The Hindu Business Line : Broadband policy announced — No access to BSNL last-mile lines for private operators

THE Government has rejected the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) recommendation for allowing private sector operators to access the last-mile lines of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) for offering broadband services.

The broadband policy, announced today, has also deferred the implementation of the various fiscal incentives proposed by the regulator along with its suggestion to allow operators to hire transponder capacity on foreign satellite for Internet applications. The only significant decision taken as part of the new policy is to permit use of Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) on the 2.4 GHz band in outdoor locations against the present regime of restricting it to a closed area. The move will enable consumers to access the Internet even while they are travelling in a car or train similar to what they can do with mobile phones.

The policy augurs well for BSNL since its opposition to unbundling the last mile has been taken cognisance of by the Government. Unbundling would have allowed small Internet Service Providers (ISP) to use the state owned company's copper lines across the country to offer broadband services.

Justifying the decision, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, Minister of Communication and IT, said, "We are not in favour of local loop unbundling. We have studied the countries where local loop was unbundled and it has been a disaster as it leads to confusion in the market. We feel that the future of broadband will be on wireless therefore Wi-Fi will be a big boost."

On the fiscal measures, Mr Maran said that his Ministry would be working with the Ministry of Finance to work out a package for giving a boost to broadband usage. Expressing disappointment at the decisions, Mr Amitabh Singhal, President, Internet Service Providers Association, said, "The policy seems to be tailor made for BSNL. The measures, except that of de-licensing Wi-Fi, do not change anything on ground."

In other measures, the Government has opened up the 5.15 Ghz band for indoor use of low power Wi-Fi systems. Procedures for obtaining clearance for radio frequency usage have also been simplified for VSAT operators. Broadband operators will also be able to use the Cable TV network as franchisees.