Centre for Internet and Society

An Interview with PK Garg

Yelena Gyulkhandanyan — 2012-03-14T05:20:15Z

Former Wireless Advisor to the Government of India, Ministry of Communications & IT, and current ITU regulatory board member, PK Garg, discusses some of the telecom policy interventions in an interview with Yelena Gyulkhandanyan. As of March 2010, India’s telecommunication network has become the third largest in the word, with teledensity increasing from 5.11 per cent in 2003 to 52.74 per cent.[1] This tremendous growth is largely attributed to the evolution of telecommunication policies which served to create competition within the market and affordability in service provision.

P. K. Garg: In 1991, the teledensity of India was less than 2 per cent. The then government, as part of the economic liberalization policy wanted the teledensity to grow fast. At that point of time the government was supporting the telecom sector for the growth of teledensity to the tune of about four to five billion dollars per year through the annual budget. During the same time frame it was felt that the government would further need to support the telecom sector to almost double the level if teledensity was to reach five per cent and also if every village was to have a telecom connection to make telecommunications accessible to each and every citizen. At that time the thrust was more on accessibility rather than having an individual connection for every home or every citizen.

Yelena: So if a telecom connection is accessible to the whole village then all villagers can share one line instead of having an individual connection?

P. K. Garg: Yes, until that time telecom facilities were not accessible to many people. So with the accessibility at least if there is one telephone in the village, whether it is a PCO, whether it is a phone in the Panchayat, all can use it. So the thrust of the government at that time was that the telecom facilities should be made accessible to all citizens. And even for taking the teledensity to five per cent it was estimated that it would require about 25 to 30 billion dollars over a period of five years. The government made provision for almost three-fourth of this money in the Indian budgets and the planning processes. So the fiscal imbalances, etc, that is an overall economic aspect, not only related to telecom. I think you have plenty of material from other sources on what measures the government took to deal with the issue – one of which was the liberalization: entry of the private sector was decided upon and it was also decided that the government telecom department would concentrate on increasing the accessibility through line telephones. The entry of wireless was to be left to the private operators, because the government money that was available for this was limited.

Yelena: And this was prior to 1994?

P. K. Garg: This was around 1991-1992 time frame. The government decided that the wireless telephony (mobile telephony) should be left to the private sector because it would require quite a significant investment and if the government funds were diverted to the mobile wireless service provision then it would have to reduce the investments available for line telephony and increase of teledensity. Another factor at that point of time was that nobody felt that mobile telephony will grow to that extent. They were feeling that one might get a few million connections, maximum four to five millions, because it was considered to be a service for rich and elite people, business people, top bureaucrats, but not so much for the common masses.

Yelena: So where did that shift come where the government realized that mobile connections are important for all citizens?

P. K. Garg: I would say it was a combination of many factors. To understand this one has to go through the history of our wireless mobile telephony a little bit. In 1994, licenses for mobile telephony in India were granted for the four metro service areas – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta. Two operators in each of these areas were selected. At that time it was not pure bidding; it was sort of a beauty contest where certain pre-conditions were made and only those who technically qualified for those conditions could bid for that. At that point of time the government had indicated a certain ceiling for the tariffs and at that point of time outgoing calls as well as incoming calls – both were charged. Then around 1995-96 the mobile telephony licenses for other areas of the country were auctioned. It was slightly different from the 1994 bids which were more on the pattern of a beauty contest. And not only the mobile telephony licenses were auctioned; it was considered then that one more operator in each area should come in the line telephony sector also as a competitor to the government operator – first, to provide competition, secondly, to add to the government efforts to increase the teledensity.

Yelena: So the government operator was BSNL right?

P. K. Garg: At that time it was not BSNL, it was called the Department of Telecom and only in Delhi-Mumbai it was MTNL. MTNL was formed in 1986, and it was managing the Delhi and Mumbai areas. The rest of the country was still under the Department of Telecom. Later on they converted into the Department of Telecom Services. And in 1996-97, one private licensee or one operator for line telephony areas was also selected through auctions. The private operators began functioning in 1995, starting their services slowly with first mobile telephony networks in the metro areas. Mobile telephony networks in the other areas started functioning around 1996-97 and the private operators for line telephony were allowed to use wireless in the last mile, the WLL wireless in local loop. So they also started rolling out their networks in 1997.

