Kushan Mitra
Information, data and the constant and easy
availability of both is the grease that runs
the world's machine nowadays. However, India runs the risk of being left behind in this new information race if high-speed Internet is not made available to a larger part of our population
Over the last decade, hundreds of millions of Indians have tasted the Internet for the first time in their lives. This is less an achievement of the UPA Government, unlike what the regime has claimed, but more of the need for private companies who bought radio spectrum to maximise the potential of the airwaves they leased from the people of India. And of course, thanks have to be given to the manufacturing ability of our large eastern neighbour.
Minus China's immense manufacturing ability, cheap feature-rich devices would not have allowed millions of Indians to take to the Internet on their mobiles. Despite some of the recent hostility between India and China, our neighbour has played an immense, albeit a quite accidental, role in this information revolution.
The mobile phone industry, at least from the point of view of connecting Indians, has been an unqualified success, with over 900 million mobile phone connections linking at least half of India's total population. Yes, there have been arguments about the risks mobile radiation poses, but global studies over the past two decades have found little merit on tested devices. A word of caution, though, about cheap, often untested devices which do not have proper shielding. Any which way, the human race has collectively decided that the rewards outweigh the risks.
Several studies have proven that mobile phones have opened up a world of opportunity across the board. Plumbers, mechanics, maids, drivers - all have mobile phones today. Far from being a luxury, mobile phones have become a necessity. And as mobile phones have reached deeper and deeper into Indian society, so has the information age. Data connectivity using mobiles has touched hundreds of millions of people, though not as much as it should.
And even though prices for data have been going down, there are a couple of other factors that have been less than encouraging. Due to a lack of last-mile connectivity as well as policies to encourage connectivity, high-speed wired Internet connections into homes through cable, copper and fibre-optic lines have grown at a snail's pace over the last decade. While third-generation (3G) mobile networks have over the past two years in particular become faster and more ubiquitous, operators who were granted fourth-generation (4G) radio spectrum are rolling out services far too slowly, and India again risks falling behind the curve when it comes to connectivity.
Using a data service such as a ringtone or wallpaper download is not the same as watching a video on YouTube. And even with free access to social networks such as Facebook and Twitter on some mobile networks, data usage in India leaves quite a lot to be desired. And it is not just for a lack of content, in fact, content has been climbing at a fast pace.
The fact is that India is a very crowded country, each megahertz of spectrum in India serves more people on average than almost in any other country. In China, the spectrum is shared by just two operators, but in India's hyper-competitive market, we have a situation where in some cases seven to eight operators in a circle are using thin slivers of spectrum to service more customers than they should. Thus, there are network jams and dropped calls. Try making a call from a crowded mall on a weekend, it is almost impossible. As more people join the networks, they will only get more crowded and almost impossible to use. Next year, the 20-year lease on certain parts of 2G Spectrum that the earliest operators had, will expire. While the operators are fighting tooth and nail to get extensions, the Government is planning to 're-farm' these airwaves. By doing so, the Government hopes to reap a windfall like they did with the 3G auction; however it is unlikely that the mobile operators who are not flush with cash will bid the amounts they did for 3G.
But it is not just about the money the Government can raise upfront.
As mentioned above, more and more people using mobile phones and being able to talk has meant increased economic activity. The Government has slowly been increasing the service tax net, and thus, more economic activity means more annual revenue.
Some argue that the potential for voice in the mobile phone world is not fully tapped out; indeed, millions more Indians remain outside the connected world. But, the biggest opportunity in India going forward lies in data and information. Data has the potential to become a massive driver of economic growth in India, one that in the long-term can be bigger than that of physical infrastructure. For this to happen, the Government needs to seriously consider auctioning more airwaves and making auctions technology-independent. The 900 megahertz spectrum held by the oldest mobile licensees is extremely effective, and in some countries it is being used to offer 3G telephony. Any re-farming proposal ought to include that. There is also the goldmine of connectivity that lies in the 700 megahertz space in India.
These low-frequency airwaves with good dissipation qualities are being auctioned by the Governments the world over to enhance over-the-air data services. In India, we have been talking of a potential 700 megahertz auction for years, but nothing has come of it. Also, in India, many vested parties, including the Ministry of Defence, occupy several vital communications bands, which have been designated as communications bands globally. The Armed Forces have dithered over vacating some bands, not least because the state-owned telecom company, BSNL, has not delivered on their commitment to complete a military network on time. However, the Government instead of speeding things up has allowed all parties involved to saunter around the issues. Releasing hundreds of megahertz of spectrum across bands may not make the Government a lot of money, in fact, for near-term funds the Government would like a control economy over spectrum creating artificial shortages. However, this is a self-defeatist way to look at the issue. For long-term growth and to set the foundations of India becoming a fully-fledged knowledge economy the Government, maybe not the current dispensation in power but whoever comes to power in May 2014, has to ensure more radio spectrum is available for Indian citizens to use. Not just spectrum, but any new Government has to ensure that data connectivity improves even in the wired space and make it easier for people to access data. Promises towards such policies should not be one-liners in a manifesto, but they should take up a whole chapter. |
