Telecom regulator TRAI on Thursday stressed on the need for using wired internet services instead of relying more on wireless services.
India has 97.48 million wireless broadband users and 15.84 million wired broadband subscribers as of July 2015, according to TRAI data. BSNL is the leader in wired broadband segment, while Bharti Airtel is leading the wireless Internet space.
Wireline phone subscriber base declined from 26.15 million in June 2015 to 26.10 million in July 2015.
Lamenting the low base of landline phones in the country, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman RS Sharma said India has “missed the bus” in terms of wired broadband.
“While broadband requirement of the people will be satisfied to a certain extent, but it needs to be realised that there are limits to the bandwidth provided through wireless.
“Wired broadband is cost-effective. But in case of wired broadband, India has missed the bus,” Sharma said here at an MCC Chamber of Commerce organised event.
He said the lack of adequate number of landlines can be compensated by cable TV connections for supplementing wired broadband.
“Unfortunately in India, the trend is towards dismantling landlines and moving towards mobile. Because of this low base of landlines, we are not able to utilise those.
“However, with over 100 million cable TV homes, that could be used for providing bandwidth for broadband. This is the way we should start working now and not depend completely on wireless,” he said.
He also dispelled as myth of mobile towers radiation being hazardous to health.
“Let me dispel this myth about mobile tower radiation. In fact it’s not radiation, rather radio waves. Their effect is similar to what sunrise does. Actually itas not radiation, it is somehow been made to believe that they are harmful. It doesn’t cause cancer, doesn’t cause any health hazard. Many authoritative health bodies in the world have said it,” he said.
Interacting with the media at another event, Sharma said the TRAI was exploring avenues to increase private participation in implementation of BharatNet, which aims to connect panchayats through a fibre network offering multiple online services.
“We are exploring ways to increase private sector involvement in BharatNet. We would like their involvement in both construction of the network and providing services,” he said.
IANS
After many years (if not, for the first time) a TRAI chairman is talking sensibly and upto the point… So there is still some hope for affordable BB in India..
Are you serious?? Wireless is a far better BB solution to copper/coax wired Internet. In fact the whole world is moving to all wireless connectivity for everything because we now have software defined radios that can instantly change frequency to avoid interference. TRAI should be pushing TV White Space 470 to 698 Mhz. for wireless Internet using dynamic spectrum allocation. The Cellco’s are already going to get the 700 mhz band for cellular. TV is all going to be streamed over the Internet a la Netflix, all TCP/IP all the time. TRAI is still regulating like it was the 20 the century. Get real India, the technologies and times have changed.
satman – Yes wireless is fantastic and provides for so much functionality. I love it. However the is a huge down side. There are many studies that are showing that RFRadiation from wifi, cellphones etc impacts health. There are 100’s of sites that list the studies. The various governmental health departments say that there is no harm. There is so much money on the table that I would not believe them. I am in Canada and the allowed RFR is just over 2,000,000 µW/m². Places in Europe have high limits of 5,000. µW/m² There are studies that show biological effects from 1 µW/m². I would be careful if I were you or your family or your kids.
What What is this guy smoking?
He says
He also dispelled as myth of mobile towers radiation being hazardous to health.
“Let me dispel this myth about mobile tower radiation. In fact it’s
not radiation, rather radio waves. Their effect is similar to what
sunrise does. Actually itas not radiation, it is somehow been made to
believe that they are harmful. It doesn’t cause cancer, doesn’t cause
any health hazard. Many authoritative health bodies in the world have
said it,” he said.
He says that the mobile tower communicates with cell phones, not with radiation but with radio waves. He is showing that he is very ignorant of the basics of communications. All wireless communications are radio waves which are radio frequency radiation.(RFR) The light from the sun at sunrise or not, is part of the RFR spectrum.
If this is the level of his understanding then I would not believe ANYTHING he says. How did he get to be the head of this organization? His uncle? his father?