However, around the beginning of 1998 most of the operators, especially the mobile telephony operators, felt that their business case which was the basis of their bids was not right. And 1) the growth was not as expected; 2) the ARPU (average revenue per unit/ subscriber) was far below their expectations which they had assumed for their business case. So the net result was that they approached the government saying sorry, we made a mistake in our business calculations and the government has to bail us out, otherwise we will not be able to service the existing customers also. And as you can appreciate most of these funds were lent by banks and financial institutions. That was not necessarily the money of the promoters. So then the lending banks and financial institutions also supported the cause of the operators with the government. Because many of our banks who had given money to the operators were nationalized banks, some of them were private also, but most of them were nationalized banks, and if the national banks were not able to recover their loans, it means the public money is gone. So the government had set up a high level group, ministerial level group, in the last quarter of 1998 to examine this issue and the group had detailed discussions with the operators, the banks, the user groups, the economists in the country and many others. They also consulted international experts. Then finally government agreed that, yes, some relief needs to be given to these companies/ operators. And that is how the new telecom policy of 1999 came into play.

The most salient aspect of that policy was revenue share. The license fee was earlier based on their bids, and in India it was not a total payment of auction amount upfront, it was staggered. The bid itself was payable over 10 years and the operator had the choice to indicate at the time of bidding how he would like to pay – whether he would like to pay uniformly or whether he would like to pay less in the beginning, more in the end, or he would like to pay more in the beginning, less in the end – he had the choice. And as per the normal economic rules the government then calculates the net present value of that bid amount for the purpose of comparison. So the result was that instead of the fixed license fee, the government said OK, now you will not pay any prefixed amount but you will pay a percentage of the revenues which you will earn. That was a big relief because then the operator was not required to pay any fixed amount which was quite large, and he was to pay a percentage of the revenue towards the license fee.

Yelena: So it depends on how much money they make…

P. K. Garg: So if the subscriber growth is there, they get revenues, they pay that much, and if they don’t get adequate revenues, they will pay less, if they get more revenues they will pay more. And then the spectrum charges also, which were earlier based on a formula, were also changed over to the revenue share or percentage of their revenues.

Yelena: What was the formula?

P. K. Garg: Earlier the formula was that for each city, say 1MHz of paired spectrum was charged at about $10 000 per year, per city and in addition there was a fee of Rs.100 (appox $ 2) per subscriber, per year that is the wireless license charge. So instead of separate spectrum royalty and the license fee, both were combined and it was taken as the revenue share. So the burden of a fixed fee was taken away and the operators were to pay a percentage of their earnings; whatever the revenues they get, they pay a part of that. So that was the biggest consequence of the New Telecom Policy 1999. This allowed the operators to reduce their tariffs because anybody can appreciate the two barriers for the growth of mobile telephony: cost of the handset which is entry level cost and the tariff costs. During 1999-2000 onwards the cost of the handsets was already coming down. Plus the revenue share allowed the operators to reduce the tariffs, because earlier if they were charging half a dollar per minute then they were paying a fixed amount of license fee and spectrum charges out of that, but now if they were to reduce their tariff from half a dollar to 10 cents, they would be paying only the license fee and the spectrum charge as a percentage of the revenue out of the 10 cents only. So they didn’t have much of a fear to reduce their tariffs, because the payment to the government will also be less. These factors encouraged them to reduce their tariffs – one was competition and the second was that they could get more customers.

Then the next point which encouraged the fast growth was the decision of our regulator in 2003 that only the calling party will pay; the receiving party will not pay. Earlier even the receiving party on the mobile had to pay.

Yelena: In Canada, if you don’t have a good plan, you still have to pay to receive a call.

P. K. Garg: In US also. It is there still. Even if I receive a call I will have to pay. So the charges for receiving a call were a hindrance, especially with the lower strata of society, because they were hesitant to receive the call if they had to pay. But once the liability was removed from the receiving party, many people started using the phone for receiving only. For example, the self employed artisans, electricians, painters, carpenters, anybody else could give their mobile telephone numbers to the prospective customers or clients and when they need their services they could call them without any financial penalty to the receiving party. One doesn’t have to pay anything except for the normal monthly or rental charges if one uses the phone for call receiving purposes only. That gave a tremendous boost to our telecom sector growth. For example, in early 2003, until this regulation was enforced, the total number of mobile customers in India was in the region of 10 million. These 10 million subscribers came, you can say, spread over at least 4-5 years starting from 1995. But from there onwards, the growth started picking up to almost more than 1 million subscribers per month. Another factor as I mentioned is that by that time the cost of the handset had come down to about $50-$60.

Yelena: How much was it before?

P. K. Garg: Initially in the 1995 time frame it was very much in the range of about $600. And from $600 it came to $60 (one-tenth). So these factors – the entry level cost of the handsets coming down, the tariffs also becoming low and the receiving calls becoming free – they were the factors which put mobile telephony on a very fast growth. Thereafter it’s well known to everybody because we crossed 100 million mobile subscribers in the middle of 2006 and from there onward it has been picking up and the country has seen almost 15 million per month new connections. Now also it is about 10 million new connections per month but it had even crossed 15 million during some time frame around 2007-08. So that is how the growth took place.

Yelena: The unified access services license: I think it was introduced in 2003. Could you speak about some of the reasons it was introduced?

