BackWe are exploring ways to expand Internet access: Trai chairman
R.S. Sharma says mobile certainly will provide Internet access to more people considering the way data (services) is growing
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New Delhi: The telecom regulator on Tuesday said the government was working on multiple ways to expand Internet access, a day after it barred differential data pricing, effectively blocking Facebook Inc.’s attempt to roll out free but limited online services in the country under its Free Basics initiative.
“We have been doing a lot of brainstorming and carrying out action plans around alternative ways of providing good connectivity besides mobile phones," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman R.S. Sharma said. “Mobile certainly will provide Internet access to more people considering the way data (services) is growing and with more spectrum coming in the market."
“But at the same time, we have other ways to provide connectivity," Sharma said at the India Digital Summit organized by industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) on Tuesday. “It is not important to align ourselves to a particular strategy. We can do it through multiple strategies."
“We have NOFN (National Optical Fibre Network) which aims to connect all the villages in the country with fibre optic cable," he said. “We feel that public-private-partnership and participation of state governments will accelerate the deployment of the fibre."
Internet via cable TV is also an options, Trai said. “We have at present 100 million homes with cable TVs, which can be converted into 100 million pipes that can provide connectivity at homes similar to fixed broadband connections. This way, we can provide connections with the speed of 10 megabits per second or more," Sharma said.
He said this will help connect semi-urban or urban areas that are still not connected since laying fibre optic cables in those areas is not viable.
“We have the necessary infrastructure in place, which can be upgraded accordingly. It will also reduce the load on the spectrum. Trai has already given its recommendation to the government two months back," he said.
Trai is also exploring newer ways to make India digitally connected.
The authority has studied several experiments happening in this area across institutions and organizations including the Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institute of Science and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Sharma said.
“If there are interesting solutions that can bring connectivity to masses being experimented upon across these institutions, the authority will see if those solutions are viable," he said. “Though, ultimately, the government will take a call on that."
When asked about his views on Alphabet Inc.’s project Loon, which uses high-altitude balloons to provide connectivity, he declined to comment on any specific initiative.
“The framework that has been set up by the government of India, which consists of policies such as open source, open API (application programme interface), open standards and interoperability, is extremely important. Because any public service legally cannot be hostage to a particular technology. The objective of these policies is that one should not get in vendor-locking situation."
On Monday, Trai barred Facebook’s Free Basics plan, saying it would violate rules prohibiting Internet service providers from offering discriminatory tariffs for data services based on content.
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