The Government of India announced plans to offer free broadband service to all residents of the Indian subcontinent. (via Slashdot)The government proposes to offer all citizens of India free, high-speed broadband connectivity by 2009, through the state-owned telecom service providers BSNL and MTNL. While consumers would cheer, the move holds the potential to kill the telecom business as we know it.
This is a great forward-thinking decision by the Indian government. We need to start viewing internet access and communication technology as vital infrastructure the same way roads and railroads were in the past. Government intervention is necessary to ensure equitable access and to take advantage of large economies of scale.
It will be interesting to see how other governments will respond and what the telecoms here in the US will do. This announcement should be seen as a challenge and an opportunity to innovate!
Unfortunately, it seems that corporate America hasn't been up to the challenge lately. Just look at the music and film industries failure to innovate in response to often changing marketplaces. And based on what we've seen from the telecoms in the recent battles on net neutrality, it is likely that they will instead attempt to prop up their existing business models by limiting government intervention.
Let's see a Democratic presidential candidate include this in their platform. But don't hold your breath because the US telecoms would never let that happen.
~BT
Monday, April 30, 2007
Free Broadband for All
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2 comments:
ya its a great decision but who will it benefit? how much of the population who will be in the designated area have access to a computer let alone the internet? why the decision? all of microsoft and apple's outsourcing?
Jess, you raise good questions. I think by building this type of infrastructure everyone has the ability to get the benefits. It is true that many people don't even have computers and thus wouldn't be able to benefit. But think about when the government built roads with taxpayer money. At first, only the rich had access to cars. The important point is that the use of the road is free and equitable. The backbone infrastructure will enhance India's ability to compete for tech jobs and the whole economy should benefit. In terms of the outsourcing of jobs, that will most likely continue and certainly has led to the Indian government realizing how important it is to stay on the forefront of technology.
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