P. K. Garg: Basically it is not my area of specialization, because mine was spectrum related, but I will give you some general aspects which I know. As part of the telecom policies most of these concessions were given to the operators. Then the government got from them some concessions or levied upon them certain conditions. For the mobile operators, government said that it will bring in a third operator which was the government operator. Moreover, the government also said that because we are giving you a concession with the license fee, etc, the government will have the right to introduce more operators as and when it feels the necessity for it in the public interest. Similarly for the line telephony also, since line telephony operators were also allowed certain concessions, in 1999 the government said that it may introduce more operators in addition to the one government and one private operator. So then in the year 2000 the government asked the government operator to enter the mobile telephony as the third operator. The name of the operator was MTNL in Delhi and Mumbai and then the remaining areas the operating wing of the telecom department was renamed as BSNL. BSNL was formed in October 2000. Then BSNL was asked to enter the mobile area for the rest of the country except Delhi-Mumbai where MTNL was there. Then in 2001, the government felt that one more private mobile operator can be introduced for which bids were called. They also said that for line telephony, because the issue of spectrum was not there, anybody who wished to come for line telephony would be allowed to do so. And then one operator came almost for all over India, that was Reliance in the line telephony. TATA also came into the play for a few areas and then couple of others were there like Shyam telecom for one or two areas as well as HFCL for one or two areas for line telephony. For mobile telephony, because it was only one license to be given, no single operator could get it for the areas all over India. Then some places Airtel got, some places went to Vodafone, and some places Idea received. So like that, all of the 22 circles went to different operators.

Yelena: And prior to this, per circle there were only two wireless operators?

P. K. Garg: Initially there were two mobile operators, third one became BSNL-MTNL, and the fourth one was introduced in 2001. And then what happened was that the fixed line operators were allowed wireless in the last mile. So they adopted CDMA; Reliance chose CDMA system to provide WLL and this CDMA technology had developed by that time to a level that could provide full roaming. Not only could it provide the wireless in local loop in the last mile but it could also provide full roaming and it was sort of alleged by many people and even the wireless mobile operators that Reliance had started providing full mobile services and not restricting to WLL which was the mandate of their license. That gave rise to many legal issues; there were legal cases by the mobile operators saying that the bid amounts offered by the fourth cellular operator in 2001 and the fixed line operators were quite different. The line operators’ bids were very low and the mobile operators’ bid amounts were very high; not as high as 1996-97 time frame, but still very high as compared to the bids of the fixed line operators. So they said that this was unfair competition and this was not allowed as per policy; why are they doing it? They went to court where they made the government also as a party, claiming that the government was allowing them to do it. At that time, in 2003, the government realized that this dispute in the telecom sector should be ended. After consultations with the Telecom Regulatory Authority the government decided to no longer issue separate licenses for basic fixed line services and cellular services, and instead introduced the Unified Access Services License (UASL). The earlier fixed line operators were given a choice that if they wanted to go for full mobility using CDMA or whatever technology, they could do so by paying the bid amount which was paid for the cellular licenses in 2001.

Yelena: And dual technology licensing came about in 2007 I believe?

P. K. Garg: Yes that was in 2007. Until that time an operator could have either mobile services in a CDMA or GSM, but not both.

Yelena: Great. Thank you for this history overview of telecommunications in India.

As part of CIS’s research interests in unlicensed spectrum policies, P. K. Garg was asked to comment on international and national level policies, as well as his perspective on the matter.

Yelena: Do ITU radio regulations reserve any bands for unlicensed use?

P. K. Garg: ITU radio regulations include the international allocations of different frequency bands. These international regulations are agreed by all the member countries of ITU at the world radio conferences. So it is agreed by all the countries, all the countries have to abide by that. In the international allocations there is no band which is unlicensed. There are certain bands which are allocated for ISM (Industrial Scientific and Medical) uses. For example, some bands are earmarked for microwave ovens because that’s an industrial use. Now of course it is for home use also but microwave ovens initially were for industrial use. Similarly certain frequency bands are for operating medical devices. And there are certain other scientific requirements for other bands. So there is a category called ISM (Industrial Scientific and Medical).

Yelena: And are these the 5GHz and 2.4 GHz bands or are there more?

P. K. Garg: Yes, they are also there, but there are many other sub-bands which are allocated for ISM services. Now many of these bands have been de-licensed for public use in many countries and as you said just now, the 2.4GHz, 5.2GHz, and 5.7GHz are the bands. There are other bands also. Many social requirements like cordless phones, let’s say individual requirements of the society, were developed in many of these unlicensed ISM type bands, because it was considered impractical both for the users, the vendor as well as the regulating authority in the country to issue licenses for each and every cordless phone. That is why they were developed in these bands. Some of these bands were de-licensed first in US and few other countries just like the 1500 or 1600 MHz sub bands. Then there was a band earlier around 150MHz, subsequently there were some parts even in the 900MHz band and the 450MHz band. That is where these cordless phones were developed. The cordless phones were one of the first de-licensed usages. Prior to that there were, you might have heard of them, walkie-talkies. They operated on 400MHz and covered a range of maybe a kilometre. That was to be used when people would go in the forest or trekking or camping, etc. So they were also developed in the ISM bands which were de-licensed in few countries.

