturalobstacles.Digitaltechnology,suchasDAB,DigitalAudioBroadcast<strong>in</strong>g,optimisesthereceiversensitivity<strong>and</strong>permits<strong>in</strong>terferencefree,high-qualityreception.ThemultimediaversionofDAB,DMB,permitstext,data<strong>and</strong>videotransmissionaswell.DABtrialsarenowunderway<strong>in</strong>NewDelhi,sobytheendof2006<strong>India</strong>mightbeabletojo<strong>in</strong>thegrow<strong>in</strong>glistofcountriesthroughouttheworldoffer<strong>in</strong>gDABservice.Quent<strong>in</strong>HowardisthePresidentof<strong>World</strong>DAB<strong>and</strong>theChiefExecutiveofDigitalOne<strong>in</strong>theUK.Howardfounded Digital One, which was awarded the sole UK National Multiplex licence for Digital Radio.DigitalOnenowoperatesthelargestdigitalradionetwork<strong>in</strong>theworld.Previously,Quent<strong>in</strong>Howardwaschiefeng<strong>in</strong>eeratanumberofradiostationsbeforejo<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gGWRGroup,wherehecreatedGWR'sDigitalBroadcast<strong>in</strong>gDivision.HehasalsobeenaProgrammeDirector<strong>and</strong>isaradiopresenterwithseveralSonyRadioAwardstohiscredit.Whilstpresent<strong>in</strong>gTheClassicQuizforClassicFM,Howarddeveloped a system of us<strong>in</strong>g ISDN to broadcast from home. Howard has served as a member of the<strong>World</strong>DAB Steer<strong>in</strong>g Board. <strong>World</strong>DAB is the <strong>in</strong>ternational promotional <strong>and</strong> lobby<strong>in</strong>g body for DAB(digitalaudiobroadcast<strong>in</strong>g).HeisalsoontheBoardoftheUK’sDigitalRadioDevelopmentBureau(DRDB)<strong>and</strong>theBoardofFrontierSilicon.Quent<strong>in</strong>Howardisanelectrical<strong>and</strong>electronicsgraduate.The <strong>World</strong>DAB Forum is an <strong>in</strong>ternational,non-governmental organisationwhose role is to promote globalawareness,adoption<strong>and</strong>implementationof the DAB family of st<strong>and</strong>ards.Itsmembers<strong>in</strong>cludepublic<strong>and</strong>commercialbroadcasters, receiver manufacturers,network operators <strong>and</strong>othercompanies<strong>and</strong>bodiescommittedto convert<strong>in</strong>g the technologybeh<strong>in</strong>d DAB <strong>in</strong>to a commercial market<strong>in</strong>gsuccess for radio, mobile TV<strong>and</strong>multimediadatabroadcast<strong>in</strong>g.<strong>World</strong>DAB was <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong> <strong>in</strong> February,demonstrat<strong>in</strong>g the latest DAB <strong>and</strong>multimedia technology to broadcasters,network providers <strong>and</strong> manufacturers.Itisthefirsttimethe<strong>in</strong>ternationalpromotional <strong>and</strong> lobby<strong>in</strong>gbodyforDABhadhostedanevent<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>.DABaudiotrialsarealreadyunderway<strong>in</strong> New Delhi from All <strong>India</strong> Radio(AIR).AfurtherrolloutofDABservicesis expected once the government,possiblybytheendof2006,hasdeterm<strong>in</strong>edspectrumallocation.DAB has become an <strong>in</strong>ternationallyadopted st<strong>and</strong>ard heard <strong>in</strong> nearly 40countries on all five cont<strong>in</strong>ents. It isavailablecommerciallyacrossEurope<strong>and</strong>theFarEast.Morethan500millionpeople worldwide are with<strong>in</strong>rangeofDABtransmissions.Mature receiver development is <strong>in</strong>placewithanextensiverangeofmassproduction receiver devices on themarket, from as low as US$50. Theycover all formats from hi-fi units toh<strong>and</strong>held devices <strong>and</strong> even mobilephones.DAB is a robust, reliable <strong>and</strong> flexibletechnology, created specifically toenable high-quality mobile <strong>and</strong>portable reception with audio, video<strong>and</strong>datacapabilitiesaspartofitscore<strong>in</strong>frastructure.It <strong>in</strong>volves two broadtypesofservice:– DAB as Digital Radio: audio <strong>and</strong>dataservicestoreplacecurrentFMorAM analogue offer<strong>in</strong>gs, allow<strong>in</strong>g theradio <strong>in</strong>dustry to access the digitalworldtogetherwithalltheadvantages<strong>and</strong> opportunities of digitisation, todeliver enriched radio content to listeners<strong>and</strong>consumers.– DMB (Digital MultimediaBroadcast<strong>in</strong>g) <strong>and</strong> DAB IP: compatibleDAB-basedapplicationsdevelopedtoenablethetransferofvideo,audio<strong>and</strong> other multimedia content ontomobile <strong>and</strong> portable devices withscreens, such as mobile phones,PDA’s,PMP’s,digitalcameras,etc.DMB is a method of deliver<strong>in</strong>g videocontent. The technology, orig<strong>in</strong>allydeveloped <strong>in</strong> conjunction with Korea<strong>and</strong>theirmobilephone<strong>in</strong>dustries,hasbecome a global st<strong>and</strong>ard (ETSI).DMBusestheMPEG4cod<strong>in</strong>gsystemto stream the content over DAB. TheotherwaytodelivervideooverDABisvia an IP application <strong>in</strong> conjunctionwith DAB’s Enhanced Packet Modest<strong>and</strong>ard;theBTMovioproject<strong>in</strong>theUKcurrentlyusesthistechnology.Both DMB <strong>and</strong> DAB are part of thesamesystem<strong>and</strong>assuch<strong>in</strong>tr<strong>in</strong>sicallycomplementary: DMB runs on the15
Digital broadcast<strong>in</strong>gsamenetworkasDAB;DMBreceiversarealsoDABreceivers.Whencomparedwithotherbroadcast<strong>in</strong>gtechnologies for the mobile environment,DAB’s capabilities to transmitvideo <strong>and</strong> multimedia present anumber of clear advantages. Perhapsmost important of these is that thetechnology is fully proven; networks<strong>and</strong> spectrum are available <strong>in</strong> manycountries<strong>and</strong>devicesarenow<strong>in</strong>massproduction. DMB <strong>and</strong> DAB IP allowimmediate access to the world ofmedia<strong>and</strong>technologyconvergence.Bytheendof2005,anestimatedfourmillionpeoplearoundtheworldwerelisten<strong>in</strong>gtouniquenewradioservices<strong>in</strong>digitalqualitysoundthroughaDABdigital radio. With mobile television<strong>and</strong> multimedia delivered via DMB,thisnumberissettoescalaterapidly.Lead<strong>in</strong>g the charge are the UK,Germany,Norway,Denmark,Holl<strong>and</strong>,Switzerl<strong>and</strong>, Korea <strong>and</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a, withothercountriesclosebeh<strong>in</strong>d.MatureaudienceTheUKhasthemostmatureDABlisten<strong>in</strong>gaudience with sales of over483,500 <strong>in</strong> the 2005 Christmas period,contribut<strong>in</strong>gtoacumulativetotalof 2.716 million sets <strong>in</strong> homes. In2005,1.449millionDABdevicesweresold<strong>in</strong>theUK,accord<strong>in</strong>gtoGfK.Anestimated5.4millionpeoplelistentodigitalradioonaDABset<strong>and</strong>11.1percent of the population live <strong>in</strong> a DABhousehold(RajarQ4,05),upfrom5.3percent<strong>in</strong>December2004.TheDABmarket was worth £135 million <strong>in</strong>2005, up from £86 million <strong>in</strong> 2004(Gfk).Denmark has recorded cumulativesalesof143,000DABreceiversuptothe end of November 2005, whichdoesnot<strong>in</strong>cludesalesdur<strong>in</strong>gthebusyChristmas period. However, this representsan <strong>in</strong>crease of 100,000 overthesameperiod<strong>in</strong>2004.Officialsalesfigures for the month of December2005 are expected to be released byTSN Gallup at the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g of April2006.Denmark’s public broadcaster, DR(Danish Broadcast<strong>in</strong>g Corporation)plans to add another 20 transmittersto the DAB network <strong>in</strong> 2006/07,br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>gcoverageupfrom70percentto90percentofthepopulation.Thecommercialsectorhasrecentlyjo<strong>in</strong>edDR<strong>and</strong>betweenthemtheybroadcast17 DAB services, many of which areunique stations not available on analogue.Denmarkenjoysstronggovernmentsupport,commitmentfrombothpublic <strong>and</strong> commercial broadcasters<strong>and</strong>avigorouspromotionalcampaignfromanewlyformedDABmarket<strong>in</strong>gbureau.In Norway, where coverage is set to<strong>in</strong>crease to 80 per cent, <strong>and</strong> publicbroadcasterNRKhassetananalogueswitch-offtargetof2014,salesofDABdigital radios also <strong>in</strong>creased significantly.Sales of 51,000 units <strong>in</strong> 2005easilybeatthe<strong>in</strong>dustryforecastofjust15,000.Koreaisthefirstcountrytogobeyondtrials <strong>and</strong> commercially launch DMBservices,withamixtureoftelevision,data<strong>and</strong>radioservices.AwiderangeDMB receivers from LG, Samsung,Perstel<strong>and</strong>otherswereonthemarket<strong>in</strong> time for the service launch <strong>in</strong>December.Injustoveramonths<strong>in</strong>cetheofficialDMBlaunch<strong>in</strong>December2005,salesofDMBenabledreceiversexceeded 110,000 <strong>and</strong> sales shouldtoptwomillionbytheendof2006.There are positive signals com<strong>in</strong>gfrom other countries where DAB hasonly recently launched competitively.DABsalesarealsogrow<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>BelgiumwithmanymoreDABproductsenter<strong>in</strong>gthemarket<strong>and</strong>themajorretailers<strong>and</strong>themajorityof<strong>in</strong>dependentssell<strong>in</strong>greceivers.IntheNetherl<strong>and</strong>s,aDMBtrialistobe extended <strong>and</strong> one of the majorimporters for DAB radios, MusicMatters,issett<strong>in</strong>gupaDABmarket<strong>in</strong>gbureau.CoverageIn Switzerl<strong>and</strong>, DAB receivers onlyarrived<strong>in</strong>shops<strong>in</strong>2005,sothereareno sales figures currently available.Coverageissettoriseto73percentofthe population by early Spr<strong>in</strong>g 2006,<strong>and</strong>to90percentoftheGerman<strong>and</strong>Italianspeak<strong>in</strong>gpopulationbytheendoftheyear.Therearealreadyatotalof30French<strong>and</strong>Germanspeak<strong>in</strong>gDABchannelsbroadcast<strong>in</strong>g.SRG,theSwissBroadcast<strong>in</strong>gCorporation,hassaiditwill not <strong>in</strong>vest <strong>in</strong> exp<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g the FMnetwork but will focus on grow<strong>in</strong>gDAB coverage <strong>in</strong>stead. A new DABmarket<strong>in</strong>g bureau will launch <strong>in</strong> theSpr<strong>in</strong>g 2006 with major market<strong>in</strong>gcampaigns promot<strong>in</strong>g products <strong>and</strong>servicestoconsumersplannedfortheAutumn.Weexpectthemarkettotakeoffthisyear.In Ch<strong>in</strong>a, where the majority of DABdevicesaremade,themarketisgrow<strong>in</strong>grapidly. Eighty million people <strong>in</strong>GuangdongProv<strong>in</strong>cecanreceiveDMBtrialservices;Trialsbegan<strong>in</strong>Beij<strong>in</strong>g,<strong>in</strong>2005,broadcast<strong>in</strong>gtwoDABradioservicesto12millionpeople.Sixmoreservices are planned; <strong>and</strong> video <strong>and</strong>multimedia trials us<strong>in</strong>g DAB’s IPapplicationarebroadcast<strong>in</strong>gto16millionpotential listeners <strong>in</strong> Shanghai.The plans call for six video <strong>and</strong> 12audioservices.Manufacturer Samsung Electronicshas agreed to supply 500,000 DMBphones to two major Ch<strong>in</strong>ese mobileTVoperators.Bothcompaniesplantobeg<strong>in</strong> commercial DMB broadcast<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong> Spr<strong>in</strong>g 2006. DAB digital radioservices are part of the package thatcomeswithDMBbroadcast<strong>in</strong>g.SportsThisisabigyearforsports.The2006W<strong>in</strong>terOlympics,the<strong>World</strong>Cup<strong>and</strong>the Ryder Cup, among other events,willallhelpswelloverallradiolisten<strong>in</strong>g,<strong>and</strong>DABwilltakeitsshareofthismarket.GermanywillleadtwomajorDMB trials <strong>in</strong> 2006 focused on the<strong>World</strong> Cup with radio <strong>and</strong> televisionservices.One,calledMiFriends,isanofficialEuropeanprojectwithabudgetofaround18millioneurosoverthenext two years.Meanwhile, servicesbroadcast<strong>in</strong>g on DAB radio <strong>in</strong>Germany cont<strong>in</strong>ue to grow with atleast 10 new stations launch<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>2005, br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g the total on-air toaround90<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>doorreceptionissetto improve exponentially throughout2006.These examples of <strong>in</strong>ternationalgrowth<strong>and</strong>commitmenttoDAB<strong>and</strong>itsfamilyofst<strong>and</strong>ardsarejustthetipof the iceberg. DAB services recentlylaunched <strong>in</strong> the Dubl<strong>in</strong> area of Eire.SloveniawilllaunchaDABservice<strong>in</strong>the Ljubljana area <strong>and</strong> the MalteseCommunications Authority hasreceived requests, exceed<strong>in</strong>g the supply,for four terrestrial DAB frequencies.Taiwan has awarded DABlicences <strong>and</strong> services should beg<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>2006.ItalyissuednewregulationsforDAB<strong>in</strong>2005;itwillawardlicenses<strong>in</strong>2006. A legal framework for digitalradioisnow<strong>in</strong>place<strong>in</strong>Australia,<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong> S<strong>in</strong>gapore, a country of approximatelyone million households, 1 percent of households now have a DABdigitalradio.Withnewtechnology,therearealwaysisolated hiccups. Stations come <strong>and</strong>go,governmentsbacktrackonlegislation<strong>and</strong>broadcastersfeartoembracenew technology. Ultimately, if themedium is appeal<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> deliversadded-value, consumers will drive<strong>in</strong>novation.DAB radio <strong>and</strong> mobile TV st<strong>and</strong>ardsare prov<strong>in</strong>g themselves <strong>in</strong> nearly 40countriesaroundtheworld.Themarketisgrow<strong>in</strong>g<strong>and</strong>itshowslittlesignofslow<strong>in</strong>gdown.16
Telecommunication servicesICT – realis<strong>in</strong>g <strong>India</strong>’s full potentialby Michiel Verhoeven, General Manager, Microsoft Communications Sector, Asia Pacific <strong>and</strong> JapanMost networks <strong>in</strong> the future will use Internet protocol (IP) technology. Voice over IP(VoIP)isnowama<strong>in</strong>streamservice<strong>and</strong>acatalystforgrowth<strong>and</strong>competition<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>’s<strong>telecom</strong>munications<strong>in</strong>dustry.Despiteoffer<strong>in</strong>ganever-widen<strong>in</strong>grangeofadvancedservices,serviceproviders<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>arefac<strong>in</strong>gadecl<strong>in</strong>e<strong>in</strong>revenuesfromtraditionalvoice<strong>and</strong>dataservicesdueto<strong>in</strong>creasedcompetition.ApplicationsresidentonIPTelephonyplatformspromiseavastimprovement<strong>in</strong>thecommunicationsefficiencyof<strong>India</strong>nenterprises<strong>and</strong>serviceproviders.Michiel Verhoeven is the General Manager, Asia Pacific <strong>and</strong> Japan of Microsoft’s CommunicationsSector. Verhoeven br<strong>in</strong>gs more than 20 years of <strong>in</strong>dustry experience to Microsoft. Before jo<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gMicrosoft,VerhoevenheldseveralexecutivepositionsatwebMethods,a<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong><strong>in</strong>tegrationsoftwarecompany,mostrecentlyserv<strong>in</strong>gasvicepresidentforAsia.PriortowebMethods,VerhoevenwasChiefOperat<strong>in</strong>gOfficerwithAsiaNetMedia,<strong>and</strong>heldconsult<strong>in</strong>gpositionsatbothBoozAllen&Hamilton<strong>and</strong>KPMGConsult<strong>in</strong>g.Healsoserved<strong>in</strong>a<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>managementcapacityatPapeteriesdeClairefonta<strong>in</strong>e.HereceivedanMBAfromtheWhartonSchool,UniversityofPennsylvania<strong>and</strong>abachelor'sdegree<strong>in</strong>AccountancyfromtheHaagseHogeschool<strong>in</strong>theNetherl<strong>and</strong>s.It is widely accepted that today’s networks,<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>deedfuturenetworks,willbe built us<strong>in</strong>g Internet protocol (IP)technology. Over the past few years,voiceoverIP(VoIP)hasmadethetransition<strong>in</strong>toma<strong>in</strong>streamdeployment<strong>and</strong>this has become a catalyst for growth<strong>and</strong>competition<strong>in</strong>the<strong>telecom</strong>munications<strong>in</strong>dustry.<strong>India</strong>–ahotbedofopportunitiesThesizeoftheIPtelephonymarket<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong> <strong>in</strong> 2005 reached US$54 million.With<strong>in</strong> the market for enterprise IPT(IP telephony) applications alone,which accounted for US$2 million <strong>in</strong>2004,areexpectedtogrowstronglyataCAGR(compoundannualgrowthrate)of 52.3 per cent between 2004 <strong>and</strong>2011,toreachUS$38.8millionby2011(source: Frost & Sullivan). There arealreadystrongsignsthatthemulti-billiondollar <strong>India</strong>n <strong>telecom</strong> market ispoisedtoexp<strong>and</strong>atanexponentialrate.Several lead<strong>in</strong>g global <strong>telecom</strong>municationsplayers are partner<strong>in</strong>g to ga<strong>in</strong>entry<strong>in</strong>tothelucrative<strong>India</strong>n<strong>telecom</strong>market. Follow<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>India</strong>n government’sdecision <strong>in</strong> November 2005 tosimplify <strong>and</strong> streaml<strong>in</strong>e the licencestructure, new services will now bemore affordable <strong>and</strong> this will drive<strong>India</strong>’scompetitivenessasadest<strong>in</strong>ationfor Information Technology (IT) <strong>and</strong>Bus<strong>in</strong>essProcessOutsourc<strong>in</strong>g(BPO).Coupled with the relaxation <strong>in</strong> foreigndirect<strong>in</strong>vestmentlimits(FDI)to74percent,these<strong>in</strong>itiativeswillenableglobaloperators to exp<strong>and</strong> their <strong>in</strong>vestmentssignificantly<strong>in</strong>the<strong>India</strong>n<strong>telecom</strong>s<strong>and</strong>IT market. The likely result will begreater competition, <strong>and</strong> the marketwill see the <strong>in</strong>troduction <strong>and</strong> implementationof the latest technology ascompetitiongrows.Theneedfor<strong>in</strong>novationAt the same time, service providers <strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong> are fac<strong>in</strong>g a decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> revenuesfromtraditionalvoice<strong>and</strong>dataservicesdue to <strong>in</strong>creased competition, despiteoffer<strong>in</strong>gadiversesetofservicessuchasfixed-l<strong>in</strong>e, IP <strong>and</strong> wireless telephony,high-speed wired <strong>and</strong> wireless Internetservices<strong>and</strong>Webstorage.Applications resident on the IPT platformpromise a vast improvement <strong>in</strong>the communications efficiency of<strong>India</strong>n enterprises. The adoption ofsuchapplicationswillopennewercommunicationchannelsforoneofthemostpopulatednations<strong>in</strong>theworld.Service providers <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong> are alreadytapp<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>tofreshwaystotakeadvantageof these new opportunities. Manyhavealreadyembarkedontheroadbybuild<strong>in</strong>g next-generation networks(NGNs). The NGNs will allow serviceproviderstoquicklycreatenewservicesor roll out new service bundles toenhancethesubscriber’sexperience.Inaddition,serviceproviderstodayarebe<strong>in</strong>g more creative <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>genuousabout micro market<strong>in</strong>g these services.Subscriber decisions about serviceoffer<strong>in</strong>gsmayhaveasmuchtodowiththe packag<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> market<strong>in</strong>g as theywillwithactualservicesoffered.Based on my discussions with manyseniorexecutivesofserviceproviders<strong>in</strong>Asia Pacific, it is clear that theseproviders must create <strong>and</strong> leverageopportunitiesto<strong>in</strong>creasecustomerloy-17