Not to Worry Ted, the biological effects of non-ionizing radiation from cell phones, HF, UHF, VHF, SHF radios that transmit in millawatts of power have been shown to be nothing that can cause cancer. Now if you stick your head in a microwave oven or in front of a RADAR antenna you will have a problem with the ionizing radiation burning a hole in your head. Stop the scare tactics, radio communications has been around for along time without killing off the human population.
Hi Satman. I sorry that you believe that RFR even in low power presents no health problem. I spend about 3 hrs a day reading and studying the impacts of RFR and I am 100% certain. I do not worry, I am certain. I fear for everyone who is immersed in the growing sea of RFR. If you are curious then take a look at http://www.stopsmartmetersBC.com.for some info and links. If you are confident in your current understanding then ignore my invitation.
Ive been siting in front of a 1kw amateur radio transmitter many days per year since I was 12 years old (1961) and at 68 I’m feeling pretty damn good…There has been lots of hype about “power line” cancer etc over the years, but there has been no reliable studies that prove that. Weve been in the cell phone era for more than fifteen years and I dont see any reliable studies that have id cancer to non-ionizing RF.from cell tel. Look if you dont want to access a radio linked Internet signal from a hut in the outback, dont. There’s seriously more things out there to cause harm to humans than radio.
Hi satman – I am VE7EWD so I have been around the RFR for a while also. If you do not look then you will not find. My hobby these days is measuring RFR from smart meters. These meter transmit many short packets every hour (how many and power levels depends on many things) Most people have no problem but there is a minority that do feel the RFR. The term is EHS. Enough. Your mind is made up. I wish you well.
So let’s ban peanuts, and driving cars too. The vast majority of humans are not effected by RF poisoning (sic), and the benefits to society clearly outweigh the negatives.
Satman – I was hoping that you would do some research on this issue and be a bit open minded. I guess I am wrong.
About banning peanuts. Eating peanuts is a personal issue and does not effect anyone else. If you are allergic and you eat peanuts then only you suffer. Having whole neighbourhoods bathed in RFR is not a personal thing, it a global thing and the 3-10% who are EHS will suffer NOW through no action on their part. And some believe that a small percentage of the rest who are not EHS will one day be diagnosed with cancer primarily due to the constant bath of RFR from the cellphones, mobile towers, wifi and even wireless laptop computers. There are oncologists that study the cancer link and say that in their opinion this cancer connection looks like that of tobacco with a 10-20 year lag between exposure and diagnosis.
And your comments of the benefits clearly outweighing the negatives are a window into your conscience. Wow. That brings up the whole concept that you condone the torture of a few so that many can enjoy the benefits of a technology. This issue is not simple and much has been written on this and I am not competent to expand on this. We have seen this in Nazi Germany and in the Rwanda genocide and the Sunni vs Shia. Hmmm maybe this is part of the human psyche.
In any case, I wish you well.
Read the FCC studies on non- ionizing radiation and the effects on human health. It’s zilch. You can pontificate about the potential hazards of RF all you want but the studies you refer to just don’t prove out the danger from non-ionizing radiation. The greatest threat to humans today is mercury pollution into the food chain. Have a nice day.
Satman – Pontificate? ouch. A low blow.
Re FCC studies – Many believe that these studies are only thermal studies and not biological electrical.
Many believe that the FCC studies are based on studies by the various telecoms and that there is so much interference in the regulatory process by big business that the FCC limits are worthless. These limits are 1000s of times too high.
The reason is that there is so much money to be lost if the REAL RFR limits were established. Follow the money. Money corrupts. You know that. People and corporations will do what ever it takes to grow and make more money. If the corporation is psychopathic then by its very nature it will corrupt the governing processes. See the movie THE CORPORATION (= psychopath).
So if you believe the FCC studies and RFR limits then you are deluding yourself. Open your mind please and look at the other side to see if your deep rooted trust in the FCC statements is justified. If you do not do your due diligence then I despair.