Then as the requirements of the cordless phones came subsequently for WiFi modems, all these technologies were developed in ISM bands and even in those countries where they were not de-licensed, it was felt that it was better to de-license them, because 1) it will provide benefit to the society 2) it would be impractical to regulate their use or issue a license for everybody, because, for example, if one thinks of even regulating it or issuing licenses for WiFi modems it is practically impossible. And so the spectrum management authorities in the countries, any country, have to weigh how much is the benefit to the society by de-licensing; that is number 1. Number 2 – whether they can de-license or if there are some other users already there in that band, and how to shift them if possible, because those licensed operators/users have to be protected.

So, for example – the 2.4GHz band was de-licensed in India in 2004. For Licensed and unlicensed bands as such, there are many considerations before the spectrum management authority can decide to de-license them. The government could de-license the 5GHz band only for indoor use, because there were some existing users and it was difficult to shift them away from that band. The outdoor usage by the public cannot be allowed, because it will cause interference to those existing users as well as the public will get interference from them if they use it in the outdoors. That is why it could not be de-licensed for outdoor use. Only a small, 50 MHz portion (5825 to 5875MHz) could be de-licensed for outdoor use, but in the 2.4 GHz band the existing users were able to shift out of that band so it could be de-licensed for the outdoor use also.

There is also another important aspect which you have to keep in view while de-licensing any band: though the public requirement will be there, vendors naturally, you will agree, try to force the issue because they develop some equipment and they want to sell it. Now you would have seen that spectrum is a very valuable commodity, it’s a resource, a very valuable resource and billions of dollars have been spent by the operators to get the spectrum. On the one hand one operator is spending billions of dollars, on the other hand, another operator is using de-licensed spectrum providing the commercial services. There is a big gap as you can see. So when the government de-licenses any spectrum, the idea is that the public will use it for personal use. The intention is not to de-license it for the commercial use, because commercial usages will continue to grow, continue to increase. Today if you de-license 100 MHz, tomorrow requirements will grow and they will say that they need another 100 MHz, and after another few years they will ask for another 100 – 200 MHz. Hence the de-licensing requirements will never end. So this creates quite a difficult situation with respect to other commercial operators who have paid for this spectrum.

Yelena: That’s definitely something to keep in mind.

P. K. Garg: Yes. Even now, for example – some of these Internet service providers, they are using this 2.4 GHz band. Now this 2.4GHz de-licensed band which they are using, they are using quite extensively. As a result, the availability of this band for the public gets restricted. If members of the public want to use it they will get interference and if WiFi modems find one channel busy, they will find another channel, and if they find that channel busy too, then they will go to the third channel. Thus the number of channels which are available to the public will continue to decrease.

Yelena: So by the public you mean community projects or individuals?

P. K. Garg: Yes. For example – you and me– if we are to use a WiFi modem at home and if we find because of other commercial usages around our houses that we are not able to function, that means the benefit of that unlicensed band is lost for us.

Yelena: And there is no way to regulate so that the public gets more access?

P. K. Garg: No, because once the spectrum management authority de-licenses any band it sets certain parameters – how much power, what is the bandwidth of each channel, etc. Beyond that it will not control it. Only if somebody is using a higher power than what is allowed, it can be checked and then the person can be penalized. But whether it is for commercial use, personal use, or community use is a very grey area. It is difficult for the government to control this, requires a long litigation process and other interventions.

Yelena: That is certainly understandable. However, I’m looking into how unlicensed spectrum can be used for public good. There are projects that provide cost-effective wireless communication networks in remote areas, such as the Dharamsala wireless community network project set up by AirJaldi, or networks set up by the Digital Empowerment Foundation. So, our advocacy for de-licensed spectrum is to benefit such projects.

P. K. Garg: Basically you are right. For example – if you see now for the indoor use, almost 250MHz of spectrum in 2.4GHz and 5GHz band is available unlicensed. I would say even close to 300MHz is available. And out of this 300MHz almost 150MHz is available for outdoor use also. Now if any community wireless network or a city-wide network operating on WiFi is to be created, 150MHz is more than enough if it is used judiciously. However, supposing I am an operator and I started using the unlicensed spectrum for giving services to my customers throughout the city, and their data and the total time requirements are quite extensive, then what will happen is that it will either reduce the availability of spectrum to other users or it will become totally unavailable to them. So the basic purpose of de-licensing is defeated then.