Telecommunication servicesmake a VoIP call, play agame over an IP connection<strong>and</strong>watchIPTV.Pastgames statistics can alsobemadeavailabletocompletethe view<strong>in</strong>g experience;alty <strong>and</strong> grow revenue streams. Withtheadventoftripleplaytechnologythatdrives voice, video <strong>and</strong> data convergence,service providers can takeadvantageoftheircorecompetenciestof<strong>in</strong>d <strong>in</strong>novative ways to reta<strong>in</strong> <strong>and</strong>/orattract subscribers. Most, if not all, ofthe service providers I have met arestriv<strong>in</strong>g to differentiate themselveswith<strong>in</strong> this converg<strong>in</strong>g l<strong>and</strong>scape bybr<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> bundl<strong>in</strong>g new services,achieveoperationalcostreduction<strong>and</strong>strategically position themselves <strong>in</strong>relationtotheircompetitors.Deliver<strong>in</strong>gvalue-addedservicescost-effectivelyFigure 1: The primary goal is to enable users to get the <strong>in</strong>formation they want.Frommyexperience,itisservicesoverIPor,morespecifically,theaggregationof services over IP, which will giveprovidersanedgetodifferentiatethemselves.To ga<strong>in</strong> a market advantage, serviceproviders need to create <strong>and</strong> package<strong>in</strong>novativeservicesfordeliverytospecifictargetaudiences.Theprimarygoalistoenableuserstogetthe<strong>in</strong>formationtheywant,<strong>in</strong>anymediaorformat,overanyfacility,anytime<strong>and</strong>anywhere.Theservicenetworklayeristheframeworkfor build<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> manag<strong>in</strong>g servicesus<strong>in</strong>gaservice-orientedarchitecture(SOA) <strong>and</strong> web service <strong>in</strong>terfaces.Not only will such a framework allowproviderstobr<strong>in</strong>gtogetherthirdpartyapplicationsrapidly<strong>and</strong>withease,butit will also facilitate the creation ofoperator-developed services <strong>and</strong> contentthat target specific customer segments.For example, this is where triple playservicescanbe<strong>in</strong>tegratedwithpowerfulweb services such as Amazon,PayPal<strong>and</strong>Ebay.Theamalgamationofthese web services with traditional<strong>telecom</strong>municationsoffer<strong>in</strong>gswillreallyredef<strong>in</strong>ehowserviceproviderscompete<strong>in</strong>thismarket<strong>and</strong>presentcarrierswith significant opportunities to drivenewrevenuestreams.Thesearebutsomeoftheservicesthatresideontheservicelayer:Multimediaservices;Unifiedmessag<strong>in</strong>g;Informationbroker<strong>in</strong>g;E-commerce;Callcentreservices;Interactivegam<strong>in</strong>g.Tofullyappreciatethemyriadpossibilitiesfor aggregated services <strong>and</strong> value<strong>in</strong> the new software-powered servicenetwork, picture the follow<strong>in</strong>g scenarios:– While you are watch<strong>in</strong>g a cricketmatch on your IPTV, you noticed viayourmessengerclientthatyourfriendhasturnedonhisIPTVservices<strong>and</strong>isalso watch<strong>in</strong>g the same cricket match.You decide to discuss the match withyourfriend,<strong>and</strong>launchavoiceoverIP(VoIP)calltoyourfriendfromtheonscreenTV menu. As you discuss theperformanceofyourteam,thereisalullperiod<strong>in</strong>thematch,<strong>and</strong>youdecidetolaunch your favourite onl<strong>in</strong>e videogame. All this while, you cont<strong>in</strong>ue tokeeptabsonthematch<strong>in</strong>asmallpicture-<strong>in</strong>-picture(PIP) <strong>in</strong> the corner ofthescreen.Allittakesareafewclicksto–Anotherconsumermaydecide to catch the latestBollywood movie. Sheuseshermobilephonetocallamovieticketservice,<strong>and</strong>f<strong>in</strong>dstheclosestc<strong>in</strong>emabasedonthelocation<strong>in</strong>formation provided byhermobilephone.Shecanthen quickly completesthetransaction,buyaticket,<strong>and</strong> go to the movielater on <strong>in</strong> the even<strong>in</strong>g.Dur<strong>in</strong>g the movie, shereceivesanSMSmessagethatgiveshertheoptiontobuy the r<strong>in</strong>g tone of themovie soundtrack themeor download the entiresoundtrack to her PC orportabledevice;–Anofficeworker<strong>in</strong>Mumba<strong>in</strong>eedstodiscussapresentationwithacolleague<strong>in</strong> Chennai. Us<strong>in</strong>g Outlook, he checksforher‘presence’<strong>in</strong>formationtoseeifsheisonl<strong>in</strong>e.Uponverify<strong>in</strong>gthatsheis,heemailsal<strong>in</strong>ktohersoshecanjo<strong>in</strong>a‘live meet<strong>in</strong>g’ session. He clicks hercontact<strong>in</strong>formationtoestablishaVoIPcall<strong>and</strong>bothofthemusethewebconferencefunction to collaborate on thepresentation. Dur<strong>in</strong>g the session, hereceives an email that some relevant<strong>in</strong>formation will be featured on a TVnews programme start<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> five m<strong>in</strong>utes.TheybothlaunchanIPTVsessionon their desktops <strong>and</strong> watch the newsreporttogether.Us<strong>in</strong>gthe<strong>in</strong>formationga<strong>in</strong>edfromthenewssession,theycollaboratetocompletethepresentation.Realpotential,todayThese may seem like next-generationservices,butthetechnologyisready–itis available today. By leverag<strong>in</strong>g new<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>novative platforms, serviceproviderscancreate<strong>and</strong>comb<strong>in</strong>eprofitableservices offer<strong>in</strong>gs, exp<strong>and</strong> theirsubscriber base, <strong>and</strong> ga<strong>in</strong> a criticaltime-to-marketadvantage.I am encouraged by the positivechanges I have seen <strong>in</strong> the <strong>India</strong>n<strong>telecom</strong>munications space <strong>and</strong> believethatthe<strong>in</strong>dustrywillcont<strong>in</strong>ueto<strong>in</strong>novate<strong>and</strong>achieveitsfullpotential<strong>in</strong>thecom<strong>in</strong>gyears.18
MAKE THE RIGHT CONNECTIONSITU TELECOM WORLD 2006 provides a unique global ICT network<strong>in</strong>g platformwhere great m<strong>in</strong>ds, companies <strong>and</strong> new technologies connect. Jo<strong>in</strong> theleaders of <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>, government, regulators, <strong>in</strong>novators <strong>and</strong> visionaries toexplore, negotiate <strong>and</strong> decide the future of the ICT <strong>in</strong>dustry. Organized by theInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU). Visit www.itu.<strong>in</strong>t/world2006
National developmentChang<strong>in</strong>g <strong>India</strong> – us<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>telecom</strong> edgeby Amit Sharma, Vice President, South <strong>and</strong> South-East Asia, MotorolaTelecommunicationsholdsthekeyto<strong>India</strong>’seconomicemergence.Contrasts<strong>in</strong><strong>telecom</strong>usage,though,aregreat.<strong>India</strong>istheworld’sfastestgrow<strong>in</strong>g<strong>telecom</strong>market,buttwothirdsofitspopulationhasnocoverage<strong>and</strong>broadb<strong>and</strong>usageisnegligible.Nevertheless,countlessurban<strong>and</strong>ruralworkersusemobilestodo<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong><strong>and</strong>thous<strong>and</strong>sofpeopleman the call centres, the hubs of the Bus<strong>in</strong>ess Process Outsourc<strong>in</strong>g (BPO) <strong>in</strong>dustry,whichhasplayedsuchakeyrole<strong>in</strong>mak<strong>in</strong>g<strong>India</strong>theworld’sback-office.AmitSharmaistheVicePresidentforSouth&SouthEast-AsiaatMotorolaInc.MrSharmahasbeenamemberofMotorola’sAsia-PacificManagementBoards<strong>in</strong>ce1997.PriortoMotorola,heservedasVicePresident–StrategicPlann<strong>in</strong>g&Bus<strong>in</strong>essDevelopmentatGECapital<strong>and</strong>atMcK<strong>in</strong>sey&Companyasa core team member of the firm's Electronics <strong>and</strong> Market<strong>in</strong>g Practices. Mr Amit Sharma is the Co-ChairmanoftheTelecomCommitteeoftheFederationofthe<strong>India</strong>nChambersofCommerce&Industry(FICCI); he serves on the AmCham Board of Governors <strong>and</strong> is the Chairman of the its TelecomCommittee;heisalsoamemberoftheCII–Confederationof<strong>India</strong>nIndustry’sTelecomCommittee.MrSharmastudiedatthe<strong>India</strong>nInstituteofTechnology(IIT),Kharagpur;hehasanMSE<strong>in</strong>Computer<strong>and</strong>InformationSciencesfromtheMooreSchool,UniversityofPennsylvania.HealsoholdsanMBA<strong>in</strong>InternationalBus<strong>in</strong>essfromWhartonSchoolofBus<strong>in</strong>ess,wherehewasontheDean’s<strong>and</strong>theDirector’sHonoursLists.To underst<strong>and</strong> how much the explosivegrowth <strong>in</strong> <strong>telecom</strong>municationshas altered the lives of ord<strong>in</strong>ary<strong>India</strong>ns, all you need to do is lookaroundcities<strong>and</strong>thevillagesthatlieclosetothem.Inagrow<strong>in</strong>gnumberof<strong>India</strong>’scities,particularlythemetros,tradesmen <strong>and</strong> shopkeepers transact<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> over the phone, usually amobiledevice.Itisnotunusualtoseeplumbers,carpenters,electricians<strong>and</strong>the like, h<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g out <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> cardswith mobile numbers. Until a fewyears ago, this was unth<strong>in</strong>kable. Hopacross to urban <strong>and</strong> semi-urban villages,<strong>and</strong>thepictureisnotverydifferent;down <strong>in</strong> the muddy bazaars,vegetable <strong>and</strong> milk vendors <strong>in</strong>makeshiftkiosksusemobilephonestotake home delivery orders. Farmersuse them to share news, check cropprices, learn about new agriculturalprogrammes <strong>and</strong> talk to relatives <strong>in</strong>cities. This s<strong>in</strong>gle device, a potentsymbolofprogressivede-regulation<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>’s <strong>telecom</strong> <strong>in</strong>dustry from theearlyn<strong>in</strong>eties,hasexp<strong>and</strong>ed<strong>in</strong>comesofscoresofpeopleacrossthecountry,made lives easier <strong>and</strong> more convenient,<strong>and</strong>generallygiventheeconomyapushnorthwards.Wellpastmidnight,highup<strong>in</strong>glitter<strong>in</strong>gglass <strong>and</strong> concrete build<strong>in</strong>gs thatdotBangalore,Gurgaon(aDelhisuburb)or Hyderabad, thous<strong>and</strong>s ofyoungpeoplechatteronphones,provid<strong>in</strong>gsolutions to customers <strong>in</strong> distantUS<strong>and</strong>Europe,<strong>in</strong>a24x7<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>that spans the IT <strong>and</strong> <strong>telecom</strong>convergencespace.Thesearethehubsof the Bus<strong>in</strong>ess Process Outsourc<strong>in</strong>g(BPO) <strong>in</strong>dustry, which has playedsuch a key role <strong>in</strong> mak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>India</strong> theworld’s back-office. When travell<strong>in</strong>ganywhere<strong>in</strong>thisvastcountryyouarelikely to see people glued to mobileh<strong>and</strong>sets. From mass-market or second-h<strong>and</strong>phones to the latest <strong>in</strong>design <strong>and</strong> applications, mobilephoneshavebecomeubiquitous.The<strong>telecom</strong>munications<strong>in</strong>dustryhasbeenashowpieceof<strong>India</strong>’seconomicreformprocess,demonstrat<strong>in</strong>ghowavirtuousconvergenceofde-regulation,foreign <strong>in</strong>vestment <strong>and</strong> competitioncan transform an economy <strong>and</strong>empower people. With subscribernumbersgrow<strong>in</strong>gat5millionamonthfrom less than 2 million just 10months ago, the <strong>telecom</strong> <strong>in</strong>dustryrema<strong>in</strong>s one of the country’s fastestgrow<strong>in</strong>gsectors. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to theTelecomRegulatoryAuthorityof<strong>India</strong>(TRAI),<strong>India</strong>currentlyhasmorethan48millionfixed-l<strong>in</strong>eusers<strong>and</strong>71millioncellular phone users. Tele-density,or the number of phones per 100people,has<strong>in</strong>creasedfromlessthan1percent<strong>in</strong>1991tonearly12percenttoday.Giventhedramaticimpactofearlyliberalization<strong>in</strong>thesector,itwouldbenoexaggerationtosaythat<strong>telecom</strong>municationsholdsthekeyto<strong>India</strong>’semergenceas a lead<strong>in</strong>g global economy.Statistics cannot comprehensivelycapturethevisiblemultipliereffectof<strong>telecom</strong>growthonthe<strong>India</strong>neconomy,but they do show the exp<strong>and</strong>ed<strong>in</strong>comes, grow<strong>in</strong>g employment <strong>and</strong> aconsumption boom that is power<strong>in</strong>g<strong>India</strong>to8percentGDPgrowth.TelecommunicationsgrowthGlobally,thel<strong>in</strong>kbetween<strong>telecom</strong>municationsgrowth <strong>and</strong> development isnowwellestablished.Ingeneral,studieshave shown that a 2 per cent<strong>in</strong>crease<strong>in</strong>tele-densitycanleadtoa320
National developmentper cent improvement <strong>in</strong> economicdevelopment. This l<strong>in</strong>kage po<strong>in</strong>ts tothe direction <strong>India</strong>’s <strong>telecom</strong> policyshould take. There is an urgent needto<strong>in</strong>creaseboththewidth<strong>and</strong>depthof the <strong>telecom</strong> revolution throughoutall of <strong>India</strong>’s socio-economic strata<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>rural<strong>India</strong>.Despite the rapid growth, <strong>India</strong> hasmanymilestogobeforeitcantakeitsplace among the <strong>telecom</strong>-empowerednations. For one, tele-density mayhave risen 12-fold over the past 15years, but it lags significantly beh<strong>in</strong>dCh<strong>in</strong>a (51 per cent), not to speak ofdevelopedmarketsliketheUS(117percent). For another, the growth of the<strong>in</strong>dustryhasbeenuneven;ruraldensityisapaltry2percent,<strong>in</strong>starkcontrastto the urban tele-density of 31percent.Thekeylies<strong>in</strong>mass-market<strong>and</strong>ruralconnectivity.Itisessential,for several reasons, to address thissegment comprehensively. Our penetrationmay be <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>India</strong> maybetheworld’sfastestgrow<strong>in</strong>g<strong>telecom</strong>market, policies may be conducive,but the fact of the matter is that asmuch as two-thirds of the country’spopulationhasnocoverage–wirelessorwirel<strong>in</strong>e!The<strong>telecom</strong>revolutionisyet to happen for the majority of<strong>India</strong>ns.Mobiledevices,though,holdthepromise.Government policy has addressedsome of these concerns. The government,for <strong>in</strong>stance, raised limits onforeign<strong>in</strong>vestment<strong>in</strong><strong>telecom</strong>serviceslast year, pav<strong>in</strong>g the way for greater<strong>in</strong>vestment <strong>in</strong>flows <strong>in</strong> the sector.Heightened competition has alreadybenefited the consumer significantly.