This write up is a review on the study of the paper “Broadband as a
Commodity: Hong Kong, China Internet Case Study”. The study was
conducted by International Telecommunication Union, Geneva. An effort
is made to bring Indian situations in appropriate places for comparative
purposes. Since development in Internet and Broadband has been
considered as an indirect measure of nation’s economy and also social
development, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has made a
study on the development of the Internet, particularly broadband access
in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic
of China. In the study paper, therefore, both China and Hong Kong are
used to indicate People’s Republic of China. The same conventions are used
in this paper also.
Broadband is a defining technology of our age. In the future, no nation can claim to
be of developed status without good broadband access.
Information transmitted across the systems is measured in bits per second. 1 kbps means
1000 bits of information transmitted per second. The speed more than 256 kbps is generally
considered as broadband. This speed definition varies from country to country. The
technologies that can facilitate the data transmission with broadband speeds are broadband
technologies such as ISDN, DSL, FTTH, Optical Fiber, Cable TV networks, VSAT, DTH and
Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity).
According to National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the
Indian Internet segment, liberalized in 1998, had over 29 million users in March 2003. By
the end of that period, there were around 190 ISPs providing a range of services including
dial-up connections, broadband services (cable and DSL), Internet telephony, leased line
circuits and Internet Private Leased Line Circuits (IPLC).
Broadband facilitates services such as high speed and always on direct access to Internet
without using the telephone lines. It also provides Video on demand on TV, 2-way audio
video conferences and distance learning, citizen services etc. Nations like USA, Japan, China,
Taiwan, and Korea have adopted the broadband services for the benefit of their students.
According to a survey by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) , US is the world’s
leading broadband country with over 25.1 million lines, followed by Japan 13.6 mn, China
13.5 million, South Korea 11.1 million and Canada 4.7 million, whereas India has 82,000
lines. |
