Developments in Indian Telecommunication Infrastructure A Perspective

Dr. Prakash D. VYAVAHARE, Professor and Head, Department of Electronics and Telecomm Engg., S. G. S. Institute of Technology and Science, 23 Park Road, Indore, INDIA prakash@sgsits.ac.in, pvyavahare@hotmail.com Associate of ICTP 13 February 2003

Historical Perspective of Indian Telecomm. Indian Satellite Programs National Telecommunication policy 1994 New Telecommunication policy 1999 Telecommunication status in 2002 Problems of Universal access affordability Possible solutions Summary
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Historical Perspective
Telecommunication Technology Development (Chronology)
Telecommunication with Morse Code : 1845-1847 First Telegraph office in India (Calcutta) : 1852 ITU established with 20 European countries : 1865 Trans-Atlantic cable US - France : 1866 London - Bombay 1870 Invention of Telephone by Bell : 1876 First manual exchange in India (50 lines, Cal.) : 1882 Indian Telegraph act : 1885 J. C. Bose transmits wireless In lab. : 1895 Marconi demonstrates wireless tx. UK-France : 1899 Indian wireless act : 1933
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Electronic Switching : 1955 First artificial satellite (USSR Sputnik) : 1957 STD started in India (Kanpur - Lucknow) : 1960 First Indian artificial satellite for expt. (Aryabhatta) 1974 Cellular telephony in Tokyo : 1979 India decides to phase out Strowger excg. : 1984 GSM in 13 European countries : 1988 Tim Burner Lee (CERN) proposes www & html : 1990 Commercial impact of www felt in world : 1992 Indian Telecomm. Policy opens for pvt. Sector : 1994 Internet service launched in India : 1995 Telecom. Reg. Authority of India set-up : 1997 Indian engg. Education opens for pvt. Institutions : 1998 First private landline service in India (Indore) : 1998
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Long distance telephony opened for competition : 1999 Lucent, Motorola, TI opens design offices in India : 1997-1999 Information Technology Ministry set-up with IT bill : 2000 Dept. of IT merged with Ministry of Comm. : 2001 WLL makes presence in India : 2001 VoIP permitted in India : April 2002 WLL makes its wide spread impact in India : Jan 2003 Price reduction and competition between POTS, WLL and GSM : Feb. 2003

India producing 300,000 Engineers in 2000 engg. colleges (50 percent of them in Elx, Comp, Instru and IT) : 2001 -2003

Indian Satellite Program : An overview

Establishment of TERLS as sounding rockets launching station at magnetic equator (Trivendrum - India) : 1963 TERLS dedicated to UN : 1968 ISRO established under DAE : 1969 Dept. of Space established : 1972 First Indian satellite (Aryabhatta) launched for radio astronomy and remote sensing : 1975 Satellite Instructional TV expt. (SITE) and Satellite Telecom. Expt. Project (STEP) : 1975-1977 First development model of Satellite launch vehicle SLV-3 launched with RS-D1 satellite : 1981 Arian Passenger pay-load Expt. (APPLE) an exptal GSO comm. Satellite launched by ESA rocket from Kourou, French Guyana : 1981

 Multi-purpose Indian Satellite (INSAT -1A) launched : 1982 (with 1B, 1C etc to follow and ASLV program) INSAT - 1D launched : : 1990 INSAT - 2A, the first satellite of indigenously built II generation INSAT series : : 1992 (with lot of learning experience from 2B, 2C, 2D, PSLV, IRS etc) PSLV - DIII places IRS - D3 in sun-sync. Polar orbit : 1996 INSAT 2E (last of multi-purpose INSAT 2 series launched using Arian) : 1999 PSLV-C2 launched with IRS-D4, Korean Kitsat-3 and Greman DLR-TUBSAT : 1999 INSAT - 3B launched using Arian : 2000 GSLV tested with experimental satellite GSAT-1 : 2001 PSLV-C3 puts Belgium PROBA and German BIRD satellite in polar orbit. : 2001 INSAT - 3C launched (74 E) : 2002
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 INSAT being largest domestic communication satellite system in Asia-Pacific region with INSAT-2C, 2DT, 2E, 3B and 3C in operation The capacity to indigenously design, develop, and test GSO satellite completely developed Antrix as a commercial out-let of ISRO in operation PSLV commercially available GSLV in final development state The complete program is for peaceful use and the whole of ISRO is administered by civil (non-military) officials.