<strong>India</strong> now enjoys tariffs that areamongthelowest<strong>in</strong>theworld–justadecade ago, they figured among thehighest. The state-owned serviceproviders’ recent move to cut alldomestic long-distance calls to Re 1per m<strong>in</strong>ute (roughly 2.2 cents) fromMarchthisyearisexpectedtorevolutionizethe <strong>telecom</strong> market even further.This apart, the zero-duty regime hasallowed<strong>telecom</strong>equipmentmanufacturersto provide h<strong>and</strong>sets at evercheaperprices, provid<strong>in</strong>g a hugeimpetusforthelow-endmassmarketthatisboundtostokegrowth.Today,mobile h<strong>and</strong>sets are available for aslittle as Rs 1200 (or US$ 27), <strong>and</strong> athriv<strong>in</strong>g second-h<strong>and</strong> market formobile h<strong>and</strong>sets is accelerat<strong>in</strong>g thevelocityofgrowth.These trends are likely to <strong>in</strong>fluenceurban <strong>India</strong> where connectivity isgrow<strong>in</strong>g exponentially. To truly reapthe ga<strong>in</strong>s of the <strong>telecom</strong> revolution,public policy <strong>and</strong> private <strong>in</strong>itiativeneeds to be focused on leverag<strong>in</strong>gtechnology to fulfil fundamentaldevelopment needs <strong>in</strong> rural areaswhere 70 per cent of the populationlives.In a country like <strong>India</strong>, communityaccess to <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>and</strong> communicationtechnology is an extremelyeffective way to facilitate universalaccess to education, healthcare <strong>and</strong>agricultural productivity. In thisrespect, there is huge potential toleveragebroadb<strong>and</strong>,bothwireless<strong>and</strong>wirel<strong>in</strong>e, to play a key role <strong>in</strong> bootstrapp<strong>in</strong>gthous<strong>and</strong>sof<strong>India</strong>nsoutofpoverty <strong>and</strong> illiteracy. Broadb<strong>and</strong>services (<strong>in</strong> terms of mass usage) arevirtually non-existent. Computers <strong>in</strong>ruralareas,orasamassphenomenon,are yet to appear. It is broadb<strong>and</strong>,especially wireless broadb<strong>and</strong>, whichholdsthekeytoconnect<strong>in</strong>g<strong>India</strong><strong>in</strong>averysignificantway.Itleapsoverthephysical <strong>in</strong>frastructural hurdles toprovide seamless access to <strong>in</strong>formation<strong>and</strong> knowledge, converg<strong>in</strong>g <strong>telecom</strong><strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation technology toconsign geographical constra<strong>in</strong>ts tohistory.Distancelearn<strong>in</strong>gTodayitiseasytoenvisage,forexample,children <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong>’s remotest villageslearn<strong>in</strong>g to read <strong>and</strong> writethrough access to creative distancelearn<strong>in</strong>g solutions. Distance learn<strong>in</strong>gcan overcome the tw<strong>in</strong> problems ofdistance <strong>and</strong> chronic teacher absenteeismthat afflict <strong>India</strong>’s school<strong>in</strong>gsystem.Alwayson,high-speed,broadb<strong>and</strong>solutionsthatprovidecost-effectiveconnectivityarebe<strong>in</strong>gdeployed<strong>in</strong>bothpre-designatednodal<strong>and</strong>recipientschools.Formoststudents,thisisthefirstrealeducationalopportunity.The <strong>in</strong>itiative bridges the gap <strong>in</strong> primary<strong>and</strong> secondary education st<strong>and</strong>ardsbetween schools <strong>in</strong> rural <strong>and</strong>urbanareas.Thisties<strong>in</strong>directlywiththe Government’s accent on e-education,to address a major need of thecountry.Wireless broadb<strong>and</strong> technology connectsteachers<strong>and</strong>studentsbyprovid<strong>in</strong>greal-timevideo<strong>and</strong>audiofeedstoa cluster of recipient schools from aclassroom <strong>in</strong> a nodal school. Thebroadb<strong>and</strong>wirelessl<strong>in</strong>k<strong>and</strong>thecomputers/softwareconnect the nodal<strong>and</strong> recipient schools. The nodalschoolprovidesthecurricula<strong>and</strong>content;a NGO partner produces it <strong>in</strong>Internetcompatibleformat.Asimilarproject, <strong>in</strong> partnership with the stategovernment of Rajasthan, focusesupon panchayati raj or village selfgovernance.Be<strong>in</strong>g cost effective <strong>and</strong> scalable,broadb<strong>and</strong>,especiallywirelessbroadb<strong>and</strong>,can be creatively leveraged toimprovethequalityofgovernance<strong>and</strong>the provision of public service. For<strong>in</strong>stance,thePresidentof<strong>India</strong>APJAbdulKalamhasenvisionedaprojectcalled PURA, an acronym forProvid<strong>in</strong>g Urban Amenities <strong>in</strong> RuralAreas.Broadb<strong>and</strong>wouldmakeitpossibleto establish community centres<strong>in</strong> each one of <strong>India</strong>’s 600-odd districtswithPCkioskstoprovidecomb<strong>in</strong>edopportunitiesfore-welfare<strong>and</strong>e-commerce.Insomepartsofrural<strong>India</strong>,farmersarealreadyharvest<strong>in</strong>gthebenefitsof<strong>in</strong>formation <strong>and</strong> communicationstechnologies<strong>in</strong>theformofane-marketplacecallede-choupalput<strong>in</strong>placeby a major tobacco company, ITCLimited. By provid<strong>in</strong>g farmers withreal-time <strong>in</strong>formation on commodityprices,weatherreports<strong>and</strong>soon,ITChas helped farmers slash transactioncostsbyelim<strong>in</strong>at<strong>in</strong>gexploitativemiddlemen<strong>and</strong>enhancedfarmproductivity.Telecomtechnologycanalsoassist<strong>in</strong>healthcare delivery <strong>in</strong> unprecedentedways. <strong>India</strong>’s public healthcare deliverysystem,established<strong>in</strong>the1950s,isno longer equipped to address eventhe primary healthcare needs of thecountry’s 1.1 billion citizens.HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria <strong>and</strong>other communicable diseases cont<strong>in</strong>uetoafflictthepopulation.Tele-medic<strong>in</strong>e,<strong>in</strong> which doctors can sharepatient <strong>in</strong>formation, provide education,guidance<strong>and</strong>tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g,couldplaya key role <strong>in</strong> reliev<strong>in</strong>g the burden ofunder-fundedhealthcentres.Weneedafuturewhereh<strong>and</strong>-heldPDAs–bothcellular <strong>and</strong> WIFI – dom<strong>in</strong>ate rural<strong>India</strong>. These will enable voice, data,one-way video <strong>and</strong> related applications,connect <strong>India</strong>’s billions, <strong>and</strong>drivethecountry<strong>in</strong>totheageofconnectivity<strong>and</strong>convergence.Leverag<strong>in</strong>g <strong>telecom</strong> can help <strong>India</strong>leapfrog over several stages of development,right<strong>in</strong>totheglobal<strong>in</strong>formationage. Access to <strong>in</strong>formationenablespeopletomakechoices,anecessarypre-condition for the healthyfunction<strong>in</strong>gofademocracy.Us<strong>in</strong>gthe<strong>telecom</strong>edgetoimprovethequalityoflife of all its citizens will help <strong>India</strong>stride <strong>in</strong>to the league of developedcountries.The<strong>telecom</strong>edgeis,clearly,a catalyst of socio-economic change.21
www.wimaxworldeurope.comTransform<strong>in</strong>gthe NextGenerationof MobileBroadb<strong>and</strong>May 22-24, 2006Vienna Austria Convention CenterVienna, AustriaWiMAX <strong>World</strong> features- Mobile Broadb<strong>and</strong> <strong>World</strong> Summit- 3 days of comprehensive sessions on the <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> <strong>and</strong>technology of WiMAX- 75+ <strong>in</strong>dustry thought WiMAX leaders- 40+ exhibitors- Special product <strong>and</strong> technology education sessions, <strong>and</strong> more!As the def<strong>in</strong>itive <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> <strong>and</strong> technology event for thewireless broadb<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>dustry, WiMAX <strong>World</strong> Conference <strong>and</strong> Expo SM iswhere the wireless broadb<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>dustry charts its future <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong><strong>and</strong> technology directions.WiMAX <strong>World</strong> is the largest wireless broadb<strong>and</strong> eventdedicated to WiMAX.Register early <strong>and</strong> save:www.wimaxworldeurope.comcorporate host:endorsed by:plat<strong>in</strong>um sponsors:gold sponsors:®produced by:
System developmentService oriented architectures <strong>and</strong> web services:opportunities for service providersby Shanker Annaswamy, Manag<strong>in</strong>g Director, IBM <strong>India</strong>The age of homegrown, <strong>telecom</strong>munications applications is pass<strong>in</strong>g. Powerful ServiceOrientedArchitectures(SOAs)<strong>and</strong>webservices–openst<strong>and</strong>ardbasedwebapplicationsthatexchangedata<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>teractwithotherwebapplications–arereplac<strong>in</strong>gmanymadeto-measureapplications. These new applications let enterprises create <strong>and</strong> connectapplicationswithfarlessdevelopmenttime,expense<strong>and</strong>expertisethaneverbefore.Dueto the open st<strong>and</strong>ards, all SOAs are <strong>in</strong>teroperable with each other, they elim<strong>in</strong>ate therisks<strong>in</strong>herent<strong>in</strong>bett<strong>in</strong>gonanygivenlegacy-styleplatform.ShankerAnnaswamyistheManag<strong>in</strong>gDirectorofIBM<strong>India</strong>.HeisresponsibleforallIBM’ssales<strong>and</strong>market<strong>in</strong>g,services<strong>and</strong>GlobalDeliveryoperations<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>.HepreviouslyservedasthePresident<strong>and</strong>ChiefExecutiveOfficerforGEMedicalSystems,SouthAsia<strong>and</strong>Manag<strong>in</strong>gDirector,Wipro-GEMedicalSystems.ShankerbeganhiscareerwithPhilipsMedicalSystems.Inhis25yearsofexperience,hehasworked <strong>in</strong> project management, sales, market<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> quality <strong>and</strong> as an Advisor to the M<strong>in</strong>istry ofHealth<strong>in</strong>Oman.Anaccomplishedspeaker,Shankerhasdeliveredkeynoteaddressesatmanysem<strong>in</strong>ars<strong>and</strong>conferences.ShankerhasaBachelorofEng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g(BE)<strong>in</strong>Electronics<strong>and</strong>communicationfromMadrasUniversity<strong>and</strong>aDiploma<strong>in</strong>Bus<strong>in</strong>essManagementEducationfromtheAll<strong>India</strong>ManagementAssociation,NewDelhi.Formostofthelastcentury,advances<strong>in</strong> <strong>telecom</strong>munications technologywere generally homegrown. With thedebut of <strong>in</strong>telligent networks (INs),serviceproviders<strong>and</strong>specializedISVs(<strong>in</strong>dependent software vendors)ga<strong>in</strong>edah<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>develop<strong>in</strong>gnewservicesaswell,althoughtheyoftentookalongtimetodelivertoendcustomers.Now, the <strong>telecom</strong>munications <strong>in</strong>dustry<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>,as<strong>in</strong>therestoftheworld,is enter<strong>in</strong>g a new era of opportunity,driven by advances outside its ownrealm.One of the most significant advancesis the general adoption of st<strong>and</strong>ards,suchasServiceOrientedArchitectures(SOAs) <strong>and</strong> the web services thatenable them. Web services are openst<strong>and</strong>ard(XML,SOAP–simpleobjectaccessprotocol,etc.)basedwebapplications.Theyexchangedata<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>teractwithotherwebapplications.Theiruse is exp<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g to <strong>in</strong>clude, amongothers,theprocess<strong>in</strong>goftransactionson the Internet. The power of theseadvanceslies<strong>in</strong>thefactthattheyarenot rooted <strong>in</strong> legacy <strong>telecom</strong>municationstechnology;ratherhavetheabilityto exploit far more generalized<strong>in</strong>formationtechnologies.SOAs <strong>and</strong> web services enable enterprisesto create <strong>and</strong> connect applicationswith far less development time,expense <strong>and</strong> expertise than everbefore possible. This not only fuelsmore robust <strong>in</strong>ternal developmentefforts,italsoopensupnewsourcesofideas<strong>and</strong>opportunitiesfordevelopersto craft <strong>in</strong>novative, easily deployedapplicationsfrompreviouslydeployedwebservices.Us<strong>in</strong>g an SOA approach, enterprisescanmoreeasilymanagethecomplexityof multi-department systems <strong>and</strong>facilitate<strong>in</strong>teractionsamongmultiplecompanies(partners<strong>and</strong>customers).For service providers, SOAs <strong>and</strong> webserviceshavethepowertoopenlucrativenew markets <strong>and</strong> generate substantialnew revenues by facilitat<strong>in</strong>gcommunication <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>teractionbetween the <strong>in</strong>ternal <strong>and</strong> externalapplicationsoftheircustomers.SOAs <strong>and</strong> web services can also giveservice providers access to hiddenvalue with<strong>in</strong> many of their networkassets.Astheybreakdownbarriersup<strong>and</strong> down the value cha<strong>in</strong>, SOAs <strong>and</strong>web services can profoundly <strong>in</strong>creasethe revenue-generation <strong>and</strong> marketexpansionopportunities offered bynext-generation network environments.AhistoricalperspectiveThegoalofmak<strong>in</strong>gplatforms,systems<strong>and</strong> software more <strong>in</strong>teroperable is23
System developmenthardly new. What now putsthat goal with<strong>in</strong> reach ofmany enterprises are breakthroughs<strong>in</strong> open st<strong>and</strong>ards<strong>and</strong> the subsequent adventofSOA-enabl<strong>in</strong>gwebservices.common<strong>in</strong>terfaces.Bysimplify<strong>in</strong>gdevelopment,accelerat<strong>in</strong>gdeployment cycles<strong>and</strong> reduc<strong>in</strong>g ma<strong>in</strong>tenancecosts,SOAs<strong>and</strong>webservicescanbr<strong>in</strong>gaboutdramatic<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>breakthroughs:Today, enterprises <strong>and</strong>organizationsofalltypesaresteep<strong>in</strong>g themselves <strong>in</strong> SOA<strong>and</strong> web services. A Googlesearchproduceshundredsofthous<strong>and</strong>sofhitsfor“serviceorientedarchitecture”–<strong>and</strong>millions for “web services”<strong>and</strong> the st<strong>and</strong>ards, such asSOAP, that support it. Infact, Gartner states that theworldwide market opportunityforSOA,<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>gsoftware<strong>and</strong> services, will cont<strong>in</strong>uetogrowthrough2008,when it’s expected to reachUS$143billion.Majorvendorshave<strong>in</strong>corporatedSOA<strong>and</strong> web services pr<strong>in</strong>ciples with<strong>in</strong>their <strong>in</strong>tegration framework, theirdelivery environment for serviceproviders, s<strong>in</strong>ce the framework’s<strong>in</strong>ception.SpecialopportunitiesforserviceprovidersSOAs can <strong>in</strong>sulate enterprises of alltypesfromthechallenges<strong>and</strong>disruptionsthat ongo<strong>in</strong>g change <strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g operational sophisticationwouldotherwiseplaceonthem.Because of st<strong>and</strong>ardization amongtheir underly<strong>in</strong>g web services, SOAsenablediverseapplicationstobecomb<strong>in</strong>ed<strong>and</strong> recomb<strong>in</strong>ed, used <strong>and</strong>reused–onthefly–without“rip<strong>and</strong>replace”<strong>and</strong>withoutnewcod<strong>in</strong>g.Webservices offer enterprises unprecedentedflexibility to pick <strong>and</strong> chooseamong seem<strong>in</strong>gly disparate functions<strong>and</strong>quicklyassemblethem<strong>in</strong>to<strong>in</strong>novativenewcapabilities–faster<strong>and</strong>ata lower cost than what was possiblepreviously.IfaserviceproviderusedSOAtodonomorethanhelpmanagethecomplexityof its own IT <strong>in</strong>frastructure, theresult<strong>in</strong>g flexibility, responsiveness“Today, enterprises <strong>and</strong>organizations of alltypes are steep<strong>in</strong>gthemselves <strong>in</strong> SOA <strong>and</strong>web services.”Figure 1: Web services allow even the most disparate IT assets to berecomb<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>and</strong> reused.<strong>and</strong>resiliencewouldeasilyjustifythe<strong>in</strong>vestment.Service providers also enjoy theuniqueadvantageofbe<strong>in</strong>gabletouseSOAs to facilitate better <strong>in</strong>tegratedserviceswithpartners<strong>and</strong>customers.Forexample,location<strong>in</strong>formationcaneasily be comb<strong>in</strong>ed with call control,<strong>and</strong> then with a <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> applicationsuchasworkforcemanagement.A service provider could then enablecommercialcustomerstoautomaticallytrack<strong>and</strong>directthedeploymentof<strong>in</strong>dividual field service techniciansthrough their cell phones, no matterwhich workforce management solutiona customer might be us<strong>in</strong>g.Because common st<strong>and</strong>ards are usedat the web services layer, serviceproviders can easily meld functionssuchascallcontrol<strong>and</strong>locationwithapplications from partner enterprises– generat<strong>in</strong>g new revenues <strong>and</strong> relationships<strong>in</strong>theprocess.Enabl<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>ter-enterprisecommunicationWeb services can transform the wayeventhemosthardenedIT<strong>and</strong>organizationalsilos communicate <strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>teract.Theycanalsochangethewaycompanies<strong>in</strong>teractwithothercompanies,alter<strong>in</strong>g the "value equation"among partners, <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>troduc<strong>in</strong>gresponsiveness <strong>and</strong> flexibility wherelittlecouldexistbefore.The open st<strong>and</strong>ards to which webservices are built enable pre-built,reusablewebservicecomponents<strong>and</strong>– Processes built from discretebut <strong>in</strong>terconnectedservices can become farmore granular than everbefore, <strong>and</strong> thus far moreflexible...<strong>and</strong>marketable;– New processes <strong>and</strong> compositeapplications can bebuiltmuchmorequickly<strong>in</strong>response to fast-break<strong>in</strong>gchanges<strong>in</strong>themarketplace;– Simplification of the<strong>in</strong>teraction between theservice provider <strong>and</strong> thirdpartycontentproviders<strong>and</strong>aggregators. Web servicesenableondem<strong>and</strong><strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>;– As responsiveness improves, customerservice can follow suit, nolonger restricted by issues related totheunderly<strong>in</strong>gIT<strong>in</strong>frastructure;– New operational efficiencies willalso result, help<strong>in</strong>g companies keepcosts <strong>in</strong> check as their capabilitiesexp<strong>and</strong>exponentially.Primarily through the st<strong>and</strong>ards theyimpose,webservicesenablecapabilitiesthat <strong>in</strong> turn spawn new <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>value, <strong>and</strong> provide a direct path tobecom<strong>in</strong>g more flexible, responsive,resilient<strong>and</strong>cost-efficient–thehallmarksofanondem<strong>and</strong>enterprise.WebservicesalloweventhemostdisparateITassetstoberecomb<strong>in</strong>ed<strong>and</strong>reused. Flexibility is <strong>in</strong>herent to SOA<strong>and</strong> Web services, enabl<strong>in</strong>g enterprise-widecosts to go down whileimprov<strong>in</strong>g their capability to rapidlyaddressnew<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>challenges.With web services, new levels ofautomationcanbeachieved–<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gresponsiveness without <strong>in</strong>curr<strong>in</strong>gthe costs <strong>and</strong> complexities of newdevelopment efforts. The burdens ofverify<strong>in</strong>g,translat<strong>in</strong>g<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>terpret<strong>in</strong>g“Web services cantransform the way eventhe most hardened IT<strong>and</strong> organizational siloscommunicate <strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>teract.”24
