The Hindu Business Line : Broadband vital to achieve digital capability: Gates

The Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft Corporation, Mr Bill Gates, addressing Digital Lifestyle-2005 in Bangalore on Friday. — V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Bangalore , Dec. 9

MR Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft Corp, said on Friday that increasing broadband penetration in India was the key to realise the benefits of the digital lifestyle products spanning segments such as music, Internet, home entertainment, gaming, wireless and video devices.

He was speaking after inaugurating Digital Lifestyle 2005, an exposition organised by the Manufacturers Association for Information Technology. Though software was the glue that connected various devices and platforms, it was broadband that was needed to achieve the digital capability, Mr Gates said, adding investments in broadband would drive the full realisation of digital lifestyle.

Broadband was pervasive in many countries but in India with just a million connections, the growth was not quite much in terms of penetration. Over three years, India needs to raise the broadband connections to about 10 million and even skyrocket it by reducing the prices, he said.

In the next five years, broadband would become a high volume product, he added.

Explaining the various developments taking place at Microsoft, Mr Gates mentioned IPTV (Internet Protocol Television), which could change the face of television viewing using broadband.

Channels would not be an issue and TV through Internet would become interactive.

Viewers could get in-depth news of their choice and could be selective in viewing games, he said, adding Microsoft would bring its latest gaming platform Xbox 360, introduced in the US recently, to India in future.

Microsoft is increasing investments to build digital platforms besides trying to drive down the cost of the digital lifestyle products to make them more affordable.

He urged the Indian software developers to play a key role in building new applications catering to all sections.

Indian developers should not only think of the domestic potential, but also of the global market, he said, adding Microsoft would look at local content providers for partnerships.

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