The problem of last mile connectivity for ushering in the second telecom revolution is awaiting early resolution. The huge infrastructure created by BSNL and MTNL, with public money, comprising copper wire and optic fibre remains under-utilised.
Yet, at a recently held Indo-US business meet, BSNL Chairman and Managing Director A K Sinha said, "We have built the infrastructure and why should anyone else use it? Will they pay for the salaries of the employees?"
The mobile telephone boom, contrary to what many think, has still not touched hundreds of millions, especially in rural areas, and while various technologies like WiMAX, W-CDMA and broadband over power lines are touted as alternatives, they are expensive solutions. In most countries, policy and regulatory interventions facilitated the process of access to the "essential" facilities held by the monopoly incumbent.
This led to even facility-based competition in the last mile amongst different service providers like cable TV, wireless/high speed broadband and so on.
In India, however, we continue to treat PSUs like sacred cows, and the regulator has yet to come out with effective regulations for addressing the interconnection problems created by the incumbents, and they continue to delay links to their points of interconnection. The issue of congestion in the networks on account of the lack of adequate inter-connect points by BSNL/MTNL has often been obfuscated by these companies on the plea of shortage of space or equipment.
The second issue relates to the policy regarding opening of the local loop and offering it to all operators for internet broadband services. The DoT has been batting for BSNL and MTNL who have spiked every proposal from the operators for unbundling of the last mile.
Unbundling of the local loop by BSNL/MTNL would bring competition for various types of wireless applications and broadband services not just for 45 million landlines but also for 135 million mobile users of various service providers. It is hoped that the DoT would change its present stance once the Trai furnishes its recommendations on this in the next couple of months.
Similarly, while the rules for the USO fund have been changed to allow it to subsidise even wireless phones in rural areas, we need a more dynamic approach, to leverage the fund for creating affordable high speed communications services in the rural areas. Broadband for rural India should not be considered as any less important than for urban users.
Rural broadband and telephony under USO funding and unbundling of local loop would provide tremendous opportunities in supplying not only voice connectivity but also extending health care, education and a whole range of services and information applications.
Availability of telecommunications with potential benefits will remain a distant dream for rural India if the myopic view of "last mile" as the exclusive turf of the state-owned companies is not removed and remaining policy glitches not cleared. Who has the pioneering spirit and boldness to unbundle the last mile or local loop? The minister for telecommunications or the regulator?
The author is a former chairman of the Haryana Electricty Regulatory Commission.