System developmentdatacanshift–free<strong>in</strong>gpeopletofocuson strategy, analysis, guidance <strong>and</strong>assessments.Because of common <strong>in</strong>terfaces <strong>and</strong>precise controls, core network capabilitiescan be safely exposed to customers<strong>and</strong>partnersviawebservices.Forexample,aserviceprovider’sabilitytop<strong>in</strong>po<strong>in</strong>tawirelesscustomeratanygivenmomentbecomesmorethanan enabl<strong>in</strong>g factor <strong>in</strong> a wireless network;ittransforms<strong>in</strong>toanassetthatcan be made available beyond theservice provider’s enterprise toenhancecustomerservice,speed<strong>in</strong>novation,exp<strong>and</strong> revenue opportunities<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>creasecustomerloyalty.Consolidat<strong>in</strong>gdisparateIT<strong>in</strong>frastructures<strong>and</strong> far-flung, resource-hungrycomponentsbecomeseasier<strong>and</strong>mostcost-effective.The sav<strong>in</strong>gs jo<strong>in</strong> with those fromautomat<strong>in</strong>g processes <strong>and</strong> reus<strong>in</strong>gcode <strong>and</strong> they can save enterprisesenormousamountsoftime<strong>and</strong>moneythatcanbedirectedatmorestrategicpursuits.Asnotedearlier,serviceproviderscanga<strong>in</strong>aparticularadvantagefromwebservicestak<strong>in</strong>gholdbeyondtheirownenterprises, due to the role serviceprovider networks can play with<strong>in</strong>multi-enterprisewebservicesdeployments.Plus, service providers haveunique sets of assets to expose <strong>and</strong>exploit, such as location, presence,identity management <strong>and</strong> messageservices (SMS/MMS). These assetscangivethemadist<strong>in</strong>ctiveseatatthetableof<strong>in</strong>terconnectedenterprises.Through SOAs <strong>and</strong> with their newportfolios of SOA-enabled assets,serviceproviderscanbecome<strong>in</strong>tegralparts of the value cha<strong>in</strong>s now be<strong>in</strong>gestablished among other SOA-savvyenterprises – open<strong>in</strong>g up potentiallyoutst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>gnewrevenuesources.Thebeneficiaries can <strong>in</strong>clude the serviceprovider’scustomers,itspartners<strong>and</strong>itsbottoml<strong>in</strong>e.TheessentialsofanSOAFor<strong>in</strong>novationtoflourish<strong>and</strong>forSOAsto reach their potential, web servicesrequire a critical mass of applicationprogram <strong>in</strong>terfaces (APIs). They mustalsofitwith<strong>in</strong>ascaleable,reliableframework–onethatissecure,measurable,policy-aware, <strong>and</strong> equipped to managedisparate traffic flows. The architecturemust also support st<strong>and</strong>ardizedcommunication among the manydiverseelementswith<strong>in</strong>thenetwork.To foster service development, thetool<strong>in</strong>genvironmentmustbefamiliarto developers <strong>and</strong> users. Eclipse, anopen st<strong>and</strong>ard familiar to thous<strong>and</strong>sofapplicationdevelopers,canprovidesuch a rich service-creation environmentforJavawebdevelopment.Whenthewebservicesdevelopedaredeployed to a st<strong>and</strong>ard Web applicationservertheenduserdoesnotneedto<strong>in</strong>stallanycustomerpremiseequipment.Thewebservicesmessagesarerouted to the <strong>telecom</strong> serviceprovider’s network through a secureconnection–<strong>and</strong>cantakeadvantageof a broad range of network servicescapabilities<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g:–Groupmanagement–creat<strong>in</strong>gnetwork-managedgroups <strong>and</strong> target<strong>in</strong>gthemforexecutedservices;–Presencemanagement–track<strong>in</strong>gif<strong>and</strong>whencustomersareavailable,onthephone,busy,etc.;– Location – know<strong>in</strong>g where customersare;–Callcontrol–creat<strong>in</strong>gacallfromanapplication(click-to-call),ornotify<strong>in</strong>ganapplicationofacall,suchasthoseused<strong>in</strong>“followme”services;– Account management – accountservicesfor<strong>in</strong>dividualcustomers;– Payments – manag<strong>in</strong>g the flow ofmoney from customers to suppliers<strong>and</strong>partners;–Text<strong>and</strong>multimediamessag<strong>in</strong>g.Bharti Televentures provides a greatexampleoftheapplicabilityofSOAtocontemporaryprojects.Their<strong>in</strong>tegration<strong>and</strong>consolidationofrequestsviaWeb, Short Message Service orInteractive Voice Response for customerself-service is the first-everimplementation of service-orientedArchitecture (SOA) <strong>and</strong> web servicesbyaTelco<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>.Gett<strong>in</strong>gstartedThebroad<strong>and</strong>rapidlygrow<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>SOAs<strong>and</strong>thewebservicessupport<strong>in</strong>gthemisjustifiedbythemanytechnical <strong>and</strong> <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> benefits theycan br<strong>in</strong>g to adopt<strong>in</strong>g enterprises:lower costs, faster implementations,support for new <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> models,major supply cha<strong>in</strong> transformations<strong>and</strong>beyond.BecauseSOAsare,bydef<strong>in</strong>ition,<strong>in</strong>teroperable with any otherSOAbymeansofopenst<strong>and</strong>ards,theyelim<strong>in</strong>atetherisks<strong>in</strong>herent<strong>in</strong>bett<strong>in</strong>gon one legacy-style platform overanother.Service providers are uniquely positionedtoleverageSOAs<strong>and</strong>webservicesbecauseofthekeyroletheyplay<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>ter-enterprise network<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong>communications. The good news isthatthe<strong>in</strong>itial<strong>in</strong>vestmentrequiredtostartus<strong>in</strong>gSOAs<strong>and</strong>Webservicesislowbecauseofthewideavailabilityoftools<strong>and</strong>platforms.An <strong>in</strong>sight <strong>in</strong>tothe future!You are a decisionmaker;You underst<strong>and</strong> your<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>;Do you underst<strong>and</strong>how ICT affects themarkets, the countries<strong>and</strong> the people youserve?Ga<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>sight <strong>in</strong>to howICT leaders see thefuture.<strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong>,The Decision Makers’Forum for ICT DrivenDevelopment,br<strong>in</strong>gs you the thoughts<strong>and</strong> op<strong>in</strong>ions ofleaders fromaround the globe, theirpersonal assessment ofthe issues that drivethe ICT revolution <strong>and</strong>change the livesof us all.25
Infrastructure developmentIP-based solutions <strong>and</strong> <strong>India</strong>’s evolutionby Vijay Yadav, Manag<strong>in</strong>g Director, UTStarcom, South AsiaInformation<strong>and</strong>communicationtechnologiesareplay<strong>in</strong>gacriticalrole<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>’seconomicdevelopmentimprov<strong>in</strong>gproductivity,reduc<strong>in</strong>gcosts,improv<strong>in</strong>gdeliverysystems<strong>and</strong>spurr<strong>in</strong>ggrowth<strong>in</strong>sectorsfromeducationtoagriculture.TheInternetisnowan<strong>in</strong>tegralpartofdailylifeofanever-<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gsegmentof<strong>India</strong>’spopulation.IP-basedcommunicationsolutionshaveservedasacatalystforthegrowthofmanyof<strong>India</strong>’s<strong>in</strong>efficient,<strong>in</strong>adequate,<strong>in</strong>frastructuresectors–beit<strong>in</strong>thepower<strong>and</strong>energysector,transportorcommunications,healthoreducation.Vijay Yadav is UTStarcom’s Manag<strong>in</strong>g Director for South Asia responsible for overall direction <strong>and</strong>managementoftheSouthAsiaoperations.Priortojo<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gUTStarcom,Vijayworkedwith3COMasCountryManagerfor<strong>India</strong>&SAARC,wherehewasresponsibleforbuild<strong>in</strong>gtheCommWorksBus<strong>in</strong>ess<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>.MrVijayYadavhas17yearsofexperience<strong>in</strong>theIT<strong>and</strong><strong>telecom</strong>municationssectors<strong>and</strong>oftenspeakspubliclyaboutthe<strong>in</strong>fluencetheseissuesupon<strong>India</strong>.VijayYadavearnedadegree<strong>in</strong>eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g<strong>and</strong>aMaster’sdegree<strong>in</strong>Chemistry.<strong>India</strong>’seconomyhashadthepotentialtogrowat8percentormoreperyears<strong>in</strong>ce it undertook economic <strong>and</strong>structuralreforms<strong>in</strong>theearly1990s.Liberalization <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>creased <strong>in</strong>tegrationwith the global economy havepresented <strong>India</strong> both with enormouschallenges <strong>and</strong> opportunities. Thegood news is that <strong>India</strong> reached themilestone,an8.1percentgrowth-rateis forecast by official agencies for2005–2006. This would be the thirdyear <strong>in</strong> the row <strong>India</strong> clocks growthgreater than 7.5 per cent. If thisgrowthrateissusta<strong>in</strong>ed<strong>in</strong>thecom<strong>in</strong>gyears,<strong>India</strong>willeasilyachieve‘developednation’statusby2020.Fuell<strong>in</strong>gthisgrowthmomentumoverlastfewyearshasbeenwhatIcallthe"F<strong>in</strong>ger Tip Revolution" <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation<strong>and</strong> communication technology(ICT). Both IT <strong>and</strong> Telecom havechanged <strong>India</strong> from a slow-mov<strong>in</strong>ggianttoacountrybuzz<strong>in</strong>gwithenormouseconomic activity. This is theresultofthetechnologicalamalgamation–withthehelpofIP-basedcommunicationssolutions–oftheIT<strong>and</strong>communicationssectors.Thenew,allencompass<strong>in</strong>g,technologyisnotonlyimpact<strong>in</strong>g <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>es, but also suchsectors as education, health, water<strong>and</strong>sanitation,agriculture<strong>and</strong>publicgovernance; it has ‘built pace <strong>in</strong> theeconomicrace’.Theconversionof<strong>telecom</strong>municationnetworkscontenttodigitalst<strong>and</strong>ardshas created an electronic network<strong>in</strong>frastructurethatfacilitatestheconvergenceofformerlydiscrete<strong>telecom</strong>servicesonas<strong>in</strong>gle<strong>telecom</strong>network.More recently, Internet Protocol, IPbasedcommunications have permittedtheconvergenceofdata,pictures,music, video, <strong>and</strong> voice communicationservicesthroughtheInternet.Voice over IP (VoIP) is the latestmajor step <strong>in</strong> a convergence processthat has been underway for threedecades.Now,alltypesofservicescanbe provided <strong>in</strong> an <strong>in</strong>tegrated mannerovertheInternetus<strong>in</strong>gIP.Fromalayman’sperspective it means that thistechnology provides unified communicationwithoutboundaries.TheInternetProtocol(IP)isbecom<strong>in</strong>gtheuniversalcarrierforallcommunicationtrafficthroughouttheworld.IPnetworksaregrow<strong>in</strong>grapidly<strong>in</strong>develop<strong>in</strong>gcountries like <strong>India</strong> that needcost effective systems, better trafficcontrol<strong>and</strong>qualityofservice.Companiesus<strong>in</strong>gIP-basedcommunicationsolutions have reported costsav<strong>in</strong>gs of up to 30 per cent. Moreimportantly, the ease of add<strong>in</strong>g new,st<strong>and</strong>ardized,featuresthroughoutthenetworkenabledIP-basedsolutionstogradually replace traditional networkarchitectures. This path-break<strong>in</strong>gtechnology provides clear, speedy,voice<strong>and</strong>datatransmissionoveranydistance us<strong>in</strong>g a s<strong>in</strong>gle unified network<strong>in</strong> place of separate voice <strong>and</strong>datanetworks.Due to its cost efficiencies, speedycommunication, access to new markets,fasterproductioncycles,<strong>in</strong>ventorymanagement <strong>and</strong> dem<strong>and</strong>-supplymanagement, IP-based technologicalsolutions have emerged as a catalystforrapid<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>growth<strong>and</strong>expan-26
Infrastructure developmentsion. The pervasiveness of IP<strong>and</strong> the evolution of theInternet have enabled <strong>telecom</strong>companies worldwide to capitalizeon new market opportunities,generate new services,<strong>and</strong> develop a broader customerbase.Proliferation of Internet <strong>and</strong>IP-based communication technologyhas dynamicallychanged both the types <strong>and</strong>qualityofcommunicationservices.Withthesteadilygrow<strong>in</strong>gnumbersofIP-enableddevices,the use of IP has become<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly pervasive.Countrieslike<strong>India</strong>areamongits greatest beneficiaries, s<strong>in</strong>ceIT <strong>and</strong> the communication<strong>in</strong>frastructureisplay<strong>in</strong>gacriticalrole<strong>in</strong>theiroveralleconomicdevelopment.IP has improved productivity,reduced costs, improved deliverysystems<strong>and</strong>resulted<strong>in</strong>bettertarget<strong>in</strong>g of beneficiaries.TheInternetisseentodayasan<strong>in</strong>tegralpartofdailylifebyanever <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g segment of<strong>India</strong>’spopulation.<strong>India</strong>’s economic march tohigher <strong>and</strong> susta<strong>in</strong>ed developmenthas long been hamperedby lack of adequate <strong>in</strong>frastructure,beit<strong>in</strong>power<strong>and</strong>energysector,transport or communication. Thedevelopment of any <strong>in</strong>frastructureservice depends, critically, upon theavailabilityofothers.TheIT<strong>and</strong>communicationsector, for example, cannotgrowwithoutadequatepowersupply.Thelastfewyearshaveseensomeimprovement on this front. Coupledwith the progressive <strong>and</strong> conducivepolicychanges,boththeIT<strong>and</strong>communicationsectorshavemarchedoverother<strong>in</strong>frastructuresectors.Inaway,IP-based communication solutionshavebecomethecatalystforgrowth<strong>in</strong>manyothereconomicsectors.It is important to underst<strong>and</strong>thatIP-basedsolutionsarenotstatic bits of technology. Theyaredynamic<strong>in</strong>novationswhichare cont<strong>in</strong>uously developed<strong>and</strong>adaptedtoyieldevermoreadvancedIP-enabledservices.Voice over Internet Protocol(VoIP)madeglobalheadl<strong>in</strong>e<strong>in</strong>2004. S<strong>in</strong>ce then, more <strong>and</strong>more companies worldwidehaveoptedtousethistechnology.<strong>India</strong> is becom<strong>in</strong>g a verybig market for VoIP. In fact,Figure 1: Improved communication technology has even helpedagricultural development.experts predict that <strong>India</strong> will showthefastestadoptionofIPapplicationsdur<strong>in</strong>gthecom<strong>in</strong>gdecade.Thereasonis not difficult to underst<strong>and</strong>. AfterCh<strong>in</strong>a, <strong>India</strong> is the world’s biggestmarket. <strong>India</strong>’s low penetration ofcomputers <strong>and</strong> basic <strong>and</strong> mobiletelephony compared to Ch<strong>in</strong>a <strong>and</strong>other develop<strong>in</strong>g countries, are ameasure of the tremendous potentialofthemarket.In today’s <strong>in</strong>formation empoweredworld, with knowledge <strong>in</strong>dustriessteer<strong>in</strong>geconomicdevelopment,communicationshave emerged as a coreFigure 2: <strong>India</strong> is on the threshold of a higher growth trajectory.<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> function. The effectivenessof a company’s communicationsystemcangreatlyimpact its bottom l<strong>in</strong>e. A welldeveloped communication<strong>in</strong>frastructure is an essential<strong>in</strong>gredientforeconomicdevelopmentofacountry.<strong>India</strong>hasalreadymadesubstantialga<strong>in</strong>s<strong>and</strong> today boasts the <strong>World</strong>’slargest<strong>telecom</strong>networkaswellasthelargest<strong>telecom</strong>company<strong>in</strong> BSNL. <strong>India</strong>’s <strong>telecom</strong> sectoris presently grow<strong>in</strong>g atabout70percentperannum.The correlation between IT<strong>and</strong> Telecom sector development<strong>and</strong> the development ofother economic activities isbecom<strong>in</strong>gclearereachday.IPbasedsolutions <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>gVoIP, have stimulated growthnotonly<strong>in</strong><strong>telecom</strong><strong>and</strong>relatedsectors,butalso<strong>in</strong>sectorssuchas education, <strong>social</strong> development,health<strong>and</strong>publicgovernance;the impact of thesetechnologies is felt <strong>in</strong> theremotestofregions.Improved communicationtechnology, for example, hasevenhelpedagriculturaldevelopment.‘e-Chaupals’ – electronicversionsofthetraditionalvillage meet<strong>in</strong>g place wherepeople gather to exchange<strong>in</strong>formation – <strong>in</strong> Andhra Pradeshhave helped farmers better underst<strong>and</strong>,among other th<strong>in</strong>gs, dem<strong>and</strong>supplysynergies. The ‘e-Chaupals’have also promoted <strong>in</strong>teractionbetweenfarmers<strong>and</strong>scientiststopromotebettercropmanagement,theuseof fertilizers <strong>and</strong> pesticides <strong>and</strong> theuseofhigh-yield<strong>in</strong>gseeds<strong>and</strong>thelike,<strong>and</strong> have <strong>in</strong>creased <strong>in</strong>comes fromfarm<strong>in</strong>g.This experiment is likely to be duplicated<strong>in</strong> other states <strong>and</strong> applied todevelop<strong>in</strong>gfoodprocess<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>dustries,br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g still greater value to<strong>India</strong>nagriculture.Thisislikelyto <strong>in</strong>itiate an agriculturalrevolution, different than thegreenrevolutionoflate1970s,but somewhat similar <strong>in</strong> outcome.ICT can help improveagriculture production, reduceuncerta<strong>in</strong>ties <strong>in</strong> the field, <strong>and</strong>help the two-thirds of <strong>India</strong>’spopulation which dependsupon agriculture for its livelihood.IP-basedsystemsarealsomak<strong>in</strong>ga substantial impact uponthe retail trade <strong>in</strong> agricultural27
