Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur March 2014 REPORT Submitted by

Bhavesh Mehta (2013151 /SEC-C) On OPTICAL FIBERS FOR TELECOMMUNICATION

OPTICAL FIBER OVERVIEW

Today, a variety of industries including the medical, military, telecommunications, industrial, data storage, networking, and broadcast industries are able to apply and use fiber optic technology in a variety of applications. And, it is indeed relevant to say that telecommunications industry is the dominant user of optical fiber technology because the demand is high. Optic fiber cable network to expand India has an ambitious plan to expand its optic fiber cable network for defense forces as well as gram panchayats by 2014. State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) plans to roll out an optic fiber cable network for the army and navy worth roughly US$765 million by February 2014. BSNL also intends to roll out a US$418.5 million Internet protocol network for the defence ministry by June 2014.Moreover, the Ministry of Communications wants to connect 2.5 lakh gram panchayats across India via an optical fiber network by 2014. This will enable panchayats to enjoy 3G connectivity in their respective villages. INDIAN TELECOM: A NETWORK SCENARIO India has an established backbone network connecting states with each other and centre.While FOC network exists till the block level, backhaul network is yet to be brought to Optical Fiber Cable Network. Almost 80-90%tower backhaul connections are still on microwave links and they do not offer support for higher bandwidth capacities. The beauty of fiber is that it has nearly unlimited bandwidth potential. THE FOC MARKET Fiber-optic technology and wireless data communication systems are becoming a necessity in many residential and commercial projects across the globe. It's the evolution of the market and as the options keep getting more and more advanced, realtors are keen on offering 'futuristic' products to their clients. Today, several initiatives promise to make FTTB more economical to deploy and better positioned to meet even the most aggressive bandwidth demand forecasts. Telecom cables are required across the backbone, aggregation and access networks. Fiber to the premises (FTTP), fiber to the home (FTTH) and fiber to the building (FTTB) applications are some of the key factors driving the demand for FOC industry worldwide. GLOBAL SCENARIO The global market for optical fiber components is projected to reach USD 42 billion by the year 2017. The continuously rising demand for bandwidth and the ensuing need for fiber-based broadband, robust growth in mobile Internet, and stronger FTTx related deployments in developing Asian countries has been driving growth. Investments in Fiber-to-the-Home/Building (FTTH/B) will continue to remain crucial to growth in the market. Globally, the number of fiberconnected homes is expected to increase at robust double-digit rates, driven by significant FTTH deployments by leading operators in North America, Asia Pacific and the EMEA. The use of broadband connections to enable teleworking, telecommuting from home, home security, and home automation services is driving home developers to deploy fiber networks.

TELECOM TRENDS
The Indian telecoms industry is headed toward consolidation and growth. The National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012 (replacing the old 1999 policy) has outlined key policy initiatives, such as abolition of roaming, introduction of number portability and enhancement of rural penetration from the current 40% to 70% levels by 2017.With 243 million Internet users, India might outpace the US to become the worlds second-largest online community after China by June 2014, according to a report released by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and market research firm IMRB International. Moreover, the number of Internet users in rural India is expected to rise to 85 million by June 2014. In India relaxation of FDI in telecoms sector, limits as a step in the right direction. With the Indian government allowing 100 percent FDI in the telecommunications sector, foreign telecom companies such as Britains Vodafone Group, Norway-based Telenor and Russias Sistema have the option to buy out their Indian partners. Vodafone already secured approval of the Cabinet to buy out minority shareholders in its Indian arm for Rs 10,141 crore, the single largest foreign investment in the country's telecom sector. In addition, the telecom license has been decoupled from the spectrum, which will enable operators to provide new, technology-based services, such as 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) and 3G enabled mobile broadband. Furthermore, opportunities in broadband data are manifold, given the huge unmet demand from retail and wholesale markets. Enterprises are migrating toward cloud computing platforms, in order to address IT service agility, based on softwaredefined networking and network functions virtualization technologies. All these factors will boost consumption of telecoms and broadband services in the coming years, and also encourage foreign investments. Operators are also deploying platforms centred on user experience and unified billing. This should foster collaboration between the operators and the content / over-the-top (OTT) players, leading to the emergence of win-win multi-sided business models. This will drive growth in mobile internet services, and have a multiplier effect on the economy.The Indian telecoms sector saw the bottom of the curve in 2012. Nevertheless, new and unmet demand from retail and enterprises for broadband data and cloud-based services will drive recovery. Furthermore, the convergence of IT and telecom services, enabled by new TMT(Technology, Media and Telecommunications ) technologies, will lead to new revenue models that will drive profitability and boost the industrys growth. Of late, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) players have reported sequential revenue growth. We foresee this growth becoming stronger with the industry consolidation leading to further operational efficiencies and marginal expansion.

CONCLUSION
4G is set to revolutionize the Indian telecom scenario. The inclusion of fiber optic connectivity will tremendously increase the reach and bandwidth. 3G will also gain substantial momentum while 2G will continue to be the most preferred. The quality of services is set to improve with companies taking a step forward to invest in infrastructure. Cloud will be a game-changer for telecom as well, with more and more companies looking forward to saving costs, cloud deployments will be a preferred mode to acquire cost advantage. Analytics and data will drive the industry forward in the coming year. In my opinion, telecom in India will witness major changes in the coming years.