The Hindu Business Line : DSL emerges as lead technology for broadband

New Delhi April 19 Wireless technology may be dominating voice traffic in the telecom segment, but when it comes to high-speed data it is the good old copper lines that are being preferred. More than 85 per cent of the two million broadband subscribers in the country are using copper-based Digital Subscribers Lines (DSL) for accessing the Internet.

DSL technology, which essentially uses the fixed line telephone lines to offer broadband services, is being rolled out primarily by the two State-owned telecom majors Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.

Of the 20.5-lakh broadband users, more than 17 lakh subscribers are using the DSL technology. In comparison, there are only 10,513 wireless based broadband subscribers.

What makes DSL appealing is that it is always on dedicated line and allows subscribers to use the telephone even while surfing the net.

Cable-based broadband being offered by broadcast companies such as Hathway have 1.1 lakh users. This technology uses the TV cable to offer broadband services. Cable can also support network speeds comparable to those of DSL, but cable modem service involves locally shared bandwidth. This means the performance of a customer's cable will depend on how many other customers in that local area subscribe to the same service.

Then there is also the Ethernet local area network based broadband services offered by Internet Service Providers like Sify, which has got 63,654 subscribers. This is used primarily to distribute bandwidth to a number of subscribers in a building or campus.

Optic fibre cable based broadband services being rolled out by private telecom operators like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications have managed to get 16,833 subscribers. Market watchers pointed out that it is early days for broadband in the country and wireless broadband technologies such as Wi-Max and Wide Band CDMA (WCDMA) are yet to be launched. "The initial uptake of broadband has been on BSNL and MTNL's network and since they have the largest copper based network in the country it is not surprising that DSL technology is dominating. However, as the broadband growth rate picks up in the coming years and as technologies such as Wi-Max matures, it is likely that wireless technologies will have a larger share," said a telecom analyst.