Infrastructure developmentFigure 1: <strong>India</strong> is becom<strong>in</strong>g a very big market for VoIP.<strong>and</strong> other commodities by unify<strong>in</strong>gthe markets throughout the country<strong>and</strong> facilitat<strong>in</strong>g the effective managementof supply <strong>and</strong> dem<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>ventories.Education, especially higher studies,hasbeenanothermajorbeneficiaryofIP-based communication systems.Distancelearn<strong>in</strong>ghasmadeitpossibleto acquire knowledge without be<strong>in</strong>gphysically <strong>in</strong> a classroom. Besides<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g the number of educatedpeople <strong>in</strong> the country, it has alsoimprovedtheknowledgebaseofsociety.The <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>tegration, the network<strong>in</strong>g,of domestic <strong>and</strong> foreign<strong>in</strong>stitutes, universities, <strong>and</strong> researchorganisationshashelpedtomaximizestrengths <strong>and</strong> leverage the use ofresourcesfromaroundtheworld.In <strong>India</strong>, especially <strong>in</strong> rural regionswhereschooldropoutratesarehigh,ICT <strong>and</strong> IP-based technology hasenticed many of the younger generationto seek <strong>and</strong> explore knowledge<strong>and</strong>,thus,hasmadeavaluablecontributionto<strong>India</strong>’sgrowth.IP-basedsolutions,VoIP<strong>in</strong>particular,arebr<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>gtheworldcloserbyhelp<strong>in</strong>gcountriesmakemoreeffectiveuseof their skills <strong>and</strong> resources. An<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g number of American <strong>and</strong>South-East Asian companies, forexample, are seek<strong>in</strong>g the services of<strong>India</strong>’s skilled pool of English languagespeakers.Us<strong>in</strong>g video-conferenc<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> othercommunication channels, an Englishteacher<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>canteachstudents<strong>in</strong>any other part of the world withouttravell<strong>in</strong>g from home. The world, itseems,isf<strong>in</strong>allybecom<strong>in</strong>gatrueglobalvillage;itsdistancesaredw<strong>in</strong>dl<strong>in</strong>g.ThehealthcaresectorhasmaderapidstrideswiththehelpofIP-basedcommunicationtechnology.IT <strong>and</strong> communicationtechnologyhasmadeitpossible to networkresources <strong>and</strong> knowledgeof hospitals <strong>and</strong>doctorsthroughouttheworld.ThankstotheIP-basedsolutions,specialists<strong>in</strong>one country havealreadyguidedteamsofsurgeons operat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>another countrythrough video-conferenc<strong>in</strong>g.There are anumberofhealthfacilities<strong>and</strong>servicesspawnedbytheconvergenceof voice <strong>and</strong> data networks.Today, heart ailments are rout<strong>in</strong>elymonitored at a distance; not so longago,thiscouldhavebeendoneonly<strong>in</strong>ahospital.A marriage of IT, BT (biotechnology)<strong>and</strong> communication technology hashelpedhumangenomeresearchprojects<strong>and</strong>helpedresearch<strong>in</strong>toclon<strong>in</strong>g.Withoutgett<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>totheethicalquestions,itisfairtosaythatICTis,<strong>in</strong>asense,help<strong>in</strong>g‘manplaygodtoanewgenerationofmank<strong>in</strong>d’.Thetarget<strong>in</strong>gofbeneficiariesofpublicservices such as the PublicDistribution System (PDS) for food,disastermanagement<strong>and</strong>publicpolicy<strong>in</strong>tervention <strong>in</strong> remote areas hasbeenmademoreeffective,<strong>and</strong>monitor<strong>in</strong>gmade less cumbersome, withthehelpofICTservices.Alargepartofrural<strong>India</strong>,though,stillneedsbetterconnectivity.<strong>India</strong>’steledensity,ataround10,comparespoorlywith the world average of over 40<strong>and</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a’s over 42. Computer <strong>and</strong>Internet penetration <strong>and</strong> use sufferfromasimilarlackofpenetration.Thegreateruseofthegovernment’spowerto stimulate the growth of <strong>India</strong>’s IT<strong>and</strong>communicationsectorneedstobeencouraged.The government’s progressive policyapproach to its well-def<strong>in</strong>ed, proactive,regulatoryframeworkhasfacilitatedlarge-scale private <strong>in</strong>vestment,substantialFDI<strong>and</strong>technologicaltieups;it has made <strong>telecom</strong> the fastestgrow<strong>in</strong>g sector <strong>in</strong> the country. Thefutureappearsbright;<strong>India</strong>isonthethresholdofahighergrowthtrajectoryrid<strong>in</strong>gonICT<strong>and</strong>IP-basedapplications.<strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong> iscelebrat<strong>in</strong>g its10 th anniversaryThrough the years,<strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong>’sauthors told of the riseof mobile, of fibre, ofwireless <strong>and</strong> ofbroadb<strong>and</strong>; they toldof the dot.commeltdown, of digital<strong>in</strong>clusion <strong>and</strong>convergence, ofst<strong>and</strong>ards <strong>and</strong>breakthroughs, therise of IP <strong>and</strong> the fallof switch<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> of theregulatory turnaround.In every issue of<strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong> heads ofstate, m<strong>in</strong>isters <strong>and</strong>regulators, heads of<strong>in</strong>ternational<strong>in</strong>stitutions <strong>and</strong>leaders of <strong>in</strong>dustryspeak of whatthe ICT revolution,as it happens,means to the people <strong>in</strong>their regions of theworld.www.connect-world.com28
Be part of the MVNOsuccess story!Hear latest case studieson <strong>in</strong>novative MVNO <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>models <strong>and</strong> partner<strong>in</strong>g strategiesfrom lead<strong>in</strong>g companies such as:T-MOBILE INTERNATIONALAG & CO. KG, GERMANYCONGRESS WORKSHOPS3RD APRIL 2006TWO DAY CONGRESS4TH APRIL - 5TH APRIL 2006Kemp<strong>in</strong>ski Hotel Bristol Berl<strong>in</strong>, GermanyRegister Onl<strong>in</strong>e by Febr. 24th, 2006<strong>and</strong> Receive a €50 Discount!All k<strong>in</strong>d of important market players <strong>and</strong> roleshave been brought together <strong>and</strong> a state of theart overview was given <strong>in</strong> detail.Tim Rückforth, Network Eng<strong>in</strong>eerSwisscom Innovations AGSWISSCOM MOBILE AG,SWITZERLANDSIMYO GMBH, GERMANYTHE CARPHONEWAREHOUSE GROUP PLC,UKSUMMIT EURPE 2006Outst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> models <strong>and</strong>partner<strong>in</strong>g strategiesSAVEup to 270 Eurosif you bookby the24 th February 2006!FROST & SULLIVAN, UKTRANSATEL, FRANCETNO INFORMATION ANDCOMMUNICATIONTECHNOLOGY, THENETHERLANDSSTRAND CONSULT,DENMARKUNITED TELECOM,BELGIUMCBB MOBIL A/S, DENMARKVALTECH GMBH, GERMANYSIMPLY COMMUNICATIONGMBH, GERMANYEUROPEAN COMMISSION,INFORMATION SOCIETYAND MEDIA DG, BELGIUME-PLUS MOBILFUNK GMBH& CO. KG, GERMANYMTV NETWORKS CENTRALEUROPE, GERMANYF<strong>in</strong>d your place <strong>in</strong> the emerg<strong>in</strong>g MVNOmarket by identify<strong>in</strong>g the crucialsuccess po<strong>in</strong>ts:Hear about the key requirements for advantageouspartnership contracts to ensure a w<strong>in</strong>-w<strong>in</strong> modelfor operator <strong>and</strong> MVNOGa<strong>in</strong> an overview of the MVNO market <strong>and</strong> itsplayers to underst<strong>and</strong> who will be among thew<strong>in</strong>ners <strong>and</strong> the losersDeterm<strong>in</strong>e the MVNO opportunities <strong>and</strong> pitfallsfor operators to develop a successful wholesalestrategyGet an update of the regulatory framework <strong>and</strong>how it will reshape the future development of themarketLearn how to <strong>in</strong>tegrate mobile telephony <strong>in</strong> yourdistribution channel to exploit your br<strong>and</strong>F<strong>in</strong>d out how IMS enables MVNOs to offernext-generation services <strong>and</strong> w<strong>in</strong> new customersIncrease revenue by implement<strong>in</strong>g a successfulMVNO <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> model <strong>and</strong> by target<strong>in</strong>g the rightmarketsABCDHighlight:John Str<strong>and</strong>on:DiscountMVNOs, afashion itemor the future?Interactive workshopday:The discount MVNO market -What is the current situation,<strong>and</strong> how will the marketevolve?New service possibilities forMVNOs: Introduction to theIP Multimedia Subsystem(IMS)Key factors for a successfulMVNO <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> modelManag<strong>in</strong>g technical issuesfor MVNOs<strong>in</strong>formations at:T +49 (0)30 20 91 30F +49 (0)30 20 91 33 12E <strong>in</strong>fo@iqpc.dewww.iqpc.de/de-2469Please send meMr Mrs MsFamily NameFirst NamePositionTelephonethe detailed brochureEmailFaxmore <strong>in</strong>formation about sponsorshipResearched <strong>and</strong>developed byOrganisationIQPC Gesellschaft für Management Konferenzen mbH | Friedrichstraße 94, D-10117 Berl<strong>in</strong>, Germany
Outsourc<strong>in</strong>gNext-generation outsourc<strong>in</strong>gby Simarprit S<strong>in</strong>gh, Founder <strong>and</strong> CEO, Compare Infobase Pvt LtdTheoutsourc<strong>in</strong>gofservices<strong>and</strong><strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>processeshasbecome<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>glyimportantto<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>es<strong>in</strong>developedcountries;itallowsthemtodevotetheirtime<strong>and</strong>resourcestoothermoreproductiveends.Outsourc<strong>in</strong>gisalsodriv<strong>in</strong>ganeconomic<strong>and</strong><strong>social</strong>revolution<strong>in</strong>countriessuchas<strong>India</strong>withalargepoolofhighlytalented,educatedworkers.If<strong>India</strong>’soutsourc<strong>in</strong>gsegmentistocont<strong>in</strong>uetogrowtocompetesuccessfully,thecountrywillneedto<strong>in</strong>vestheavily<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>frastructure<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>educationforitsyouth.SimarpritS<strong>in</strong>ghisthefounder<strong>and</strong>CEOofCompareInfobasePvtLtd.SimarpritS<strong>in</strong>ghbeganhiscareeras a Research Associate at NIIT.He left to become an entrepreneur <strong>and</strong> set up DISC (InformationTechnology) Pvt Ltd.While at DISC, he made a presentation to the United Nations on InformationTechnologies<strong>and</strong>Develop<strong>in</strong>gCountries.HelaterservedastheVPofBus<strong>in</strong>essDevelopmentatNucleusSoftware,priortohisreturntoentrepreneurshipatCompareInfobase.Simarprit S<strong>in</strong>gh has a BCom degree <strong>in</strong> Statistics <strong>and</strong> a Post-graduate diploma <strong>in</strong> ComputerApplications.Introduction“The best companies outsource tow<strong>in</strong>,nottoshr<strong>in</strong>k.Theyoutsourceto<strong>in</strong>novate faster.” When Thomas L.Friedmanquotedthis<strong>in</strong>hisbestsellerTheworldisflat,hesimplyemphasizedthe role that outsourc<strong>in</strong>g is setto play as a key protagonist <strong>in</strong> theglobalization drama. Argumentsaga<strong>in</strong>st outsourc<strong>in</strong>g that look to theflipsideoftheco<strong>in</strong>abound;nevertheless,theoutsourc<strong>in</strong>gsectorisprepar<strong>in</strong>gitselffortheexp<strong>and</strong>edroleitwillsoonplay<strong>in</strong>theworld’seconomy.ThefutureThe trend that began <strong>in</strong> the 1980s,when manufactur<strong>in</strong>g units procuredmaterials from low-cost countries,spreadtotheITsector<strong>in</strong>the1990s,asitsearchedforalow-costpoolofhightalentworkerstoservicetheneedsofdeveloped countries, especially theUnited States. Today, as Customer-Relation Management, CRM, or forthatmatterIntelligenceOutsourc<strong>in</strong>g,rulestheday,itistimetoshiftfocustotheotherbenefitsthatoutsourc<strong>in</strong>gcanbr<strong>in</strong>g.A recent study by <strong>in</strong>ternationalresearch firm, Evaluserve, <strong>and</strong> theNationalAssociationofSoftware<strong>and</strong>Service Companies (NASSCOM<strong>India</strong>) creates a compell<strong>in</strong>g case foroutsourc<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> shows why the concepthasbecomesoimportantto<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>es<strong>in</strong>theUS.ThestudyestablishesdecisivelytheUSneedtooffshore<strong>in</strong>ordertogrowitseconomy.Outsourc<strong>in</strong>g benefits, such as costsav<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>creased flexibility, areexpected to make the US companiesmorecompetitiveglobally.Technologyisfastbecom<strong>in</strong>gan<strong>in</strong>tegralpartofeachofourlives,<strong>and</strong>outsourc<strong>in</strong>g,which began by offer<strong>in</strong>g aProvider to Bus<strong>in</strong>ess to <strong>Consumer</strong>service, is rapidly evolv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to aProvider to <strong>Consumer</strong> service. Untilrecently,outsourc<strong>in</strong>greached<strong>in</strong>dividuals<strong>in</strong>directly,butnowitisprovid<strong>in</strong>gdirect communication between theproviders <strong>and</strong> the end-users. This isresult<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>awider,deeperreach<strong>in</strong>tothe consumer segment <strong>and</strong> generat<strong>in</strong>ggreateroutsourc<strong>in</strong>grevenues.Outsourc<strong>in</strong>gisbeg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>gtoevolve,atleast <strong>in</strong> part, to reach the consumerdirectly at a one-on-one level. Thisshift<strong>in</strong>focuscanleadany<strong>in</strong>dustrytoconsider outsourc<strong>in</strong>g. For <strong>in</strong>stance,architectural firms st<strong>and</strong> to ga<strong>in</strong>muchfromthisnewl<strong>in</strong>eofthought.Through outsourc<strong>in</strong>g of architecturaldesign, an <strong>in</strong>dividual can contact anarchitectdirectly<strong>and</strong>,afterspecify<strong>in</strong>ghis needs, acquire a customizeddesign.Inthesameway,apparel<strong>and</strong>fashiondesignerswillbeabletooutsourcedesignjobs<strong>and</strong>mediaorevenlegalfirmswillbeabletooutsourcean<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g portion of the tasks thatarepartoftheirdailyrout<strong>in</strong>e.Meanwhile, when the focus shiftsfrom <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> to day-to-day chores,the survey once aga<strong>in</strong> predicts greatbenefits from outsourc<strong>in</strong>g. By perform<strong>in</strong>gsuchsimpletasksaslocat<strong>in</strong>g31
Outsourc<strong>in</strong>gapublisherforabudd<strong>in</strong>gwriteroragoodschoolforaharriedparent,outsourc<strong>in</strong>ghasthepotentialtosimplifylife <strong>in</strong> many ways. This, <strong>in</strong> turn, willprovide the outsourc<strong>in</strong>g sector withhuge,unimag<strong>in</strong>able,opportunities.Impacton<strong>India</strong>Manylookupon<strong>India</strong>asanationthathasbeen<strong>in</strong>existences<strong>in</strong>ceAdam<strong>and</strong>Eve, but has not been able to re<strong>in</strong>ventitself over the years. Today,<strong>India</strong> has a fitt<strong>in</strong>g reply; the rag<strong>in</strong>gsuccessofitsInformationTechnologystrategieshasnotonlyrevolutionised<strong>India</strong>, but promises a future where<strong>India</strong>willrevolutionisetheworld.Nowthatoutsourc<strong>in</strong>gisheretostay,<strong>India</strong> def<strong>in</strong>itely st<strong>and</strong>s <strong>in</strong> a highlyfavourable position.<strong>India</strong>’s greatestadvantage is her huge population.This population, encouraged by thegovernment, by <strong>in</strong>dustry <strong>and</strong> thedesireforabetterfuture,isprepar<strong>in</strong>gitselftofacethechallengesofitsrapidlygrow<strong>in</strong>geconomy.This multi-talented population isplay<strong>in</strong>g a key role <strong>in</strong> sculpt<strong>in</strong>g thefutureof<strong>India</strong>.So,itcomesasnosurprise,that follow<strong>in</strong>g its success withIT,<strong>India</strong>isbeg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>gtoarrangeoutsourc<strong>in</strong>gdeals <strong>in</strong> the legal <strong>and</strong> aviationsector<strong>and</strong>ispoisedtotakeon,aswell,arangeofotherventures.Today,whenwespeakofone-on-oneoutsourc<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>India</strong>, equipped with ahuge reservoir of reliable, cost-efficient,knowledgeable English-speak<strong>in</strong>gworkers<strong>and</strong>state-of-the-art-technologies,emerges as the global outsourc<strong>in</strong>ghub.<strong>India</strong>’speoplehavetheability to reach out globally to each<strong>in</strong>dividual <strong>and</strong> address their needs.<strong>India</strong>promisestobethemajorsupplierof the world’s knowledge workers<strong>in</strong>theyearstocome.MrX<strong>in</strong>theUSwillspeaktoMsY<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>tof<strong>in</strong>dhimselfagood,reasonablypriced, physician from somewhereacrosstheglobe<strong>and</strong>apa<strong>in</strong>terR, <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong>, will directly sell his picturesto B, who is look<strong>in</strong>g for goodpiecestoadornherhouse.Thepossibilitiesare immense. Once the concept<strong>and</strong>thepracticeareref<strong>in</strong>ed<strong>and</strong>perfected, one-on-one outsourc<strong>in</strong>gwillbecomeabasicoptionforawiderange of functions <strong>in</strong> most <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>sectors.Thumbsdown–outsourc<strong>in</strong>gchallengesThistypeofoutsourc<strong>in</strong>g,though,canalsoleadtoutterchaoss<strong>in</strong>cethereisno way to stop any <strong>in</strong>dividual fromstart<strong>in</strong>ganoutsourc<strong>in</strong>gfirmcater<strong>in</strong>gto <strong>in</strong>dividuals <strong>in</strong> other countries.Insuchasituation,abusesaremorelikelyto occur <strong>and</strong> quality <strong>and</strong> performanceguarantees become more difficultto control. There will be a greatneedforstrictrules<strong>and</strong>regulationstoprotectaga<strong>in</strong>stthelikelihoodofabuse<strong>and</strong> guarantee the quality of service.<strong>India</strong> still lacks the legal structures<strong>and</strong>perspectivesneededtoeffectivelyregulatetheoutsourc<strong>in</strong>gsector.Despite <strong>India</strong>’s large pool of talent,there is concern about the futureregard<strong>in</strong>gcerta<strong>in</strong>criticaltalentshortages.Research by the McK<strong>in</strong>seyGlobal Institute shows that <strong>in</strong> termsof suitability for employment bymulti-nationals,<strong>India</strong>'svastsupplyofgraduates is smaller than it seems.Moreover, wages for <strong>India</strong>'s offshore<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> employees have alreadyrisensteeply<strong>in</strong>themostpopularoffshor<strong>in</strong>gdest<strong>in</strong>ations, such asBangalore<strong>and</strong>Mumbai.If,ononeh<strong>and</strong>,largepopulationisanadvantage, on the other h<strong>and</strong> thegreatnumberofilliterates<strong>in</strong>thepopulationis <strong>India</strong>’s biggest disadvantage.S<strong>in</strong>ce the majority of the country’s300 million unemployed youthare from a low/middle class back-Thumbsup–outsourc<strong>in</strong>gopportunitiesThevolume<strong>and</strong>scopeofone-on-oneoutsourc<strong>in</strong>g<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>isexpectedtobehigh.Thiswillcreateaw<strong>in</strong>-w<strong>in</strong>situation–bothforthecountrythatchoosestooutsource<strong>and</strong>forthecountrytowhichthejobsareoutsourced.Giventhis sort of outsourc<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>in</strong>dividualsthroughout the world will soon beaddress<strong>in</strong>goffshorequeriesdirectly.Figure 1: Technology is fast becom<strong>in</strong>g an <strong>in</strong>tegral part of each of our lives.32