Transponder payloads C-band Ext. C-Band Ku-band S-band S-MSS VHRR CCD

2C

2DT

3E

3B

3C

Total

12 6 3 1 1 -

25 1 -

12 5 1 1

12 3 1 -

24 6 2 1 -

73 29 06 4 3 1 1
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Payloads on INSAT Satellites in service

INSAT Services
1. Telecommunications a. 550 telecom terminals of various sizes and capacity providing more than 5000 2-way speech circuits (140 fixed and captive, 20 transportable, 358 VSAT) b. 800 micro terminals connecting all district HQ of India for National Informatics Centre Network (NIC Net) c. 260 VSATs for remote area business management network d. 34 Mbps (2 Nos.) Digital Network between Metros

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2. Mobile Satellite Services a. Low bit rate, encoded voice, data and fax services (called INSAT mobile
telephony) using demand assigned SCPC channels with mobile terminals ( Emergency services ) One Way messaging system (INSAT reporting system) using shared channels at low bit rate

b.

3. Television a. 33 TV channels operational through C-band transponders of INSAT for

national networking services (DD-1), Metro Service (DD-2) and Digital Satellite news gathering, Regional language service etc Educational TV (Gyandarshan) and syllabus based programmes for students (IGNoU)

b.

4. Radio Networking (RN-AIR) with 45 regional channels 5. Tele-medicine (VSAT), meteorology, satellite aided search and rescue (406 MHz), standard time and frequency transmission etc.
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INSAT System Satellite Parameters

C and Ext-C band EIRP G/T Coverage Ku band EIRP G/T Coverage S-Band > 46 dBW better than -2 dB/deg K India > 38 dBW better than -5 dB/deg K India and wide

EIRP G/T Coverage

> 42 dBW better than -5 dB/deg K India and neighbouring countries

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New INSAT Services (Plans)

1. Development of Communication Services Educational TV Services Tele-medicine Experiments Social Development Services 2. Engineering Services Multimedia and Broadband Services ISP Connectivity Satellite Navigation Services

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Expected Growth of Transponders and VSATs in INSAT

Year 2001 2004 2007 No. Of Transponders 77 195 251 No. of VSATs 16,000 20,000 30,000 (17,000 for VPT)

Only Government can invest money in such long term programmes

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INSAT Services
1. All Telecom services of BSNL/DOT including VPT ( Dakiya Phone Laya i.e. postman brings cell phone to village ) 2. All TV channels of DD 3. Digital RN carriers of AIR 4. VSAT Services

Data Relay Transponder Service of INSAT

1. Meteorological Data collection (Temperature, Humidity etc.) (Balloon launching data collection platform) 2. Rainfall Data collections 3. 406 MHz Transponder for search and rescue beacons

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National Telecom Policy 1994

Need Analysis
New Economic Policy of GoI aims at Improving Indias Competitiveness in global market to promote exports. Attract direct foreign investments and stimulate domestic investments in the field of telecommunication Highest priority in developing telecom services in the country
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Objectives of NTP 1994

Telecom within reach to all and phones on demand as fast as possible Basic Telecom services to all villages as early as possible at reasonable price To provide telecom service of world standard, fast settlement of complaints and dispute resolution Setup major manufacturing base and export of telecom equipment Protect Security interests of India
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Status of Indian Telecommunication - 1994

Tele-density 0.8 per 100

(World average 10 per 100)

8 Million fixed telephone lines with 2.5 Million in waiting Out of 600,000 villages only 140,000 have phones 100,000 STD-PCOs in country (i.e. 1 per 2000, mostly in urban area)

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Targets of NTP - 1994

Telephone on demand by 1997 All villages to be covered by 1997 PCO for every 500 people in urban area by 1997 (share and care concept) value added services by 1996
(E-mail, voice mail, radio paging, cellular phone etc.)

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Criteria for selection of Private Company

10 years track record of the company Compatibility of technology Usefulness of Technology for future development Protection of National Security Interest Ability to Give best QoS at competitive cost Attractiveness of commercial terms to DOT (license fee) Balance of coverage between urban and rural areas Based on beauty contest criterion (presentation) 20

Telecom Expansion Status - last 10 Years

1992 1994 1997 2002 7.0 Million Fixed Phones 10.05 Million 15.8 Million 40 Million

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New Telecom Policy 1999

Need Analysis
GoI recognizes the need of world class telecommunication infrastructure and information as key for
Rapid economic and social development of the country Wide spread advantage spreading of this growth throughout the nation Major part of the GDP of the country in future to be contributed by and depends on the telecommunication

