[Satellite News 12-21-10] International mobile broadband industry group GSMA and research partner Analysys Mason are focusing efforts to persuade India’s government and regional enterprises to invest in expanding the country’s mobile broadband penetration.
    An Analysys Mason study commissioned by the GSMA outlines economic benefits that mobile broadband could deliver to India. “Each percentage-point increase in mobile broadband penetration could contribute an estimated INR (Indian rupee) 162 billion ($3.58 billion) to India’s GDP by 2015,” GSMA Senior Director of Asia Pacific Jaikishan Rajaraman said in a statement.
    GSMA Spokesman Mark Smith told Satellite News that the Indian government sits on a major opportunity to leverage widespread broadband access across rural and urban areas of India. “If the government reaches its 2014 connectivity targets of 100 million connections, it will deliver a wide variety of economic and social benefits for Indian consumers and an even wider opportunity for regional providers. The Analysys Mason study shows a clear connection between licensing spectrum and increased business. Allocating just 5 MHz of additional 3G spectrum per licensee has the potential to increase mobile broadband penetration by more than 35 percent. That’s 160 million new 3G users by 2015.”
     According to the study, this additional spectrum also could increase India’s national broadband penetration by 3.3 percent, resulting in an INR 538 billion ($11.9 billion) increase to India’s GDP and a total of INR 2.19 trillion ($48.4 billion) to the Indian economy in five years.
    “Mobile broadband adoption will stimulate the availability of new services across a wide range of different markets, including retail, healthcare, education and financial services. The current lack of sufficient spectrum remains a formidable obstacle to India benefitting from these services and meeting its broadband connectivity targets,” Rajaraman said in the report.
    Analysys Mason broke down the revenue impact of Indian mobile broadband penetration on each sector by 2015: consumer and retail sectors could see an 82 percent increase in mobile broadband-enabled revenue to INR 187 billion ($4.1 billion); the financial services sector has the potential of a 67 percent increase to INR 205 billion ($4.5 billion); social services would see a 101 percent increase in mobile broadband-enabled revenue to INR 63 billion ($1.3 billion); and corporate enterprises would enjoy a 60 percent increase to INR 60 billion. ($1.32 billion).
     “The study shows that the total cost of ownership for a fixed broadband connection accounts for at least 20 percent of the per-capita consumption basket for Indian consumers. In addition to affordability issues, the deployment of large-scale fixed broadband access networks faces challenges in terms of time-to-market, operator economics and the nascent ecosystem. Mobile broadband will deliver the cost-effective scalability that India needs to overcome these issues,” Analysys Mason’s Director of India Kunal Bajaj wrote in the report.
    GSMA, which recently completed a similar study in South Africa, has support in India’s public sector. Earlier this month, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman J.S. Sarma announced a proposed $13.3 billion investment by the Indian government to establish a nationwide fiber-optic network which could provide a backbone for digitalization and expanded broadband by 2013. “The private sector should continue to provide last-mile consumer service. Tax incentives will help the industry make the huge investments necessary,” he said. 
    Sarma’s proposal is supported by the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA), which expressed interest in additional Indian broadband deployments to enhance transparency, ensure revenue flows, provide a basis for expanded consumer choice, increase the attractiveness of television to advertisers and enhance the government’s ability to collect taxes and pay for the investments.
     India’s private sector and international service providers already have noticed the opportunity. Hughes Network Systems’ Indian subsidiary secured two managed network services contracts Dec. 1 with Allahabad Bank and the Central Bank of India to deploy a core banking network to connect more than 3,400 urban and rural branches via satellite and its MPLS network.
    Ajay Chitkara, CEO of global data business for Bharti Airtel, told Satellite News that expanding mobile and rural broadband services has become part of the telco’s business model. “Satellite services constitute an essential and strategic component of our telecom portfolio. It enables us to service all the three critical segments: enterprise, small and medium businesses, and [small office-home office] users. The company uses its satellite assets to reach out to various carriers for supporting their voice and data services. … We use satellite to extend connectivity and VSAT solutions to our customers. We use satellite for delivering TDM/TDMA technology in Ku-band. We also provide SCPC services in C-band,” he said.