Outsourc<strong>in</strong>g“Many look upon <strong>India</strong>as a nation that hasbeen <strong>in</strong> existence s<strong>in</strong>ceAdam <strong>and</strong> Eve, but hasnot been able tore-<strong>in</strong>vent itself overthe years. Today, <strong>India</strong>has a fitt<strong>in</strong>g reply; therag<strong>in</strong>g success of itsInformation Technologystrategies has not onlyrevolutionised <strong>India</strong>,but promises a futurewhere <strong>India</strong> willrevolutionise theworld.”ground with access only to <strong>in</strong>ferioreducational <strong>in</strong>stitutions, they are forthemostpartillpreparedtoassumearole<strong>in</strong>theemerg<strong>in</strong>ghigh-technologydriveneconomicboom.<strong>India</strong> is poised to grow, but, withproblemslikethesetocontendwith,itwillhavetostruggletomeetthecompetitionfrom the other low-wagecountries, such as Ch<strong>in</strong>a, Hungary,<strong>and</strong> the Philipp<strong>in</strong>es, that are gear<strong>in</strong>guptochallenge<strong>India</strong>'slead.Its<strong>in</strong>adequate<strong>in</strong>frastructure,poorroads,horribletraffic management, patheticairport facilities… all add to <strong>India</strong>’soffshor<strong>in</strong>gwoes.Address<strong>in</strong>gconcernsThebottoml<strong>in</strong>eisthat<strong>India</strong>hasalotto offer. The overrid<strong>in</strong>g need of themoment is to generate quality manpower.Thecountryneedstoproducemore research scholars. <strong>India</strong> needsto give birth to more Aryabhattas –thegreatastronomer<strong>and</strong>mathematicianof<strong>India</strong>’sclassicalagethoughttohave first conceived the heliocentricsolarsystem<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>ventedthe‘zero’–so that more breakthrough conceptscanbe<strong>in</strong>vented.Whatbetterwaytoachievethisthantoutilizethega<strong>in</strong>softheITrevolutiontobuildbricks<strong>and</strong>mortarschoolstobr<strong>in</strong>ghigh-qualityeducationto<strong>India</strong>’syouth<strong>and</strong>preparethemtocompete<strong>in</strong>today’sglobal<strong>in</strong>formationsociety.<strong>India</strong>’sleadersneedtoseriouslyponderplans to <strong>in</strong>ject IT <strong>in</strong>to every<strong>India</strong>n’sve<strong>in</strong>s<strong>and</strong>pumpthemfullofthe spirit the soon-to-be-developed<strong>India</strong>willneed.Two decades of the IT revolutionshouldbesufficienttimetoequipthevillages,wherethemajorityof<strong>India</strong>’speople still reside, with enough highqualitytechnical–know-howsothatevenafarmerwillbeabletoactivelyparticipate <strong>in</strong> the new avatar – thenew manifestation or model – thatoutsourc<strong>in</strong>gwillbr<strong>in</strong>gtothecountry.In addition, <strong>India</strong>’s already literateyouth should be encouraged to cont<strong>in</strong>uetheirstudies–moveontohigherstudyassignments<strong>in</strong>everypossiblefield – to create a quality-richresearch pool. This will help ourcountry keep her head above water<strong>and</strong> not drown <strong>in</strong> the high seas ofglobalcompetition.Still, high-quality talent can only begeneratedwhenacademicstakekeen<strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>produc<strong>in</strong>git.Today,thisisdifficult given the huge disparitybetween academics <strong>and</strong> students; aprofessor <strong>in</strong> a prestigious <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong><strong>in</strong>stitute often earns a negligiblesalarycomparedtowhathisstudentswillearn<strong>in</strong>thefuture.The need for plans to improve thecrumbl<strong>in</strong>g – weak <strong>in</strong>frastructure,whichmaygivewayundertheweightoftheboom<strong>in</strong>geconomyatanytime,iscritical.Oncepolicies<strong>and</strong>decisionsare taken to address this <strong>and</strong> otherprimaryconcerns,<strong>India</strong>willbeeasilyable to claim leadership of the nextgeneration of one-on-one outsourc<strong>in</strong>g.ESHQLookatanyone<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong><strong>and</strong>youwillsee the future of the outsourc<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>dustry,buthowcanwepreparethisperson for the responsibility? Well,<strong>India</strong>hasalwaysbeentheepitomeofESHQ – Love, <strong>in</strong> H<strong>in</strong>di.ESHQ alsodef<strong>in</strong>es the competitive differential<strong>and</strong>analtogethernew<strong>in</strong>terpretationofsuccess.ESHQ represents Entrepreneurship,Speed, Horizon <strong>and</strong> Quality, <strong>and</strong> thecomb<strong>in</strong>ation of these four qualitieswill br<strong>in</strong>g success to the outsourc<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>dustry.Thereisanoverrid<strong>in</strong>gneedto let ESHQ flow freely through ourworkers’ ve<strong>in</strong>s, so that quality of liv<strong>in</strong>gisenriched<strong>and</strong>theworldbecomesabetterplacetolive<strong>in</strong>.<strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong> iscelebrat<strong>in</strong>g its10 th anniversaryThrough the years,<strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong>’sauthors told of the riseof mobile, of fibre, ofwireless <strong>and</strong> ofbroadb<strong>and</strong>; they toldof the dot.commeltdown, of digital<strong>in</strong>clusion <strong>and</strong>convergence, ofst<strong>and</strong>ards <strong>and</strong>breakthroughs, therise of IP <strong>and</strong> the fallof switch<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> of theregulatory turnaround.In every issue of<strong>Connect</strong>-<strong>World</strong> heads ofstate, m<strong>in</strong>isters <strong>and</strong>regulators, heads of<strong>in</strong>ternational<strong>in</strong>stitutions <strong>and</strong>leaders of <strong>in</strong>dustryspeak of whatthe ICT revolution,as it happens,means to the people <strong>in</strong>their regions of theworld.www.connect-world.com33
Telecom developmentBuild<strong>in</strong>g <strong>India</strong>’s new ICT environmentby Manoj Tirodkar, Founder, Chairman <strong>and</strong> manag<strong>in</strong>g director, GTL Ltd<strong>India</strong>hasavisionofbecom<strong>in</strong>gadevelopedcountryby2020.S<strong>in</strong>cetheliberalisationofits<strong>telecom</strong>municationssector,<strong>India</strong>hascomealongway.<strong>India</strong>hasbenefitedfromsusta<strong>in</strong>edGDP growth of greater than 6%, the longest runn<strong>in</strong>g bull market <strong>in</strong> its stockexchangehistory,steadyagricultural<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>dustrialgrowth<strong>and</strong>aboom<strong>in</strong>gtechnologysector.Still,torealiseitsvision,<strong>India</strong>mustfocus<strong>in</strong>gitsresourcesuponbuild<strong>in</strong>gthenecessarybasic <strong>in</strong>frastructure, especially its <strong>telecom</strong>munications system upon which somuchdepends.ManojTirodkarisFounder,Chairman<strong>and</strong>Manag<strong>in</strong>gDirectorofGTLLimited,aPublicLimitedListedCompanybased<strong>in</strong>Mumbai,<strong>India</strong>.MrTirodkarwonCIIYoungEntrepreneurTrophyfor2001<strong>and</strong>wasthefirst<strong>India</strong>ntow<strong>in</strong>the<strong>World</strong>ComGroup’s<strong>World</strong>YoungBus<strong>in</strong>essAchieverAward2000(WYBA).MrTirodkarwasalsoaf<strong>in</strong>alistforthe2ndErnst&YoungEntrepreneuroftheYearAward2000.Bus<strong>in</strong>essBarons-TaylorNelsonSofresModeOp<strong>in</strong>ionrankedMrTirodkarasthe13th<strong>and</strong>12thBESTCEOfortheyears2000&2001respectively.MrTirodkarisalsoarecipientofthe1996TelecomManoftheYearAward<strong>and</strong>the'NationalLevelEntrepreneurshipAward<strong>in</strong>theITSector2004’fromtheJagatikMarathiChamberofCommerce&Industries.S<strong>in</strong>cethefirststirr<strong>in</strong>gs,thefirstawaken<strong>in</strong>gs,<strong>in</strong>1991oftheliberalizationera<strong>India</strong><strong>and</strong>its<strong>in</strong>formation<strong>and</strong>communicationtechnology(ICT)sectorshavecome a long way. Today <strong>India</strong> iscounted among the fastest grow<strong>in</strong>geconomies of the world with a susta<strong>in</strong>edGDPgrowthofover6%.<strong>India</strong>’sstockexchangesarefac<strong>in</strong>gasusta<strong>in</strong>edbullrun,thelongest<strong>and</strong>largest<strong>in</strong>thehistoryofthecountry’sf<strong>in</strong>ancialmarkets.Steady agricultural <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>dustrialgrowth<strong>and</strong>aboom<strong>in</strong>gtechnologysectorhave seen the transformation of<strong>India</strong>;itseconomyisgrow<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>leaps<strong>and</strong> bounds. <strong>India</strong> is poised at thecrestofamassivegrowthcurvewhichwilltransformit<strong>in</strong>toaglobaltechnology<strong>and</strong>servicesleader.<strong>India</strong>, although it faces strong challenges,will nevertheless f<strong>in</strong>d greatopportunities,asitworkstorealiseitsvisionofbecom<strong>in</strong>gadevelopednationby 2020. Infrastructure challenges <strong>in</strong>the power sector, pitiable roads,crowdedairports<strong>and</strong>theever<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gneedtoprovideemploymenttoitsburgeon<strong>in</strong>g population are some ofthe challenges that <strong>India</strong> faces.Focus<strong>in</strong>gitsresourcesonareaswheredevelopment is required is, arguably,theprimaryconcernthat<strong>India</strong>faces.Today, <strong>telecom</strong>munication is one ofthe vital l<strong>in</strong>ks <strong>in</strong> the cha<strong>in</strong> to <strong>India</strong>’sdevelopment.Thecountry’stechnology-drivenglobal service <strong>in</strong>dustrieshave an ever <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g appetite for<strong>telecom</strong>munications systems <strong>and</strong>servicestodeliveritsservicesglobally.Therapidadoptionof<strong>telecom</strong>services<strong>and</strong> the growth <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong>’s teledensityalso po<strong>in</strong>ts to the ever <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gappetite for <strong>telecom</strong> services. Simplyput,<strong>India</strong>needstobe<strong>in</strong>terconnected,bothwith<strong>in</strong><strong>and</strong>globally,toachieveitsdevelopmentgoals.It is important to observe that theneed to push growth through furtherreforms has been appreciated at thehighest levels of government <strong>and</strong>deregulation <strong>in</strong> the <strong>in</strong>dustry is a step<strong>in</strong> the right direction. The revisedNational Telecom Policy has openedthe roads for greater competition <strong>in</strong>this vital sector, has brought aboutgreater clarity regard<strong>in</strong>g the government’srole<strong>and</strong>hasstimulatedgreater<strong>in</strong>vestment<strong>in</strong>thesector.Strongcompetitionhasbroughtdowntariffs,hassimplifiedthepolicyenvironment<strong>and</strong> has promoted healthycompetition among various players.Liberalized, <strong>in</strong>creased, FDI (foreigndirect <strong>in</strong>vestment) limits make thissector an attractive option for theplayers<strong>in</strong>theglobalmarket.Thenewlimitsarebr<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>thecapitalrequired to help the <strong>telecom</strong> sector’scompaniestoexp<strong>and</strong>theiroperations<strong>and</strong> make <strong>in</strong>vestments toimprovetheirtechnology.Asaresultof the reforms, there has been anexplosion<strong>in</strong>thegrowthofteledensity<strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong>, which today st<strong>and</strong>s at 12%,represent<strong>in</strong>g130millionsubscribers.The wireless sector has been add<strong>in</strong>g2.5millionsubscriberspermonth<strong>and</strong>it is highly probable that the totalnumber of wireless subscribers willexceed 250 million subscribers by2008. It seems certa<strong>in</strong> that the34
Telecom developmenttremendousgrowthwearesee<strong>in</strong>gisonlythetipoftheiceberg.However, the country’shigh taxation cont<strong>in</strong>ues tobeadragonthegrowthofthe sector <strong>and</strong> a rationalizationis required on thisfront. The resolution ofissues such as spectrumallocation, technology,<strong>telecom</strong> equipment manufactur<strong>in</strong>g,research <strong>and</strong>development, value addedservice<strong>and</strong>qualityofserviceshould be given highpriority.Thereallocationofthe2.4GHzrangeforwirelessnetwork<strong>in</strong>gis a step <strong>in</strong> theright direction; it showsthat the government hasresolved to make thechanges needed to susta<strong>in</strong>growth. Rural connectivity<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g the ruralteledensityfromitscurrent4%areamongthegreatestneeds of a country like<strong>India</strong> where 70% of thepopulationisrural.Recentpolicychanges,suchasallow<strong>in</strong>gshared <strong>in</strong>frastructure <strong>in</strong> the ruralareas,areastep<strong>in</strong>therightdirection.This<strong>in</strong>frastructurewillbeprovidedbyprivatecompaniestoserviceprovidersbaseduponasharedservicesmodel.Shared <strong>in</strong>frastructure, <strong>and</strong> the sourc<strong>in</strong>gof products <strong>and</strong> services from an<strong>in</strong>tegratedplayer,shouldsignificantlyreduce the capital expenditure of theservice providers <strong>and</strong> result <strong>in</strong> lowertariffs. This will, <strong>in</strong> addition, contributeto <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g the penetrationof<strong>telecom</strong>munications<strong>in</strong>ruralareas.The rollout of 3rd generation mobileservices <strong>and</strong> convergence augur wellfor the sector. Excit<strong>in</strong>g times areahead as <strong>telecom</strong> service providers,cable-based enterta<strong>in</strong>ment serviceproviders <strong>and</strong> others vie to providefully converged solutions such asIPTV,stream<strong>in</strong>gradio,Internet,cableTV<strong>and</strong>telephonyservices.Broadb<strong>and</strong>cablealreadyreachesmillionsof homes <strong>and</strong> offices across<strong>India</strong>.Emerg<strong>in</strong>gwirelesstechnologiessuch as WiFi <strong>and</strong> WiMax will createcitywide hotspots for seamless connectiontotheInternet.Thesetrends<strong>in</strong>technologywillhelp<strong>in</strong>furtherspread<strong>in</strong>gICTbasedservices<strong>and</strong>willboostthecountry’sdevelopment.Figure 1: Lower<strong>in</strong>g of ADC.Private companies were early playersenabl<strong>in</strong>g <strong>India</strong>’s <strong>telecom</strong>municationgrowth <strong>and</strong> have been operat<strong>in</strong>g onthewirelesstechnologyservicesfront.Theyhavesetupgateways,VSATnetworks,corporate<strong>and</strong>multimedianetworks<strong>and</strong>wereamongthefirsttolayfibre-opticcables<strong>in</strong>thecountry.They have been participat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the<strong>telecom</strong>munication growth <strong>in</strong> thecountry by design<strong>in</strong>g, build<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong>manag<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>telecom</strong> <strong>in</strong>frastructureoftheserviceproviders.They have been partner<strong>in</strong>g with theOEMs to provide the best-of-breedtechnologies <strong>and</strong> world-class projectmanagement st<strong>and</strong>ards to build thenetworks. Over the period they havebuilt many thous<strong>and</strong>s of cell sitesacross<strong>India</strong>support<strong>in</strong>gmanymillionsofthecountry’ssubscribers.<strong>World</strong>wide, the <strong>telecom</strong>munication<strong>in</strong>dustryisundergo<strong>in</strong>gafundamentalshiftastelcosarefacedwith<strong>in</strong>creasedpressure to control their capital <strong>and</strong>operational expenses (capex <strong>and</strong>opex) while manag<strong>in</strong>g the growth <strong>in</strong>network complexity, rapid technologychange<strong>and</strong>newservice<strong>in</strong>troductions.Managed Network Services are fastbecom<strong>in</strong>gtheonlyviablewayforserviceproviderstodramaticallycutcosts<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>crease efficiency with<strong>in</strong> theiroperations.It is a great challenge to <strong>telecom</strong>equipmentmanufacturers<strong>and</strong>serviceorganizationstocont<strong>in</strong>uouslyexploreradicalways<strong>and</strong>meansofprovid<strong>in</strong>gavalue proposition to their customers,while directly address<strong>in</strong>g their capex<strong>and</strong>opexneeds.Increas<strong>in</strong>gly, OEMs <strong>and</strong> their associatedservice organizations are resort<strong>in</strong>gto off-shor<strong>in</strong>g as a means of outsourc<strong>in</strong>gas the only viable <strong>and</strong> costeffectivealternative.There is also a need to spread <strong>in</strong>formation<strong>and</strong>communicationtechnologyknowledgetorural<strong>India</strong>tobridgethe digital divide. Through variousprojects undertaken the GTLFoundation aims to help reduce thisgap. One such project is "ProjectKNOW"toimparttra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gtostudents<strong>in</strong>ruralareas.Launched<strong>in</strong>May2004,asaworkablesolution to spread computer education<strong>in</strong> rural areas, a modern fullyequipped <strong>and</strong> networked mobile labmakes regular visits to primary <strong>and</strong>secondaryschools<strong>and</strong>juniorcollegessituated<strong>in</strong>remoteareas.Sofar,morethan 15,000 students have been providedwithbasiccomput<strong>in</strong>gskills.37
