Telecos must Address Challenges to reap Rural Benefits

• Email
• Print
• ( 0 )
• 

An increased usage of low electricity consuming cell sites and efficient sharing of telecom infrastructure can help the overall telecom industry move another notch up

With 3G getting acceptance in the Indian market, the telecom industry is surely going through an exciting phase now, however in order to make this growth an inclusive one, the service provider community needs to closely look at the challenges that lie ahead towards realizing the full potential of rural India.

While there is abundance of telecom infrastructure in the urban areas of the country, rural parts are still not connected well. There are certain challenges that need to be addressed so that real potential of rural India is realized.

Speaking at a session during Convergence India 2011, Umang Das, MD & CEO, Quippo Infocom and President, Viom Networks Ltd said that service providers should seriously look at tackling the challenges that rural parts of India pose. “Power supply or electricity is a big issue with rural parts of the country and operators should be looking at empowering mobile towers with solar energy in order to reduce their dependency on grid electricity and save costs as well,” he explained. 

There is no doubt that the Indian telecommunications industry is one of the fastest growing in the world. The telecom industry here is going through a second wave of technology and services revolution. With freshly concluded auctions of third-generation (3G) and broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum and introduction of Mobile Number Portability, the consumers are now poised for better and enhanced experiences and services. However, operators need to strengthen their network to a greater level in order to avoid clogging of networks.

Delivering his keynote address on NextGen applications and Services Empowering a Billion Lives, Akhil Gupta, Deputy Group CEO & MD, Bharti Enterprises said that there is convergence everywhere now and technology is taking communication at the hands of masses like never before. “Today we have hundreds of applications and services on the handsets of masses. The unconnected are getting connected with the help of convergence today,” he added.

Talking about the growth of wireless broadband in India,   Malay Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications & IT, Government of India said that India is a very crucial market for a technology like Wimax. “Wimax is perfectly poised to address the Indian market as it is an economical choice. Moreover, it holds big potential to connect the rural parts of the country,” he added.

Speaking at a session on rural telecom infrastructure, Anil K Reddy, Carrier Sales Expert, India and APAC, RAD Data Communications, said that because of lack of telecom infrastructure in rural areas, operators have to incur higher costs to set up infrastructure which tends to decrease the financial attractiveness of rural India.

“Right of way is a big issue, than there are basic issues like electricity or availability of skilled labor. These are a few challenges towards rural penetration in India. However, initiatives like introduction of ‘low energy base station sites’ and ‘sharing of telecom infrastructure’ can help in addressing some of these issues,” he added.