Broadband Congress sets the pace for telecom industry in South Asia

By Nuzreth Jalaldeen
Declaring Sri Lanka as a pioneer in many areas in the telecommunications sector in South Asia, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Rauff Hakeem, opened the South Asia Broadband Communications, Congress and Expo, citing expectations for a 50% penetration in the industry by the year end.

Delivering the first of the keynote presentations at the Congress, he said, “The government has to play a catalytic role in the development of the telecommunications environment. A regulatory environment needs to be established between the government and the regulator. Price is of utmost importance in achieving wide acceptance,” and went on further to say that growth could only be achieved in the industry if competitive prices and choices were up for grabs for the rural communities.

Highlighting developments in technology in the country, where the price of a text message is now cheaper than the minimum bus fare, Minister Hakeem reiterated his support, saying he would be behind all the change and development in the field. Sri Lanka Telecom Chief Marketing Officer Priyantha Perera pointed out revenue shifting trends from voice to non-voice services, with PSTN 2007 down to 40% from PSTN 2006, 47%. This was also evident in the 79% growth rate in SLT’s data and IP revenue.
Discussing the broadband landscape in the country, Perera pointed out a 38,000-strong customer base in 193 locations situated in 19 districts. He also announced the launching of IP TV in November this year.

Professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering of the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India – Dr. Ashok Jhunjhunwala stressed that affordability was the key concern in the broadband sector in South Asia. Stressing that broadband wasn’t simply about connectivity, but also encompassed capacity building, income generation and enabling services, he forecast a regional need of 100 million broadband connections by 2015. He urged decision makers and industry leaders to maximise on broadband’s potential to empower rural areas, by building BPOs, improving education and health services, in order to curb migration towards major cities.

While urging on competition wherever possible and monopoly only where necessary, LIRNEasia’s Executive Director, Professor Rohan Samarajiva stressed on the need for companies to be open about transaction costs. Strongly insisting on the need for regulatory instruments in such a competitive environment, Prof. Samarajiva pointed out the need to look at regional grouping, but with care. Open discussion and publication about regional tariff regimes, he says, would lead to relevant standardisations – which in turn would result in better prices that would up the numbers of broadband users.

TNI President Dr. Zoran Miljanic, meanwhile, asserted Perera’s statement when he also stated that voice services would not be the mainstream revenue generator for the telecommunications industry.

The Congress featured an impressive programme including tutorials and workshops providing insights on various aspects of broadband technology and development. They are as follows – Priyanka Undugodage, Head of IP and Broadband Network Division, Sri Lanka Telecom: ‘Residential Gateways for Broadband Multi Services Delivery Platform,’ A. Sethuraman, CMO & Head - Corporate Communications, Alcatel-Lucent, South Asia: ‘Broadband Wireless Infrastructure Technology and Services,’ Bo Ribbing, Head of 3G Group, Ericsson: ‘3G/ HSPA technology,’ Leighton Phillips, Director, APAC Region, Intel: ‘Rural-Suburban WiMAX Solutions for South Asia.’

Broadband services were addressed by, SLT Solution Business Section Head Janaka Abeysinghe: ‘Secure Broadband Solutions,’ Alcatel-Lucent Senior Business Manager Terral Shelby: ‘Broadband Ethernet for Mobile Backhaul,’ Juniper Networks, India, Systems Engineering and Operations Director Prasad Babu: ‘Pseudo Wires in Access Networks’.

Programme presentations included Broadband Proliferation in South Asia by Protip Ghose, VP Sales and Marketing, APAC Telsima: ‘Proliferation of Broadband in Emerging markets through BWA,’ Karl Weaver, President, Newport Technologies: ‘Mobile WiMAX Evolution in South East Asia,’ Billy Liew, Regional Vice President, IP Unity Glenayre: ‘Using Broadband to Offer In-Demand Communications Services’ and Shirish Purohit, CEO, Midas Communication Technologies: ‘Making Broadband a Reality for Developing Economies.’