Yelena: That makes sense. During my interviews with several other experts who are really strong advocates of unlicensed spectrum, it was stated that a solution to de-licensed spectrum being clogged is to de-license more spectrum. Considering what you mentioned, why are they still advocating for this?

P. K. Garg: Well, as I was mentioning to you, unfortunately many of these people are not fully aware of the ground realities of the situation. Now no part of spectrum is completely virgin. If somebody says today it is a question of 100GHz band to be de-licensed that is a different issue. But for the 100GHz band there are no devices available today and no usage. But if we come to the band anywhere below 10GHz, all the bands are used by somebody or the other. So before de-licensing, one has to shift those users and shifting anybody is not easy. Which band will the government shift them to?

Yelena: That is definitely something to consider.

P. K. Garg: The government will have to give them alternate bands; where will they provide them from when all the bands are in use? So the proponents of de-licensing sometime are not able to appreciate the full gravity of the situation. And another thing is that the government cannot be regulating whether it is a commercial use/private use or societal use. And many of the problems in the existing unlicensed bands have come up because they are really used more and more for commercial purposes. That is the unfortunate part of it. Otherwise 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands themselves are quite adequate to serve the societal requirements. Tomorrow, the ultra wide band systems are coming. The requirements will be there, but they will be operating in higher bands and they will be confined to very small areas; even home, even your office. So they can be tackled by indoor de-licensing.

Yelena: And this is according to the 2011 National Frequency Allocation Plan?

P. K. Garg: Well, the National Frequency Allocation Plan doesn’t talk of any additional de-licensed bands but they will consider it. However that will be for indoor, very low power applications. As I mentioned to you for indoor usage it is almost like 300 or 350MHz which is available; for outdoors it is only 150MHz which is available. So for indoor it is already 200MHz of additional frequencies which are available as unlicensed. And if all these bands are put to proper use it can very easily allow even up to 100Mbps indoor usage for every house. There shouldn’t be much of a difficulty. One is that all this indoor usages are not continuous; this 100Mbps is not 24/7 because there are short spurts usages over a few milliseconds, then there is a gap and all these WiFi modems and other devices make use of the dynamic situation, so they are able to coexist. Even if I am using it here and somebody else is using it at the other end of the room in this large hall it is possible to coexist. And certainly if it is the next house or the next building the same frequencies can be used; they will be reused. So the solution lies in the greater reuse of the same spectrum; whether you call it reuse or you call it sharing, it’s the same thing. So one has to share the spectrum; reuse the spectrum.

Yelena: Great. Thank you for your time and for sharing your expertise.

[1]. Indian Telecom Sector. (2010). Government of India Department of Telecommunications. Retrieved March 11, 2012, from www.dot.gov.in/osp/Brochure/Brochure.htm.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/interview-with-garg

Digital India Needs These Policy Changes

Shyam Ponappa — 2016-10-02T10:09:17Z

Appropriate policies will increase connectivity much more than spectrum auctions.

The article originally published in the Business Standard on August 31, 2016 was mirrored in Organizing India Blogspot on September 1, 2016.

There's a "List of 10 Things" for realising India's potential that Prime Minister Narendra Modi received as the chief minister of Gujarat from Jim O'Neill, the originator of the "BRIC" concept. Many items on that list are greatly facilitated by information and communications technology (ICT): effective governance; primary, secondary, and tertiary education; improved infrastructure; and sustainable approaches that minimise negative environmental impact. While there's agreement on ICT's importance for India, there's difficulty getting it in place to best effect. This is because policy changes are needed to make Digital India a reality. These are the kinds of decisions that will turn the rhetoric about connectivity into reality.

Some changes are relatively easy, such as enabling 60 GHz Wi-Fi, while others require more effort, as explained below. These include better terms for satellite communications, enabling broadband on the 500-600 MHz bands, and spectrum and network sharing.

In our land of such range and contradictions, so much needs improvement that everything clamours for immediate attention. Attempts to address them all together are misplaced, however, because achieving results requires goal orientation, prioritisation and systematic action, to direct a convergent investment of time, effort and capital. Also, projects must be done with the realisation that the acid test is end-to-end delivery, even if it is initially to a small segment of the market. Only then can the rest of the iceberg be addressed: consistent, ongoing operation and maintenance, and scaling up. Think of the years of effort, capital and human resources invested without that first delivery in the National Optic Fibre Network. While defining objectives appropriately and setting priorities are difficult, both are imperative.

A recent report on The Networked Society City Index for 2016 by Ericsson reaffirms ICT's critical role in productivity and living standards.1 The report also shows that better-developed cities are on more sustainable paths to the goal of the desirable triple bottom line (TBL) of social, economic and environmental betterment. ICT facilitates not only sustainable development of cities and often their surroundings, but extends through the networked society far beyond their geographical environs. Even our metros need attention, with Mumbai and Delhi ranking at 36 and 38 out of 41.