Telecommunication is not a luxury but basic need of Indian Economy

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Review of NTP 1994 in 1999

Targets of NTP-1994
1 PCO per 500 in city Coverage to 0.6 M villages 7.5 M telephone lines

Status in 1999
1 PCO per 522 coverage to 0.3 M villages 8.7 M telephone lines

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Learning lessons of NTP-1994 Review

Government alone cannot provide resources to meet the targets set Investment and involvement of private sector is needed to bridge the resource gap In 1993 Government permitted only value added services (paging, cellular) to private operators. Need to Extend privatization in all sectors of telecommunication

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Status of TelCos in 1999

8 CMTS operators in 4 metros 14 CMTS operators in 18 state circles (only 9 operational) 6 BTS operators in 6 state circles (with obligation to cover rural areas) 6 paging operators in 27 cities and in 18 state circles VSAT service liberalize for private data services to closed user groups (banks, LIC, stock exchange)
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Lessons from NTP 1994

Result of privatization - not entirely satisfactory in terms of fulfilling rural telecom commitment CMTS has 1 M subscriber (1999) but
actual revenue realized far short of projections operators unable to arrange finance for expansion

BTS commenced only in 2 out of 6 state circles the NTP 1994 must be modified to avoid wrong signals going to private operators Due to convergence the policy of separate licenses for basic, cellular, ISP, satellite and cable TV need to be reviewed
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Objectives of NTP 1999

Access to telecommunication is most important to achieve national, social and economic growth Affordable and effective communication for all urban and rural citizen Balance between universal services to all uncovered areas and provision of high level services meeting needs of countrys economy Encourage and enforce deployment of telecom facilities in rural, hilly and tribal areas Modern and efficient telecom infrastructure taking into account convergence of IT (SW), media (news), telecom and consumer electronics and strive to become IT superpower by 2020
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Objectives of NTP 1999 cont.

Strengthen educational and R&D activities in the country Achieve efficiency and transparency in spectrum management Protect defense and security interest of the country Enable Indian Telecom Companies to become truly global player

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Targets of NTP - 1999

Telephone on demand by 2002 Tele-density of 7 by 2005 (70 M phones) 15 by 2010 (150 M phones) Encourage Deployment of telecommunication in rural areas with suitable tariff structure and Rural communication mandatory to all fixed service providers (0.29 M villages uncovered in 1999) Increase rural tele-density form 0.4 to 4 by 2010 Reliable transmission media to all exchanges by 2002 and subsequently to all villages provide internet access to all district HQ by 2002 provide high speed data transmission capabilities to all towns with population more than 200,000 by 2002 29

New class of operators NTP - 1999

Access providers : CMSP, FSP and cable TV service providers Radio paging service providers Public mobile radio truncking service providers National long distance operators International long distance operators Global mobile personal communication by satellite service providers VSAT based service providers Sharing of infrastructure in any other service provider permitted and license given for 12 years
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Targets achieved by Dec 2002

1000 M people with 180 M households
40 M fixed lines ( 6 M in 1990) 8 M mobile phones 2 M internet connections

Revised target with reference to NTP 1999

100 M phone lines by 2005 200 M phone lines by 2010 70 (NTP-1999 projection) 150 (NTP-1999 projection)

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Presence of TelCos in 2002

Fixed lines and IS 95 based WLL
BSNL : 38 M lines (out of 40 M lines) Reliance Telecom : Aggressive startup Bharati (TouchTel-AirTel), Tata, MTNL, HFCL, Shyam etc.

Cellular operators
Bharati, Tata, Hutchitson and some regional entrants BSNL, MTNL (new entrants) - economic national roaming (CellOne)

Internet Service Providers

More than 100 VSNL,Satyam being dominant (vsnl.com, satyam.com)
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Confidence level of Operators

Telecomm. Industry confident of meeting 100 M target (2005) with major regulatory bottlenecks removed Public confidence and usage increases as
Long distance call reduce from 0.6 $ per minute to 0.18$ per minute 0.09 $ per minute between 9 pm and 6 am International call charges reduced by 40 % VoIP market grows rapidly Charges are expected to go further down VCC cards and VPT in all villages mobile charges falling rapidly Cable operators providing internet connectivity

Short-term goals being achieved and primary bottlnecks being 33 removed, what will be the long term goal achieving scenario.