WirelessWiMAX: a key <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong>’s futureSunil Kumar, Liaison to the WIMAX Forum, <strong>India</strong>, <strong>and</strong> Director of Asia Pacific,Beceem CommunicationsMuchof<strong>India</strong>’scurrenteconomicboomistheresultof<strong>India</strong>’s<strong>in</strong>formation<strong>and</strong>communicationstechnology(ICT)revolution.ICThashelped<strong>India</strong>becomeaBPO–<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>processoutsourc<strong>in</strong>g–worldleader<strong>and</strong>fuelledtheexplosivegrowthof<strong>India</strong>’seconomy.ICTsarethecatalyst,push<strong>in</strong>gthegrowthof<strong>India</strong>’s<strong>in</strong>frastructure.Tocompletetherevolution,ICTs<strong>and</strong>theInternethavetoreach<strong>India</strong>’sruralpopulation.Giventhelackofcopper <strong>in</strong>frastructure, it will be wireless broadb<strong>and</strong> that br<strong>in</strong>gs the Internet to ruralareas.SunilKumaristheDirectorofAPACforBeceem.Previously,KumarworkedatCoSystemsTechnologies<strong>in</strong>theUS<strong>and</strong>withseverallead<strong>in</strong>gGSM<strong>and</strong>CDMAcarriersdur<strong>in</strong>gtheformativeyearsofthewirelesstechnologyboom<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>.Hecontributed<strong>in</strong>productmanagement,<strong>in</strong>frastructurevendorrelationship<strong>and</strong>technologyplann<strong>in</strong>gatAirTel<strong>and</strong>TataIndicom.KumarwaspartoftheteamwhichstartedIS-95/CDMAbasedfixedwirelesstelephony<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong><strong>and</strong>ledtheteamwhich<strong>in</strong>troducedsmartcard-basedpublictelephonysystem<strong>in</strong>thecountry.KumarhasearnedaBachelorofTechnology<strong>in</strong>MechanicalEng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>gfromtheIITMadras<strong>and</strong>aMasterofTechnology<strong>in</strong>IndustrialManagementfromthe<strong>India</strong>nInstituteofManagement,Bangalore.Thereis,currently,asignificantpushto develop appropriate wireless technologies<strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong>. These <strong>in</strong>cludeBroadb<strong>and</strong> CorDECT, an advancedwireless access system designed withtheeconomicrealitiesofacountrylike<strong>India</strong><strong>in</strong>m<strong>in</strong>d.MidasCommunicationTechnologies <strong>and</strong> IIT, Madras, havedeveloped it, <strong>in</strong> association withAnalogDevices,USA,CDMAdata<strong>and</strong>others. Both the government <strong>and</strong> thecarriers have encouraged the growthofbroadb<strong>and</strong>,<strong>and</strong>theneedforscalable<strong>and</strong> reliable technology has<strong>in</strong>creased.TheDepartmentofTelecommunications(DoT)hasclearlystateditsobjectivesforbroadb<strong>and</strong>availability <strong>in</strong> the country.TherecentformationoftheCentreofExcellence <strong>in</strong> Wireless Technology(CEWIT) has made it clear that theproliferation of technology <strong>and</strong> wirelesssolutions beyond h<strong>and</strong>sets isbecom<strong>in</strong>g a reality for portable <strong>and</strong>fixed <strong>in</strong>door/outdoor applications <strong>in</strong>develop<strong>in</strong>gnations.Many years ago, access to seas <strong>and</strong>ports <strong>in</strong>fluenced the growth ofeconomies.Dur<strong>in</strong>gthepast100years,the growth catalysts for economiesevolvedfromrailwayaccess,toroads<strong>and</strong>thenairtravel.Inthedigitalage,itisclearthateconomiesneedbroadb<strong>and</strong>accesstosusta<strong>in</strong>growth.Today,broadb<strong>and</strong> access is a catalyst for<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>esgrowth<strong>and</strong>survival.<strong>India</strong>’s grow<strong>in</strong>g economy offers atremendous opportunity not only forhous<strong>in</strong>g, roads <strong>and</strong> power <strong>in</strong>frastructurevendors,butalsoforthesuppliersof<strong>telecom</strong>munications<strong>in</strong>frastructure.<strong>India</strong>hasseensignificantgrowth<strong>in</strong>IT– <strong>in</strong>formation technology. F<strong>in</strong>ancialservices <strong>and</strong> the auto sector haveexceededexpectations,buttheirpaceofgrowthhasnotbeen<strong>in</strong>proportiontothedevelopmentofitscommunications<strong>in</strong>frastructure.Copperpairpenetrationfor broadb<strong>and</strong> access is justoverfourpercentofthetotalpopulation.There are less than a millionbroadb<strong>and</strong> l<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong>. Copperbasedbroadb<strong>and</strong> access has notgrown to meet the aggressive targetssetbytheDoT.In2004,<strong>India</strong>def<strong>in</strong>edoneofthefirstbroadb<strong>and</strong>policiesofitsk<strong>in</strong>d,acompletenational m<strong>and</strong>ate for a broad-b<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>frastructure.Thepolicytarget-edthreemillionbroadb<strong>and</strong>(256Kbpsor more) Internet connections <strong>in</strong> thecountry by the end of 2005, but byDecember2005,therewereonlyadisappo<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g835,000 broadb<strong>and</strong> connections.In contrast, <strong>India</strong> has more than 10millionhouseholdswithPCs<strong>and</strong>morethan six million Internet subscribers.The alarm<strong>in</strong>g lack of availability ishamper<strong>in</strong>g the growth <strong>and</strong> proliferationofbroadb<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>.Thelackof appropriate content <strong>and</strong> applications,especially <strong>in</strong> rural <strong>and</strong> semiurbanareas, has limited the dem<strong>and</strong>forPCs<strong>and</strong>,consequentlythegrowth<strong>in</strong>broadb<strong>and</strong>dem<strong>and</strong>.Given the lack of copper wir<strong>in</strong>g, theonly viable option for residentialbroadb<strong>and</strong>isascalablewirelesstechnology.Over the years, carriers havetried a variety of wireless options forbroadb<strong>and</strong> Internet connectivity.Several Internet service providers(ISPs)useproprietarysolutionsfromvarious vendors; but this does notfavour mass deployment. Incumbentlocal exchange carriers (ILECs) have38
Wirelesstried to provide access via cablemodems, satellite dishes <strong>and</strong> DSL;however, there are <strong>in</strong>herent issuesregard<strong>in</strong>gcustomeracquisition.TraditionalwirelesssolutionsAttemptsbyGSMserviceproviderstouse GPRS – General Packet RadioService–baseddataservicesfortheirmobile subscribers have had limitedsuccess, given the lack of compell<strong>in</strong>greasonstojustifythecostoftheservice.The current equipment offer<strong>in</strong>gs(Blackberry, Nokia PDAs, etc.) areprohibitively costly at an average US$500, <strong>and</strong> there too few applications<strong>in</strong>wideusetodriveconsumer<strong>in</strong>terest.The subscription rates for the PCM-CIAcardsofferedbytheCDMAoperatorsforbroadb<strong>and</strong>arealsostillmuchtoohighfortheaverageuser.<strong>India</strong> has tremendous potential forbroadb<strong>and</strong> service growth.Given itsmix of features <strong>and</strong> performance,WiMAXseemstobethebestcurrentoption for a develop<strong>in</strong>g nation like<strong>India</strong>. In <strong>India</strong> an operator is facedwith high subscriber density (over1000 households per l<strong>in</strong>e/km), fixeddeployment, low CPE (customerpremises equipment) cost (under$100), low average revenue per user(ARPU) at $6–8 per month, <strong>and</strong>b<strong>and</strong>widthof256to512kbps.WiMAX deployments <strong>in</strong> urban orrural<strong>India</strong>willneedtouseMIMO<strong>and</strong>beam form<strong>in</strong>g (technologies thatenhance signal reception) <strong>and</strong> offeradvanced QoS (quality of service).Availabilityofthesefeatureswillhelpoptimisetheuseofexist<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>frastructure<strong>and</strong>lowerdeploymentcosts.Cellsites<strong>and</strong>antennatowers,forexample,couldbeusedasWiMAXbasestationswithoutlossofcoverageordensity.Broadb<strong>and</strong>wirelessaccess<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>ischaracterisedby:– The lack of copper <strong>in</strong>frastructure:s<strong>in</strong>cemostofthecopperaccessiscontrolledbythe<strong>in</strong>cumbentgovernmentcarriers,thereisnotenoughavailablefor DSL broadb<strong>and</strong> access. It costssome US$150 to US$200 per subscriberto lay copper access.Consequently, operators must relyupon non-copper technologies to becost-effective.–Thelackofaccessiblemobilebroadb<strong>and</strong>datatechnology:exist<strong>in</strong>gmobileoperators–GSM,TDM<strong>and</strong>CDMA–have faced many years delay <strong>in</strong> theavailability of high-capacity, scalable,Figure 1: It costs some US$150 to US$200 per subscriber to lay copper access.cost-effective high-speed data technology.Allaretraditionallyvoicenetworkswith an IP (Internet Protocol)overlayforlimiteddataaccess.– Increas<strong>in</strong>g PC penetration:ResidentialPCpenetrationhasgrownover40%<strong>in</strong>thelasttwoyears.Thereareanestimated10millionhouseholdPCs <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong> <strong>and</strong> over six millionInternetusers,butlessthan900,000withbroadb<strong>and</strong>access.– Applications drive broadb<strong>and</strong>:Thereisenoughcontentforthebroadb<strong>and</strong>access customer to utilize thepipe. The <strong>in</strong>cremental profit fromaccess comes from bundl<strong>in</strong>g applicationsthat run over a broadb<strong>and</strong> network.Currently, these applicationsarenotpartofthe<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>paradigmbecauseofnarrowInternetaccess.–RuralorSemi-urbanDem<strong>and</strong>:<strong>India</strong>isstillanagrarianeconomy,buttherehas been huge growth <strong>in</strong> the marketfor consumer goods, durables, autos<strong>and</strong> more significantly telephony.Wirelesswillbethedom<strong>in</strong>antdeliverymode for broadb<strong>and</strong> services just aswireless now dom<strong>in</strong>ates voice services.Thanks to its true broadb<strong>and</strong>performance, early availability <strong>and</strong>costadvantages,WiMAXisbest-positionedtoservethishuge<strong>India</strong>nmarket.– Several <strong>India</strong>n service providershave already acquired suitable spectrumlicenses to deploy wirelessbroadb<strong>and</strong> services <strong>and</strong> are plann<strong>in</strong>gearlyrollouts<strong>in</strong>2006.– The revised targets for broadb<strong>and</strong>penetration <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong> are aggressive:n<strong>in</strong>emillionsubscribersbytheendof2007 – 8.65 million subscribers <strong>and</strong>340,000subscribers/montharetobeadded dur<strong>in</strong>g the next 24 months.FTTH (fibre to the home) or coppercannotmeetthisgoal.–Thefibre‘lastmile’<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>extendsabout15kilometresawayfromafibre39
Wirelessterm<strong>in</strong>ationpo<strong>in</strong>t.Wirelesscanbridgethisgapmorequickly.–Thisrapidexpansionofthemarketrequires tapp<strong>in</strong>g the vast rural connectivitymarket.Ascanbeseenfrommobile voice subscription growth, amajorityofsubscribergrowthiscom<strong>in</strong>gfromtier2<strong>and</strong>tier3towns.Thisisapositive<strong>in</strong>dicatorfordataservices<strong>in</strong>theseunderservedmarkets.CompanieslikeITChavebeenpursu<strong>in</strong>gthe e-Choupal <strong>in</strong>itiative for sometime.Thedayisnotfaroffwhereeachofthe600,000villages<strong>in</strong>thiscountrywillhavebroadb<strong>and</strong>connection.Thisgrowth cannot come from fixed l<strong>in</strong>eaccess.In2005,operatorsaddedonly4.06 million l<strong>in</strong>es while 4.46 millionmobile connections were added <strong>in</strong>December2005alone.Broadb<strong>and</strong>wirelessaccessmarketopportunity–WiMAX<strong>India</strong>istheonlycountrywhere256+kbpsbroadb<strong>and</strong>accesscostslessthana
2nd annual eventwww.iptv-asia.netiptvworldforumasiadeliver<strong>in</strong>g live <strong>and</strong> on-dem<strong>and</strong> content over broadb<strong>and</strong>27-29 September 2006Shanghai International Convention Centre, Ch<strong>in</strong>aOriential Riverside Hotelearly book<strong>in</strong>g31st Augustover 20 operators iptvdeployment <strong>in</strong> Asianetwork<strong>in</strong>g area with over60 companies exhibit<strong>in</strong>gshowcase area cover<strong>in</strong>gover 15 Asian & Europeanoperators giv<strong>in</strong>g servicedemonstrationsgold sponsorsmedia supportersipTVnewsnew videoB U S I N E S S
Mobile telephonyThe mobile phone as an agent of change <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong>by TV Ramach<strong>and</strong>ran, Director General, COAI<strong>India</strong>’smobileserviceshavemovedquicklyfromaclassservicetoamassservice.Thecont<strong>in</strong>uously fall<strong>in</strong>g tariffs, <strong>in</strong>creased coverage <strong>and</strong> customized services have mademobilesaffordable<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>dispensabletothecommonman.Cellularisalsothefastest,mostcost-effective,waytoconnectrural<strong>India</strong>.3Gmobilewillenhancecoverageoflowcostvoicetelephony<strong>in</strong>rural<strong>and</strong>remoteareas.Itwillalsobeavaluabletoolforundertak<strong>in</strong>gkey<strong>social</strong><strong>in</strong>itiativessuchase-education<strong>and</strong>tele-medic<strong>in</strong>e.TVRamach<strong>and</strong>ran,theDirectorGeneraloftheCellularOperator’sAssociationof<strong>India</strong>,hasbeentheExecutiveHeadofthisbodys<strong>in</strong>ceSeptember1997.Priortothis,hehadbeenthefirstCEOofEssarCellphone(nowknownasHutchisonEssar),Delhi<strong>and</strong>ledtheestablishment<strong>and</strong>commerciallaunchofthecountry’sfirst100,000capacitycellularnetwork.Hewasalsothefounder-Chairmanofthe<strong>India</strong>nchapter of the world-wide GSM MoU Association, as the GSM Association was called then. TVRamach<strong>and</strong>ran is the current Chairman of the ITU’s Regional Work<strong>in</strong>g Group deal<strong>in</strong>g with PrivateSectorIssues(WGPS)fortheAsia-PacificRegion<strong>and</strong>alsotheChairmanoftheITU’sProgramGrouponInfrastructure<strong>and</strong>NetworkDevelopmentunderWGPS.TVRamach<strong>and</strong>ranholdsanMSc<strong>in</strong>Physics,withspecialization<strong>in</strong>Wireless&Electronics<strong>and</strong>isalsoaFellowofTheInstitutionofElectronics<strong>and</strong>TelecommunicationEng<strong>in</strong>eers(IETE).<strong>India</strong>hasemergedasoneofthefastestgrow<strong>in</strong>gmobilemarketsoftheworld.With<strong>in</strong>tenyearsofthe<strong>in</strong>troductionofmobile services <strong>in</strong> the country, thetotal mobile subscriber base crossed80 million <strong>in</strong> January 2006. WhenGSMmobileserviceswerefirst<strong>in</strong>troduced<strong>in</strong>1995thetotaltele-densityofthecountrywas0.8perhundredpersons,<strong>and</strong> all were m<strong>and</strong>ated fixedl<strong>in</strong>es, there were no mobiles. In tenyears s<strong>in</strong>ce then, tele-density hasgrown exponentially to nearly 12 perhundredpersons.Thecontributionofmobile, especially GSM, to this performancehasbeensignificant.The Mobile-Fixed crossover wasachieved <strong>in</strong> October 2004, when thenumber of mobiles exceeded that offixedphones,demonstrat<strong>in</strong>gthepowerfulrolebe<strong>in</strong>gplayedbythecellular<strong>in</strong>dustry <strong>in</strong> power<strong>in</strong>g <strong>telecom</strong> growth<strong>in</strong> the country. The terrific growth ofGSM led to another milestone, theGSM/FixedCrossover<strong>in</strong>April2005.<strong>India</strong> is now among the nationsadd<strong>in</strong>g 4-5 million subscribers amonth<strong>and</strong>over80percentofallnewsubscribers cont<strong>in</strong>ue to choose GSMmonthaftermonth.Look<strong>in</strong>g at the performance of the<strong>India</strong>n cellular <strong>in</strong>dustry over the lasttenyears,ithasbecomeclearthatthekey success factor <strong>in</strong> driv<strong>in</strong>g mobilegrowth <strong>and</strong> tele-density has been the<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g affordability of mobileservices. A series of <strong>in</strong>itiatives takenby the Government have completelytransformed the mobile l<strong>and</strong>scape.The<strong>in</strong>troductionoftheNewTelecomPolicy-99, the migration of exist<strong>in</strong>goperators to the new revenue shareregime, the <strong>in</strong>troduction of <strong>in</strong>creasedcompetition <strong>in</strong>to mobile services <strong>and</strong>mostimportantlythe<strong>in</strong>troductionofaCall<strong>in</strong>gPartyPays(CPP)regimehaveall contributed to improved affordability,<strong>in</strong>creased consumer choice<strong>and</strong> hence the overall growth of the<strong>in</strong>dustry.Eachoftheabovepolicy<strong>and</strong>regulatory measures has served as apo<strong>in</strong>t of <strong>in</strong>flexion, giv<strong>in</strong>g a boost tosubscribergrowth.The<strong>India</strong>nmobile<strong>in</strong>dustryisamajorcontributortothe<strong>social</strong><strong>and</strong>economicgrowthofthecountry.Accord<strong>in</strong>gtoastudyconductedbythewellknown<strong>in</strong>ternational agency Ovum on “Theeconomicbenefitsofmobileservices<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>”,themobile<strong>in</strong>dustrycontributessignificantlytoits<strong>social</strong><strong>and</strong>economicgrowth <strong>in</strong> terms of employmentgeneration, government revenues,GDPgrowth,ruraldevelopment,etc.AsnotedbyOvum,themobile<strong>in</strong>dustryhas generated 3.6 million jobsdirectly <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>directly, revenues ofUS$3.3billionperannumforthegovernmentthrough license fees, spectrumfees <strong>and</strong> other taxes <strong>and</strong> levies<strong>and</strong>anannualGDPofUS$7.1billion.These benefits were estimated whenthe subscriber base was around 48millionmobilesubscribers<strong>and</strong>mobilecoveragewasavailabletoonly30percent of the population. With mobileservices grow<strong>in</strong>g at a blister<strong>in</strong>g pace,thebenefitswillcont<strong>in</strong>uetogrowexponentially.In<strong>India</strong>,eachserviceareaisservedby6–8mobileoperatorsascomparedtothe<strong>in</strong>ternationalnormof3–4opera-43