The Wireless Imperative

Efforts at setting up Digital India have to contend with the reality that most non-urban communications have to be wireless, as does a significant proportion of urban access. This is because the cost and practical difficulties in laying and maintaining fibre everywhere is far greater than building wireless networks. The accompanying chart, showing the spread of broadband in India at the end of March 2016, illustrates this point.

The clusters are around major cities, with broadband penetration in Delhi/NCR highest at 58.2 per cent. Except along their major connecting links, the spaces between clusters are more difficult to connect and aggregate, as habitations are not densely clustered. Also, potential revenues are generally lower in less dense areas. Such areas urgently need lower-cost wireless coverage.

Policy Changes Required - from Easy to Difficult

Of the many constraints to building more accessible ICT in India, a major set lies within the control of government and stakeholders, provided they act together and are not adversarial about policies governing access technologies:

There are unused frequencies in the 60 GHz band for which inexpensive equipment is available abroad with a capacity of several gigabits. Press reports years ago mentioned the de-licensing of this band in India. Last November, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended de-licensing Wi-Fi use, and light licensing backhaul with minimal charges. Yet, this asset is wasted because there's no policy permitting its use. It costs nothing to de-license in line with global norms. Apart from additional Wi-Fi capacity, service providers could use it for backhaul from small cells. Revenues are likely to rise, and the government would collect increased taxes. Domestic manufacturers could possibly develop products for what should be a huge market.
Another proven technology is satellite communications. This is priced too high in India, as explained in "Satellite communications can drive the broadband revolution", Business Standard, 23 April 2016.2 Satcom tariffs are apparently nearly 300 times higher than in the US, while private sector applications for manufacturing satellites are languishing. Also, there is considerable potential for manufacturing associated equipment, such as VSATs, end-user terminals, and so on.
A third area is unused or underutilised government spectrum. The most-useful and least-controversial, except for turf considerations, is unused broadcast spectrum in the sub-700 MHz bands. Government departments, namely, the department of telecommunications (DoT), the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeITY), and the Trai, could coordinate their approach, so that I&B and Doordarshan retain the spectrum, while allowing common access to shared spectrum and infrastructure for paid use by service providers. Doordarshan could increase its reach by providing programming and content over these links.
These frequencies would be most effective in extending rural broadband, because of the distances that could be covered inexpensively. There is an issue with equipment, as there are no large, established markets anywhere yet for TV White Space devices, and there is insufficient support for local manufacturing even with Indian intellectual property rights. In fact, we have a Catch-22 situation here: such devices are likely to have massive deployment in India, but we don't have policies that allow these frequencies for broadband. The irony is that developers who manufacture prototypes in India have no access to spectrum even for testing their products, and will have to rely on markets abroad for testing as well as sales.

Other Frequencies

Rules restricting usage of other frequencies could also be amended through a coordinated process. The result could be policies that treat spectrum usage as part of a shared infrastructure solution for Digital India. Using a shared access for payment approach with secondary sharing, primary holders of spectrum can retain usage rights, while government revenues accrue from swathes of spectrum that now remain unused, and holders of spectrum earn from common access.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-september-1-2016-shyam-ponappa-digital-india-needs-these-policy-changes

A Market Structure for Digital India

Shyam Ponappa — 2016-10-10T02:09:06Z

If delivery is priced below cost, communications services will be unsustainable and ineffective. The stress in the telecom sector is evident from the data. The market capitalisation of listed telecom operators has been stagnant since the 3G auction in 2010, while the government collected Rs 2.83 lakh crore of non-tax charges from them.

The article originally published in the Business Standard on October 5, 2016 was mirrored in Organizing India Blogspot on October 9, 2016.

In March 2010 before the auction, the capitalisation was Rs 1.84 lakh crore; in March 2016, it was Rs 1.71 lakh crore, with the BSE Sensex up nearly 60 per cent. A larger share of earnings has gone to government rather than shareholders, and also to banks as interest (Rs 2.08 lakh crore). The irony is that no operator has bid so far for the most useful spectrum bands on auction, 700 and 900 MHz. Uncertainties abound, and there are several questions.

Reliance Jio's entry, although expected, is a jolt. Will voice calls priced below mandatory interconnect charges be treated as being predatory or anticompetitive? The technicality is that Jio doesn't have high market share, apparently a criterion under competition law. Will this hold, given that Jio's entry has reduced total market capitalisation? Will delivery capability in terms of network size and/or market power from associated businesses be relevant criteria for dominance? What happens when Jio does have sizeable market share?