Affordability will be the major issue

Telephone infra-structure costs 650 $ per line
The cost of back-bone component is reducing (fiber-optic) Access n/w cost, which is the two-third of the total cost is same Access part of the network requires maximum service, dedicated link and contributes to the most of the operation and maintenance cost

Access network needs focus of attention for cost reduction Break-even point for TelCos
Finance charges 15 % (Commercial loan int. rate) Depreciation 10 % (10 year span of excg.) Operation and maintenance cost 10 % 35 % of 650 $ (225 $) is the required yearly revenue for break even

What percentage of Indian household can afford telephone bill of 20 $ month assuming that a house-hold can afford 7 % of 34 income for comm. ?

Yearly house hold income

% of house-holds

affordability exp. On comm

monthly affordability

> 5000 $ 2500 - 5000 $ 2500 - 1000 $ 500 - 1000 $

1.6 % 6.3 % 23.3 % 31.8 %

> 350 $ 175-350 $ 70 - 175 $ 35 - 70 $

> 30 $ 15 - 30 $ 6 - 15 $ 3-6$

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------60 %
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 In west
90 % of house-holds can afford 30 % per month on comm Hence, 1000 $ investment per line is viable in USA

In India
only 1.6 % can afford such cost of communication 200 M people in India (middle class) have yearly income more than 1000 US $ they can afford 70 $ yearly bill (6 $ per month) To get this huge market, per line network cost in India should reduced by a factor by 3 or 4 Challenge for Indian scientists and engineers to cut down on technology costs (and this experience can be useful to other developing countries)
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Some possible and tried solutions in India

Local operations by self-employed persons.
The operation cost of self-employed small business man/woman is 3 to 4 times less than that of an organized corporate sector STD-PCOs in India are some times run in small part of the house, with xerox machine, fax facility and computer for e-mail, typing (share and care the resources including the human resource)

Local service provider (LSP) to provide access network to subscribers

Cable TV network in India works in the same way Lower cost of operation, more market due to face-face relations

Access Network can be made totally licensee free so that LSP can hook to back-bone network with revenue sharing
This will encourage large number of LSPs who have small amount of money to invest
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 Access Network is the issue

Public village telephones - 3 per village Post man comes with cell phone Wireless in Local Loop (CorDECT based) technology indigenously developed by IITM Access centers providing POTS, WLL and DSL services (DSL being most needed in developing countries) Fiber in local loop to the villages where the copper was never laid (advt. Of delayed tech)
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Summary
Till 1984 personal telecommunication was considered as luxury and service needed by privileged business man or professionals and hence had low priority (Since telecomm. Is investment intensive, food, water, education had higher priority) Stress on mass education via satellite (wide spread country) thus satellite program got the boost (ISRO under civil control) 1984 : Production and installation of digital excg. Started on wide spread, development of indigenous C-DOT rural exchanges Before 1993 telecomm was considered as national safety issue and a part of social service (like Indian Railways) with Govt. Support only NTP were formulated in 1994 and revised in 1999 with increasing stress on privitization

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NTP-1994 problem Very high license fee (total 0.35 b$ earned as fee) (same as 3G European market trend), since the return of revenue did not match the prediction therefore companies were on brink of bankruptcy NTP-1999 Revenue sharing model being developed with more deregulations for long distance etc. Telecomm. Picks up Deployment of technologies suitable for Indian geographical, economical and social requirements (eg. One phone per family, STD-PCO model, VPT model )
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 Today all district HQ have reliable link (fiber), and satellite connection at the HQ office 40 M phones, 8 M mobile and 2 M internet and all the three services are available on demand in urban areas with improved QoS Information and Communication Ministries merged. Regional language softwares being developed Access at economical cost is the big issue with WLL as one possible soln. India has the capability, open policy has shown its advantages, more deregulation is the key issue.
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References
BSNL annual report 2001 - 2002 Department of space, GoI, annual report 2001-2002 Perspective plan for telecommuncation services : Ministry of Comm. And Info. Tech. GoI, 2000-2010 www.trai.gov.in www.tenet.res.in (IIT Madras research group) www.nasscom.org www.dotindia.com www.mtnl.net.in www.bsnl.co.in www.goodnewsindia.com
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Some universally valid quotations

There is enough on the earth to meet everybodys need but not sufficient to meet anybodys greed. - Mahatma Gandhi It is not the resources it is their utilization that matters - Nobel laureate C. V. Raman Governments are good planners, and industries are good executers but not necessarily the vice-versa. Internet, mobile and television can add or reduce your productivity depending upon how you use it.

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 THANK YOU

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