NEW DELHI: After telecom regulator TRAI and the finance ministry, the department of telecom (DoT) is set to face further opposition to its WiMAX auction policy. The Internet Service Providers Association of India, the body representing all standalone ISPs, has decided to ask the DoT to review the WiMAX policy, failing which it plans to haul the communications ministry to the telecom tribunal. “We will approach the DoT over this issue next week,” ISPAI president Rajesh Charia told ET.
First, standalone ISPs do not want the base price for the WiMAX auction to be linked to that of 3G. At present, the policy stipulates that the base price for WiMAX spectrum auction will be 25% of that for 3G radio frequencies — this implies, the reserve price of a pan-India WiMAX licence comes to about Rs 505 crore.
“WiMAX is predominantly for wireless high speed internet or broadband services where the platform of usage is computers. On the other hand, 3G is for mobile services,” explained Mr Charia. According to him, if the auctions are carried out as per the base price proscribed in the policy, no ISP would be able to bid. “A minimum of one slot must be reserved for standalone ISPs. Here only ISPs should be permitted to bid against each other,” he added. ISPAI wants an alternate formula where its members be charged only 25% of the highest bid that a telco makes for WiMAX spectrum in that particular circle during the auction.
Meanwhile, as reported by ET first, ISPs such as Sify and Spectranet are also planning to haul the communications ministry to the courts over the government’s decision to take back the 2.5 GHz WiMAX spectrum allotted to them. Any move by ISPs to go to the courts over these issues could delay the WiMAX spectrum auctions which are scheduled to take place by the year-end. Besides, the DoT can only go ahead with the auction if ISPs vacate the radio frequencies they hold in the 2.5 GHz band.
Showing posts with label ISPAI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ISPAI. Show all posts
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Growth of cyber cafes declining sharply
NEW DELHI: The growth of cyber cafes, which are the largest source of Internet access in India, is declining sharply. According to a CII-IMRB Broadband report, the number of cyber cafes, which was growing at almost 60% in 2004 and 2005, has fallen to almost 20% in 2008.
There are 1,80,000 cyber cafes in the country. Large industry players attribute the decline to lack of subsidy and support provided by the government coupled with increased security concerns and harassment of cyber cafe owners.
Commenting on the issue, Sify president of consumer infrastructure Naresh Ajwani said, “We have also seen a drop in our conversion rates from non-branded cyber cafes into branded Sify I-way cafes.” Sify has around 3,000 I-way cafes, of which many have been conversions from non-branded cyber cafes.
Ridiculously, in some cities like Pune, to open a cyber cafe, one has to take permissions from a municipal health department, just because cyber has got a ‘cafe’ suffixed to it. (The literal meaning of a cafe is a place to have coffee and snacks). Moreover, across the country, the local police has to provide a no objection certificate in order to open a cyber cafe. Experts say that drastic decline of cyber cafes is due to harassment that owners face at the hands of the local police.
According to the CII-IMRB report, the rate of growth in cyber cafes was at its peak in the country at about 85% in 2002. Though it was largely attributable to a small base of about 50,000 cafes in 2003, the growth was still hovering around 60% till 2004. The cyber cafe industry grew at about 57% in 2004. But by 2006 the growth fell to about 20% and it has till now failed to pick up steam.
Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) president Rajesh Charria says, “The decline in growth has been due to the extra-strict laws of maintaining a log of all sites visited by a customer alongwith a copy of his or her id proof. While there should be no compromise with security, the government should make a central law for cafes and remove local police interference. The government’s laws are discriminatory towards cyber cafes vis-a-vis PCOs.”
Meanwhile, cafe owners say that they have little control over the type of emails sent by their customers. There is also no support provided by the government in educating customers on internet usage. “We can provide free internet awareness programmes in lean hours to citizens in rural or urban areas provided we get a subsidy from the government,” adds Mr Ajwani of Sify.
According to another report by IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India), out of the 46 million web users, college and school students account for maximum use of web in the country at 21%. Students are also the maximum users of web in the country through cyber cafes given the high cost of PCs. The internet users have crossed 52 million in 2007-08, according to MAIT.
Not surprisingly, cyber cafes emerge as the largest access point for internet access at 36% followed by home (30%) and office (25%). But, lackadaisical attitude from the government towards growth of cyber cafes is impeding the broadband growth.
There are 1,80,000 cyber cafes in the country. Large industry players attribute the decline to lack of subsidy and support provided by the government coupled with increased security concerns and harassment of cyber cafe owners.
Commenting on the issue, Sify president of consumer infrastructure Naresh Ajwani said, “We have also seen a drop in our conversion rates from non-branded cyber cafes into branded Sify I-way cafes.” Sify has around 3,000 I-way cafes, of which many have been conversions from non-branded cyber cafes.
Ridiculously, in some cities like Pune, to open a cyber cafe, one has to take permissions from a municipal health department, just because cyber has got a ‘cafe’ suffixed to it. (The literal meaning of a cafe is a place to have coffee and snacks). Moreover, across the country, the local police has to provide a no objection certificate in order to open a cyber cafe. Experts say that drastic decline of cyber cafes is due to harassment that owners face at the hands of the local police.
According to the CII-IMRB report, the rate of growth in cyber cafes was at its peak in the country at about 85% in 2002. Though it was largely attributable to a small base of about 50,000 cafes in 2003, the growth was still hovering around 60% till 2004. The cyber cafe industry grew at about 57% in 2004. But by 2006 the growth fell to about 20% and it has till now failed to pick up steam.
Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) president Rajesh Charria says, “The decline in growth has been due to the extra-strict laws of maintaining a log of all sites visited by a customer alongwith a copy of his or her id proof. While there should be no compromise with security, the government should make a central law for cafes and remove local police interference. The government’s laws are discriminatory towards cyber cafes vis-a-vis PCOs.”
Meanwhile, cafe owners say that they have little control over the type of emails sent by their customers. There is also no support provided by the government in educating customers on internet usage. “We can provide free internet awareness programmes in lean hours to citizens in rural or urban areas provided we get a subsidy from the government,” adds Mr Ajwani of Sify.
According to another report by IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India), out of the 46 million web users, college and school students account for maximum use of web in the country at 21%. Students are also the maximum users of web in the country through cyber cafes given the high cost of PCs. The internet users have crossed 52 million in 2007-08, according to MAIT.
Not surprisingly, cyber cafes emerge as the largest access point for internet access at 36% followed by home (30%) and office (25%). But, lackadaisical attitude from the government towards growth of cyber cafes is impeding the broadband growth.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
High 3G price spoils ISPs' WiMAX dream
NEW DELHI: The government’s decision to double the reserve price for the 3G spectrum auctions spells bad news for many of the country’s stand-alone Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
This is because, the reserve price for the WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) spectrum auction is likely to be set to be a fourth of that for 3G spectrum.
Put simply, this implies that reserve price for an ISP who applies for pan-India WiMAX spectrum will be over Rs 550 crore.
The final price could be several multiples of this depending on the outcome of the auction. ISPs say that a higher reserve price would create a scenario where they would not be able to enter a bidding war with telcos, who too are keen to launch WiMAX services.
Besides, this also implies that the reserve price for a telco, who wants to bid for both WiMAX and 3G radio frequencies will be about Rs 2,800 crore.
Confronted with this grin reality, the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI), the body representing all stand alone ISPs in the country, will soon approach sector regulator TRAI demanding that their members be charged only 25% of the highest bid that a telco makes for WiMAX spectrum in that particular circle during the auction.
“We will tell TRAI that in order to have a competitive market, standalone ISPs must be charged a maximum of 25% of the highest bid that a telco makes for WiMAX spectrum. We will also seek that a few spectrum slots be reserved for ISPs during the WiMAX auction. This is perhaps the only way that government can address the dismal broadband penetration in the country. We (ISPs) will offer a much needed competition to telcos in the WiMAX space, without which they will not roll-out these services,” ISPAI president Rajahs Charier told ET.
Sources say that the DoT wants the WiMax launch be initially restricted to only three players who will operate this service in the 2.5 GHz frequency band where one of the slots is reserved for state-owned BSNL/MTNL.
This contradicts the recommendations of telecom regulator TRAI which had suggested that wireless broadband be rolled out in 3.3-3.4 GHz and 3.4-3.6 Ghz frequencies and up to 13 players be allocated spectrum to offer WiMax services.
At the same time, the DoT also wants to allot WiMAX spectrum to other service providers in the frequencies recommended by TRAI at a later stage after compatibility is established.
While WiMAX is still an evolving technology, it is still considered a threat to third generation mobile services. As per global industry experience, WiMax offers data speeds that are 10-30 times faster than 3G.
To put this in perspective, the data speeds of 3G networks are over five times faster than those offered by 2G cellular networks that telcos in India currently use
Source : EconomicTimes
This is because, the reserve price for the WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) spectrum auction is likely to be set to be a fourth of that for 3G spectrum.
Put simply, this implies that reserve price for an ISP who applies for pan-India WiMAX spectrum will be over Rs 550 crore.
The final price could be several multiples of this depending on the outcome of the auction. ISPs say that a higher reserve price would create a scenario where they would not be able to enter a bidding war with telcos, who too are keen to launch WiMAX services.
Besides, this also implies that the reserve price for a telco, who wants to bid for both WiMAX and 3G radio frequencies will be about Rs 2,800 crore.
Confronted with this grin reality, the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI), the body representing all stand alone ISPs in the country, will soon approach sector regulator TRAI demanding that their members be charged only 25% of the highest bid that a telco makes for WiMAX spectrum in that particular circle during the auction.
“We will tell TRAI that in order to have a competitive market, standalone ISPs must be charged a maximum of 25% of the highest bid that a telco makes for WiMAX spectrum. We will also seek that a few spectrum slots be reserved for ISPs during the WiMAX auction. This is perhaps the only way that government can address the dismal broadband penetration in the country. We (ISPs) will offer a much needed competition to telcos in the WiMAX space, without which they will not roll-out these services,” ISPAI president Rajahs Charier told ET.
Sources say that the DoT wants the WiMax launch be initially restricted to only three players who will operate this service in the 2.5 GHz frequency band where one of the slots is reserved for state-owned BSNL/MTNL.
This contradicts the recommendations of telecom regulator TRAI which had suggested that wireless broadband be rolled out in 3.3-3.4 GHz and 3.4-3.6 Ghz frequencies and up to 13 players be allocated spectrum to offer WiMax services.
At the same time, the DoT also wants to allot WiMAX spectrum to other service providers in the frequencies recommended by TRAI at a later stage after compatibility is established.
While WiMAX is still an evolving technology, it is still considered a threat to third generation mobile services. As per global industry experience, WiMax offers data speeds that are 10-30 times faster than 3G.
To put this in perspective, the data speeds of 3G networks are over five times faster than those offered by 2G cellular networks that telcos in India currently use
Source : EconomicTimes
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