The Hindu Business Line : `Free broadband will be extremely difficult'

Chennai May 1 Providing broadband free of cost will be an "extremely difficult" task, according to Mr Subodh Bhargava, Chairman, VSNL. Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a meeting here today, he wondered how the Government would do it.

Free Broadband

The Union Minister for Telecommunications and Information Technology, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, had recently said that the Government was working towards providing free broadband.

"I don't know how it could be done, I'm not a technical person. But I can tell you that it is a very difficult task," he said. The Government could instead use the USO funds to lay a broadband backbone across the country, Mr Bhargava suggested. Private sector operators could branch off the backbone. This network would ensure the availability of broadband across the country, he said.

Mr Bhargava said that the Tata group, which owns the majority stake in VSNL, fully intended to support its broadband operations. He said the group had no intention of exiting the business, which is the only business of VSNL, which is not doing well.

Broadband Backbone

"Our problem is last mile connectivity," he said, adding that VSNL had no control over last mile link from a broadband backbone to homes. He said that this problem could, however, be addressed through Wi-Max technology.

Asked about Tata's buying out the remaining 26 per cent stake of the Government in VSNL, Mr Bhargava observed that the issue had political overtones and the group preferred to wait until the Government was ready to divest.

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