IMPACT ON TELEPHONY
Article Abstract:
Rapid advances in technology has made it possible for providing information in the form of voice, data, images, internet and video to converge. This implies the convergence of cable television, the Internet and voice telephony. Companies providing basic telephony like the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) are working towards offering all the services bundled together. MTNL is installing two state-of-the-art Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) exchanges in Delhi and Mumbai to offer basic telephony, cable television and Internet service. The voice telephony market in India is regulated, but once it is deregulated, cable companies will be selling converged networks at attractive prices. This is because cable has 150 times more bandwidth than a telephone line. They may even offer free calls and cheap long- distance calls using the Internet. This has caused concern to MTNL and the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) and also to private basic service providers like Hughes Ispat and Bharti Enterprises. As a result new investments in telephony are being withheld and financial institutions (FIS) are freezing funds to the sector. DoT will also lose out on another front. A number of corporates in India use DoT leased lines to send data between their offices. Corporate networks will switch over to networks based on the Internet, which is much cheaper. Thus DoT will lose from both telephone calls and leased lines charges. (uh)(psr)
Publication Name: BusinessWorld
Subject: Business, international
ISSN:
Year: 1999
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IMPACT ON CABLE
Article Abstract:
The imminent convergence of the Net, telephony and Cable television has caught the attention of cable operators in India. They provide access to satellite channels through their own coaxial cable network. Big cable companies like IndusInd Media & Communications, the Hindujas company that runs IN Network and Siti cable of the Zee Network ,owned by Subash Chandra, are converting their coaxial cable network into fibre optic network. This is because fibre optic cables carry hundreds of times more data. In Network has wired up 2.7 million homes in nine cities and Siti Cable four million homes in 45 cities. Cable networks are working towards offering Internet services using the Internet technology for voice. This implies that they will offer telephony also. The Zee group is conducting trials in Bangalore to offer internet service through its Cable network. Thus cable operators are becoming Internet Service Providers (ISPs) also. Similarly, ISPS like Satyam Infoway, the first private ISP in the country, is trying to become a cable operator. It has roped in an Israeli company-Netgame to offer value-added services. The Information Technology (IT) task force has permitted last mile access to ISPs. Once this is available, ISPs will build their own alternative telecommunication networks. (uh)(psr)
Publication Name: BusinessWorld
Subject: Business, international
ISSN:
Year: 1999
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A CORPORATE FACELIFT FOR THE DoT
Article Abstract:
The government of India proposes to convert the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the basic telecom operator, into a 100 percent state owned company. The new company, India Telecom is expected to come into force from August 15, 1998. The Government's move is aimed at opening the local long distance services to private operators. Corporatisation will offer DoT more operational and financial freedom. It will also enable DoT to become more competitive against its competitors. The move will also offer equal opportunities to the private competitors and result in the introduction of volume discounts to the high-use urban subscribers. Though the government's move is good from the financial aspect, it could create problems for India Telecom due to the poor workforce quality, marketing and consumer services. Rural telephony may get affected as India Telecom may focus on the urban market as it derives nearly 80 percent of its earnings from 20 percent of its urban consumers. (ag)
Comment:
India: Government proposes to convert Telecommunications Department into a 100% state owned company
Publication Name: BusinessWorld
Subject: Business, international
ISSN:
Year: 1998
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