Mobile telephonytors,lead<strong>in</strong>gto<strong>in</strong>tensecompetition<strong>in</strong>thesector.Thishasyieldedall-roundbenefitstoconsumers,whohaveseenmobiletariffsdropbyover90percent<strong>in</strong>thelast10years.Atpresent,mobiletariffs <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong> are the lowest <strong>in</strong> theworld.Foravarietyofreasons,frompersonalto <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>, <strong>India</strong>ns cutt<strong>in</strong>g acrossage,profession<strong>and</strong>statusare<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>glygo<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> for the mobile phonewithazealthatheraldstheonsetofacommunication revolution <strong>in</strong> thecountry.Mobileserviceshavebecomethe key plank for <strong>in</strong>frastructure <strong>and</strong>economicdevelopment.Therealrevolutionhascomeforlow<strong>in</strong>comegroupmarkets<strong>and</strong>small<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>es,as for them the mobile hasbecome a powerful tool of trade.Plumbers, electricians, <strong>and</strong> vegetablevendors,allhaveseenasteadyrise<strong>in</strong>their <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> after they have madeuseofmobilephonestoreach<strong>and</strong>bereached by their clients. It helps thesmall traders to keep <strong>in</strong> touch withtheir <strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> <strong>and</strong> clients even whentheyareoutonashorttripora<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>deal. A mobile benefits fishermen,enabl<strong>in</strong>g them to auction theircatch while still at sea, <strong>and</strong> farmers,whocantrackpricesoftheirproduce.Cellphoneshavefacilitatedimproved<strong>in</strong>comes <strong>and</strong> opportunities for small<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>esallacrossthecountry.New<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>novativemeasuresbycellularoperators have made mobileservices even more affordable for themasses.The<strong>in</strong>troductionofultra-lowcosth<strong>and</strong>sets<strong>in</strong>therangeofsubUS$30, micro prepaid cards available <strong>in</strong>therangeofRs10toRs200<strong>and</strong>thelifetime validity schemes have allFigure 1: TRAI Study paper No 2/2005.proved extremely beneficial for thelow-end users. These offers providethemanytime,anywhereconnectivityat affordable prices. Such <strong>in</strong>novativemeasuresbyoperatorshavehelped<strong>in</strong>transform<strong>in</strong>gtheuseofmobilesfroman elitist product to a service for themasses <strong>and</strong> the common man. Thechangeisthereforalltosee.Nowpeoplecan be seen talk<strong>in</strong>g on mobilephoneswhilewalk<strong>in</strong>gdownthestreet,or on subways, on tra<strong>in</strong>s, <strong>in</strong> offices,buses, <strong>in</strong> marketplaces <strong>and</strong> even <strong>in</strong>schools<strong>and</strong>colleges.Theclusterofservices<strong>in</strong>thecountryisalsogrow<strong>in</strong>genormously;fromvanillavoice,consumersare<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>glyopt<strong>in</strong>gfor a wide range of VAS (valueadded services). Revenues <strong>in</strong> the VASsegmentaregrow<strong>in</strong>gat30–40percentannually.VASis<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>glyagrowtharea,whichhelpstheoperatorstomaximiserevenue <strong>and</strong> help to potentiallyoffsettheeffectofdecl<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gtariffsonARPU(averagerevenueperuser).Propelledbytheneedtobr<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>servicedifferentiation, operators are<strong>in</strong>troduc<strong>in</strong>gnewvalueaddedservices<strong>in</strong>ordertosatisfythegrow<strong>in</strong>gdem<strong>and</strong>of<strong>India</strong>nconsumers.TheSMSgrowthhas been phenomenal, <strong>in</strong> l<strong>in</strong>e withglobal trends <strong>and</strong> other VAS such asr<strong>in</strong>g tones, gam<strong>in</strong>g, MMS, etc., arealso immensely popular amongst<strong>India</strong>n consumers. A wide range ofuseful services like news updates,stock <strong>in</strong>formation, railway ticket status,etc.havealsofoundasignificantplace<strong>in</strong>the<strong>telecom</strong>pie.The mobile has proved to be a boonfor the burgeon<strong>in</strong>g young populationof<strong>India</strong>(60percentofpopulationisbelow 30 years); it has become theirconstant companion.SMS has become thel<strong>in</strong>go of the youth <strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>asithasbecomethe easiest <strong>and</strong> themost economical wayto communicate. Forthemthereisnomiss<strong>in</strong>ganyonenow;everybodyfor them is justan SMS away. Valueadded services, likemulti-player <strong>in</strong>teractiveonl<strong>in</strong>e gam<strong>in</strong>g,musicdownloads,animatedscreen savers,etc., are very popularamong this segment<strong>and</strong> the exchange ofthiscontentisveryfrequent.For the youngpopulation of <strong>India</strong>,themobileisnolongera luxury but a basicnecessity.Cellular services <strong>in</strong> the country havemovedquicklyfromaclassservicetoamass service for the common man –fuelledbycont<strong>in</strong>uouslyfall<strong>in</strong>gtariffs,<strong>in</strong>creased coverage <strong>and</strong> customizedservice offer<strong>in</strong>gs. Go<strong>in</strong>g forward,mobilewillalsobethefastest<strong>and</strong>themosteffectivewayofconnect<strong>in</strong>grural<strong>India</strong> where wirel<strong>in</strong>e services do nothavethereach.The <strong>in</strong>troduction of 3G will alsoenhance rural coverage <strong>and</strong> serve asan ideal platform to deliver low-costvoicetelephonytoconsumers<strong>in</strong>rural<strong>and</strong>remoteareas.Itwillalsoprovetobeavaluabletoolforundertak<strong>in</strong>gkey<strong>social</strong><strong>in</strong>itiativessuchasdeliver<strong>in</strong>geeducation,tele-medic<strong>in</strong>e,etc.Inthepastdecade,themobile<strong>in</strong>dustryhas played a pivotal role <strong>in</strong> theexpansion of the <strong>telecom</strong> network <strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong> <strong>and</strong> it can be expected to beequallyexplosive<strong>in</strong>thecom<strong>in</strong>gyears.Go<strong>in</strong>gforward,thefuturelooksbrightfor <strong>India</strong>, as there are a number ofdemographic<strong>and</strong>socio-economicfactors<strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong>’sfavourthatwillcont<strong>in</strong>uetofueltheaggressivegrowthrateofthe cellular mobile <strong>in</strong>dustry. These<strong>in</strong>clude factors such as ris<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>comelevels,aboom<strong>in</strong>gknowledgesector,aburgeon<strong>in</strong>gmiddleclass<strong>and</strong>grow<strong>in</strong>gurbanization of population. All thiswillalsohelp<strong>in</strong>achiev<strong>in</strong>gthetargetof200millionmobilephonesby2007assetbytheGovernmentof<strong>India</strong>.44
Information accessSimplified ICT access for <strong>India</strong>’s rural usersby Ravi Baid, Founder <strong>and</strong> President, Alliance InfotechMany<strong>India</strong>ngovernment<strong>and</strong>privateprojectshaveused<strong>in</strong>formation<strong>and</strong>communicationtechnology to br<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>and</strong> services to computer <strong>and</strong> telephone users.News reports adapted to each locality <strong>and</strong> automated systems that provide railway<strong>in</strong>formationareavailablebytelephone24x7;theyeachreceive15to20thous<strong>and</strong>callsperday.Agovernmentsystemthatletscitizenstrack<strong>and</strong>follow-upcompla<strong>in</strong>tsbytelephoneorcomputerhas<strong>in</strong>creasedefficiency,improvedservice<strong>and</strong>reducedcostsforbothcitizen<strong>and</strong>governmentalike.RaviBaidistheFounder<strong>and</strong>PresidentofAllianceInfotech,providerofunifiedcommunications<strong>and</strong>mobile<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>solutions.Ravihasbeenguid<strong>in</strong>gthestrategicevolutionofAlliancerights<strong>in</strong>ceits<strong>in</strong>ception.Hehassevenyearsof<strong>bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong>experience<strong>in</strong>relatedfields,<strong>and</strong>isadualdegreeholder<strong>in</strong>Chemistry<strong>and</strong>ComputersfromtheBirlaInstituteofTechnology<strong>and</strong>Sciences,Pilani.HealsohasearnedaMastersdegree<strong>in</strong>Bus<strong>in</strong>essManagementfromtheUniversityofArizona,US.Employ<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>formationtechnologytohelp rural users access <strong>in</strong>formationhasalwaysbeenachallenge.Thewill<strong>in</strong>gnessofkey<strong>in</strong>formationholderstoshareit<strong>and</strong>createsystemstouseit–notnecessarilythetechnologyitself–hasbeenthemajorchallenge.Oneofthebiggestchallenges<strong>in</strong>govern<strong>in</strong>gacountry as large as <strong>India</strong> has beenbr<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>gtransparency<strong>and</strong>accountabilitytopublicdeal<strong>in</strong>gs.Inrecentyears,though,agreatnumberof e-governance <strong>in</strong>itiatives havefocused primarily upon address<strong>in</strong>gtheseissues.<strong>India</strong>hasseenagreatmanygovernment<strong>and</strong> private projects that haveappliedtechnologytobr<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>formationornewservicestocomputer<strong>and</strong>telephoneusers.Some of these services have beenhighly successful.For <strong>in</strong>stance, thetelephone-based news service thatPrasarBhartiruns,that15thous<strong>and</strong>callers use each day to get currentunbiasednewsovertheirphones,willsoon be available throughout <strong>India</strong>.Theserviceprovidesspecificcontentfor each locality <strong>and</strong> is available <strong>in</strong>H<strong>in</strong>di <strong>and</strong> English. The <strong>India</strong>nRailways runs a telephone-basedautomatic<strong>in</strong>formationservicethatisavailable all over the country.Recently launched as a value addedservice, the <strong>in</strong>formation l<strong>in</strong>e nowreceives more than 20,000 phonecallseachday.However,ofalltheapplicationstried,the <strong>in</strong>itiative below has been one ofthemostempower<strong>in</strong>g.Itistooearlyto say whether this service will survivethetestoftimeorlosefocus<strong>and</strong>die out, but, given the early results,itschanceforsuccessisquitestrong.LokVani,orthevoiceofthepeople,isa unique public/private partnershipprogram established through thecomb<strong>in</strong>ed efforts of the DistrictAdm<strong>in</strong>istration <strong>and</strong> NationalInformatics Centre <strong>in</strong> Sitapur (UP,<strong>India</strong>). The LokVani <strong>in</strong>itiative givescitizensofSitapuranopportunityto<strong>in</strong>teract with the government us<strong>in</strong>gthe Internet or, more recently, viatelephone; that elim<strong>in</strong>ates the needfor them to travel to a governmentoffice.LokVanioffersseveraldifferentk<strong>in</strong>dsof services to local citizens such asl<strong>and</strong> record research <strong>and</strong> emission,armslicenceapplicationstatus,GPF(GeneralProvidentFund)forcivilservants–theaccountsofbasiceducationforteachers,etc.Themostpopularservice to date amongst all theservices offered has been the Onl<strong>in</strong>ePublicGrievanceRedressalservice.Through this service, any citizen ofSitapur can visit any one of severalauthorised kiosks set up by theGovernment<strong>in</strong>partnershipwithlocalcyber-cafés <strong>and</strong> computer tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>stitutes<strong>and</strong>forasmallfeeregisteracompla<strong>in</strong>tonthesystem.These compla<strong>in</strong>ts are logged <strong>in</strong>to acentral database <strong>and</strong> through effectivemonitor<strong>in</strong>gbytheofficialsofthedistrict, are resolved/responded toappropriately.46
Information accessCitizensareabletocheckonthestatusoftheircompla<strong>in</strong>tsbyreferr<strong>in</strong>gtoa unique 5-digit reference numberissued to them automatically at thetimeoffil<strong>in</strong>gthecompla<strong>in</strong>t.Initially,theLokVaniapplicationwascompletely Web-based, <strong>and</strong> citizenshad to visit the local <strong>in</strong>formationkiosks <strong>and</strong> pay usage charges to get<strong>in</strong>formationtheyneeded,ortocheckthestatusoftheirrequests.This,ofcourse,<strong>in</strong>volvedunnecessarytravel<strong>and</strong>expensefortheusers;thecitizen was never sure that a replyhadbeenposted,orevenifthereplywasadequate,withoutcheck<strong>in</strong>gpersonallyonthesite.Becauseofthisproblem,theDistrictAdm<strong>in</strong>istration of Sitapur <strong>and</strong> theLokVani Society engaged a privatesectorsuppliertobuildatelephonybasedversion of the LokVaniCompla<strong>in</strong>ts Status InformationSystem(LCSIS).LokVaniCompla<strong>in</strong>tStatusInformationSystemThe LCSIS lets citizens track theircompla<strong>in</strong>ts through the telephone<strong>and</strong> hear the responses, if any, thattheconcernedofficershavefiled.Theservice is available on 24x7 basis sothatanyonewhowantstoaccessthestatus of his compla<strong>in</strong>t can dial <strong>in</strong>totheLokVaniserver<strong>and</strong>checkthestatusonl<strong>in</strong>e.All the data – the compla<strong>in</strong>ts, compla<strong>in</strong>tnumbers, status <strong>in</strong>formation,responses, <strong>and</strong> the like – are storedcentrally <strong>in</strong> the NIC, the NationalInformatics Centre, central database<strong>in</strong>Delhi.When a citizen calls <strong>in</strong>to the LCSISsystem us<strong>in</strong>g its publicly availabletelephone number, an IVR (<strong>in</strong>teractivevoice response) applicationgreetsthecaller<strong>and</strong>asksthe<strong>in</strong>quirertopunchhis5-digitcompla<strong>in</strong>ttrack<strong>in</strong>gnumber<strong>in</strong>tothetelephoneh<strong>and</strong>set.This track<strong>in</strong>g number is used toquerythecentraldatabase,fromwhichthe <strong>in</strong>formation, stored <strong>in</strong> H<strong>in</strong>di, isretrieved. Figure 1 shows a pictorialrepresentationofthewholesystem.Us<strong>in</strong>gaH<strong>in</strong>diTexttoSpeechEng<strong>in</strong>e,the compla<strong>in</strong>t, compla<strong>in</strong>t status,name of officer to whom the compla<strong>in</strong>twasreferred<strong>and</strong>theresponse,if any, are then automatically converted<strong>in</strong>to clear, H<strong>in</strong>di speech <strong>and</strong>playedouttothecaller.Aserviceus<strong>in</strong>gSMSisutilizedtoletgovernment officers retrieve compla<strong>in</strong>tsrelevanttotheirposition<strong>and</strong>official responsibilities. Accord<strong>in</strong>gly,officers send SMS messages to theLCSIStoobta<strong>in</strong>avarietyof<strong>in</strong>formationaboutitemssuchasthenumberofcompla<strong>in</strong>tsawait<strong>in</strong>gresponse<strong>and</strong>thosethathavelapsed,amongothers.This greatly helps <strong>in</strong> expedit<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong>organis<strong>in</strong>gtheofficer’sactionplan.Callersareabletohearthestatusoftheircompla<strong>in</strong>ts<strong>and</strong>theactiontakenby the local adm<strong>in</strong>istration, withoutactually need<strong>in</strong>g to visit aGovernmentofficeoran<strong>in</strong>formationkiosk. This results <strong>in</strong> much greaterconvenience <strong>and</strong> greatly reducedcosts for the citizen, s<strong>in</strong>ce mak<strong>in</strong>g aphonecallisfarcheaperthanvisit<strong>in</strong>gacyberkiosk.Onthegovernment’sside,theadm<strong>in</strong>istrationcanprovidethecitizenwitha response whenever he or sherequests it, 24 hours per day 7 daysper week, over both the telephone<strong>and</strong> the Web. The success of theLokVani <strong>in</strong>itiative <strong>in</strong> Sitapur can begauged from the fact that todayLokVanireceivesanaverageofmorethan 10,000 compla<strong>in</strong>ts per month.“Given the number ofcompanies <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong>specialis<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> computertelephony, projects suchas LokVani can be easily<strong>and</strong> economicallyimplemented.”Figure 1: LCSIS Architecture.The compla<strong>in</strong>ts are then speedilyacteduponbythesectorsconcernedofthelocaladm<strong>in</strong>istration.Impressed with this <strong>in</strong>novation, theGovernment of Uttar Pradesh hasrecently directed all district headquartersto implement the LokVanisystem with<strong>in</strong> their respective districts.The above example highlights how<strong>in</strong>formation <strong>and</strong> communicationtechnology, primarily computertelephony <strong>and</strong> voice process<strong>in</strong>g,allowsruralvillagerstoaccess<strong>in</strong>formationus<strong>in</strong>g noth<strong>in</strong>g more complicatedthan the ever-present telephone.Given the number of companies <strong>in</strong><strong>India</strong> specialis<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> computertelephony, projects such as LokVanicanbeeasily<strong>and</strong>economicallyimplemented.Thechallenge,ofcourse,isthe<strong>in</strong>terest<strong>and</strong>will<strong>in</strong>gnessoftheadm<strong>in</strong>istrationtotakethe<strong>in</strong>itiative.PackagessuchasLokVaniworkverywell <strong>in</strong> <strong>India</strong>; they provide greatadvantages to the users – on bothsides.Bus<strong>in</strong>essmodelssuchas"public/privatepartnerships"facilitatethef<strong>in</strong>anc<strong>in</strong>gofsuchprojects<strong>and</strong>reducethe pressures upon the government,<strong>and</strong> upon its limited resources, tomeettheneedsofitscitizens. 47
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