Broadband in Rural India: New Business Models for Inclusive Growth. Narinder Chhibber India

Transcription

1 Broadband in Rural India: New Business Models for Inclusive Growth Narinder Chhibber India

2 Topics India Telecom landscape Rural broadband initiatives Challenges for low broadband penetration National F/O Network & Last-mile access Business models being planned in Rural India Health-care Village schools Banks and Post offices Agriculture.Conclusion

3 Indian Telecom Landscape 1.23 billion people, 300 million households 70 % Indians live in villages Large mobile base-850 million; Low internet Only 18 million Broadband-512kbps / 2 Mb/s 180 million Internet users, the third largest High cost of access and usage Narrow range of access and applications Lack of awareness and low digital literacy

4 Some rural broadband initiatives ITC e-choupal N-Logue MS Swaminathan centre in Pondicherry Akshaya in Kerala Gyandoot in MP with focus on e-governance Bhoomi in Karnataka E-seva in Godavari District of AP Warana in Maharashtra by NIC Aksh Broadband Jagriti in Punjab

5 Reasons for low Broadband penetration in rural India Poor infra, Frequent power-cuts High cost of internet access and usage Low digital literacy and lack of awareness About 16 different local languages Internet based simple applications needed

6 National Optic Fiber Network(NOFN) Govt. of India project: cost USD 4 Bn - USOF High speed Internet for video, voice calling, for e-services, schools, banking, health, retail Fiber transport core layer: From Districts to Block level using DWDM Middle-mile Layer: Block to Village Panchayats using GPON Last-mile: From 2,50,000 Panchayats to 638,619 villages Technologies: WiFi, 3G, 4G or wired

7 NOFN (Contd.) Right-of-Way signed with intervening states Strong Middle Mile to build sustainable demand Future Proofing of F/O Cable Network-100Mbps A parallel upgrade of core to meet future demands may be required Last-mile to be provided by Public/private business Devices at User-end: PC, laptop, Tablet, Smart phones; ST-Boxes, VoIP Terminals, Retail POS

8 Service Providers in Rural Areas Middle-mile for delivery of e-services at Panchayats thru Common Service Centers Last-mile to be provided by Private Operators may require collaboration with Govt. Village level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) for services Content Service Provider CPE Providers Access providers Technology Providers To Schools, Healthcare Centers, Banks /Postoffices Agri-cooperatives, Trading /finance companies, households

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10 Business models for rural areas For low-income group, low computer literacy Public Private Panchayat Partnership Return for state bodies -Tangible social return employment generation and skill building for local people - Viability / profit for private enterprises Delivery to Common Service centers For schools, medical centers, Banks, Agriculture

11 Health Centers 66% rural people do not have access to healthcare Aims at Universal Health Coverage Models: 1. Commercial telemedicine Centers owned & run by private healthcare providers with Govt. help 2. VLE provides telemedicine services thru private players at Gram Panchayats Consultation fee recovered by private service provider Govt support thru partial reimbursement

12 Village Schools Teacher to pupil ratio lower than 1:40 Poor quality of education standard Microsoft led project Shiksha to train teachers & students in Govt schools Models: 1. ICT Centers in schools, set up by private enterprises 2. Vocational training courses on-line thru CSC Investment required for computers, Video Conferencing & back-up power supply

13 Post Offices and Banks Nearly 60 % of rural population is unbanked 30 % villages have at least one bank branch 90 percent of post offices are in villages Computerization of Post-offices in progress Models 1. Rural banks tie-up with ICT enabled post-offices Banking agents access the nearby post-offices 2. Third party led business model using Business Correspondent (BC) network Transaction fee on Govt. cash transfer scheme

14 Agriculture 60 % of rural population has agriculture as main source of livelihood Info on crop insurance; weather information; price; marketing/market access to sell produce Models 1. e-agriculture desk with mobile apps set up & operated by private parties 2. to be operated by VLE

15 Conclusion NOFN, a huge project by Govt. of India Funded out of USOF Last-mile connectivity by private operators Thorough experiments with Pilot projects in different parts of the country carried out Coordinated effort by Govt. locals bodies & private enterprises to ensure smooth working Commercial interests of private operators be safe-guarded to ensure success of project