On the face of it, lower prices seem better for users. Look more closely and it's not so simple, especially when you consider other services in India offered for free or at highly subsidised rates. One issue is the structure of a market that supports delivery below cost, and its quality of services/products. Another is the criterion that maximises social welfare that should drive government's policies. Is consumer surplus in the short term a reasonable criterion? As it happens, we have experienced markets with constrained consumer surplus for years. For example, in the category of infrastructure and essential inputs/utilities, we've had this approach towards fertilisers, electricity, petroleum products like kerosene, cooking gas and diesel until recently, water, and sewerage. We've also experienced this in our entire range of manufactured products earlier, when we had exorbitant import barriers. These experiences have been less than sanguine. The misuse of kerosene and gas, and the effects of diesel subsidies are prominent examples. The distortions that have set in, such as overuse of ground water and fertilisers, and the vicious circle with electricity and diesel generators, will be difficult to correct.

Aren't there similar deleterious effects in communications from spectrum auctions and government charges that inflate input costs, and price wars that degrade investment capacity for network extension and delivery? As it is, the quality of services for voice and data is very poor. An essential resource for better connectivity is spectrum, yet government's approach to its management has been and remains inimical to its stated objective of achieving ubiquitous access of good quality. Governments make it difficult for operators to extend networks simply by not setting the right administrative policies. To quote Google Vice-President Caesar Sengupta: India is "a very large country with very little spectrum". It does not seem clear to our governments that broadband access through fixed lines for everyone is infeasible in the foreseeable future. Also, that unless radical changes are made, it is inconceivable that broadband servcies can be made available at prices and quality comparable to TV.

The Triad of Interests

Even if the criterion for public welfare is user benefits/consumer surplus, judging by price alone is simplistic, because it misses other aspects of service delivery that contribute to the cost-benefit package. One essential aspect is ubiquitous access. Another is effective, consistent service delivery, which requires quality, and stability. A third is the period or life cycle. It doesn't help if you have an inexpensive product or service today, and nothing tomorrow. The definition of long term also varies, depending on one's perception of the life-cycle cost of the product/service. For a user, it may be several years, or his/her life cycle. For a society, it may mean generations.

In addition to consumer benefits, other factors need to be considered from the perspectives of pragmatism and realpolitik. Realistically, a triad of stakeholder interests has to be balanced for a sustainable beneficial outcome. These are: consumer and producer surplus, and what might be termed "government interests" in the broadest sense defined below. The latter has been manifest in many global spectrum auctions, and although detrimental to the sector, is an aspect of reality that cannot be wished away. For example, our governments preferred rationing and auctions to more constructive approaches such as sharing infrastructure, and when the Supreme Court ruled that resources need not be auctioned, spectrum was excluded, which seems logically indefensible. For sustainable, consistent services, champions of all three criteria must partner to adopt mutually acceptable solutions.

Assumptions about Enabling Policies

Certain basic amenities comprise the essential infrastructure that everyone needs to be productive and have reasonable well-being. To some extent, this is linked to reasonably high per capita income. Without it, broad access to good infrastructure is infeasible. It takes that level of organisation, institutions and investment, including its implications for developing and organising human capital, to build such capabilities, as in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Emerging economies have to manage with lower order platforms, or a subset of higher order services combined with others of lower order. Prioritisation then becomes the key, and areas of emphasis have to be chosen. This is where the priority accorded to Digital India comes in. If digital systems are crucial facilitators for development and productivity, they need to be accorded that level of importance and effort, with substantive changes to policies.

The government sets the policies and incentives. Government here means not just the central government and the states' executives, but the gamut of regulatory and government agencies: the legislature, the regulators, and the judiciary. These agencies must converge and persuade public opinion to support action in the public interest. Ultimately, society has to pay. If delivery is priced below cost in communications, the services will be as unsustainable and ineffective as in other distorted sectors with freebies.

Reference: Krishna Kant: http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/spectrum-fees-leave-no-money-in-shareholders-pockets-116092701398_1.html, Business Standard, September 28, 2016. The author can be contacted at shyamponappa@gmail.com

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-october-5-2016-shyam-ponappa-a-market-structure-for-digital-india

Seminar on Quality of Services in Telecom and Data Services: Issues, Challenges and Solutions

praskrishna — 2016-10-19T02:15:43Z

National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi organized a seminar on quality of services in telecom and data in Delhi on September 21, 2016. Shyam Ponappa was a speaker.

CUTS and IIT have recently published a report on quality of services in mobile data services, which is available here. The aim of the organizers was to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders to generate a debate on the findings of the study. This will be followed by a broader discussion on the next steps towards achieving better QoS in telecom and data services. For agenda of the meeting, click here.

Video

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/news/seminar-on-quality-of-services-in-telecom-and-data-services-issues-challenges-and-solutions

Comments to the (Draft) Indian Telecommunication Bill

Abhishek Raj, Divyank Katira, Isha Suri, Shweta Mohandas, and Vipul Kharbanda — 2022-11-11T16:13:25Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/comments-to-the-draft-indian-telecommunication-bill

June 2014 Bulletin

praskrishna — 2014-07-14T10:05:11Z

Our newsletter for month of June is below:

Highlights

Nehaa Chaudhari participated in a Stakeholders Consultation organized by the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Human Resource Development in New Delhi, February 21, 2014, on Mapping Institutions of Intellectual Property. She blogged about the outcome in a two-part series. The first part discusses establishment of a National Institute of Intellectual Property Rights and the second part deals with the documents introduced at the Stakeholders’ Consultation for India’s National Programme on Intellectual Property.
For the first time in the history of Indian books, 10 Telugu books by a single author were released under Creative Commons license (CC-BY-SA 3.0). These books will be uploaded on Telugu Wikisource and converted into Unicode (searchable) text. This will ensure that these books are freely read, both online and offline in various formats like PDF, epub, mobi, text, etc. This is a major milestone initiative by CIS-A2K to make the sum of all knowledge in Telugu freely available to all Telugus over the internet.
ICANN published a call for public comments on "Enhancing ICANN Accountability" in the wake of the IANA stewardship transition spearheaded by ICANN and related concerns of ICANN's external and internal accountability mechanisms. CIS submitted its comments.
ICANN sought comments on the existing barriers to Registrar Accreditation and operation and suggestions on how these challenges might be mitigated. CIS sent its comments.
Vodafone, the world’s second largest mobile carrier released a report disclosing to what extent governments can request their customers’ data. Joe Sheehan analyses the report to tell us that if more companies were transparent about the level of government surveillance their customers were being subjected to then the public would press the government for stronger privacy safeguards and protections.

Accessibility and Inclusion

Under a grant from the Hans Foundation we are doing two projects. The first project is on creating a national resource kit of state-wise laws, policies and programmes on issues relating to persons with disabilities in India. We compiled the National Compendium of Policies, Programmes and Schemes for Persons with Disabilities (29 states and 6 union territories). We will be publishing this soon. The draft chapters along with the quarterly reports can be accessed on the project page. The second project is on developing text-to-speech software for 15 Indian languages. The progress made so far in the project can be accessed here.

NVDA and eSpeak

►Monthly Update

Work Report for June (by Suman Dogra, June 30, 2014).

►Other

Blog Entry

For a Truly Inclusive Consultative Process (by Amba Salelkar, June 25, 2014).

Media Coverage

NISH Website to Help the Disabled (The New Indian Express, June 26, 2014).

Access to Knowledge

As part of the Access to Knowledge programme we are doing two projects. The first one (Pervasive Technologies) under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is for research on the complex interplay between pervasive technologies and intellectual property to support intellectual property norms that encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The second one (Wikipedia) under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.

►Analysis

Mapping Institutions of Intellectual Property (Part A): India's National Programme on Intellectual Property Management (by Nehaa Chaudhari, June 10, 2014). This discusses establishment of a National Institute of Intellectual Property Rights.
Mapping Institutions of Intellectual Property: Part B — India's National Program on Intellectual Property Management (by Nehaa Chaudhari, June 26, 2014). This deals with the documents introduced at the Stakeholders’ Consultation for India’s National Program on Intellectual Property

►Participation in Event

Yogyakarta Meeting on Open Culture and Critical Making (organized by organized by HONF Foundation, Catec, and r0g, June 12 – 15, 2014). Sharath Chandra Ram was a panelist.

Wikipedia

As part of the project grant from the Wikimedia Foundation we have reached out to more than 3500 people across India by organizing more than 100 outreach events and catalysed the release of encyclopaedic and other content under the Creative Commons (CC-BY-3.0) license in four Indian languages (21 books in Telugu, 13 in Odia, 4 volumes of encyclopaedia in Konkani and 6 volumes in Kannada, and 1 book on Odia language history in English).

The following were done this month:

►Articles / Blog Entries

Twitter weekly Curation WeAreWikipedia brings one Wikipedian Every Week (by Diptiman Panigrahi, June 16, 2014).
This Twitter Account Puts a Face to the Unsung Volunteer Editors Behind Wikipedia (by Subhashish Panigrahi, Global Voices, June 18, 2014).
Odia Language gets a new Unicode Font Converter (by Subhashish Panigrahi, June 20, 2014).
Ten Telugu Books Re-released Under CC-BY-SA 3.0 License (by Rahmanuddin Shaik, June 22, 2014).

►Events Organized

Kannada Wikipedia Workshop for Kannada Book Lovers (co-organized by Navakarnataka Publications, Bangalore, June 4, 2014). Dr. U.B.Pavanaja conducted the workshop.
Knowledge and Openness in the Digital Era (co-organized by Andhra Loyola College and CIS, Vijaywada, June 24-25, 2014).

►News and Media Coverage
CIS gave its inputs to the following media coverage:

Knowledge and Openness in the Digital Era: Coverage in Sakshi (Sakshi, June 25, 2014).
Knowledge and Openness in the Digital Era: Coverage in Enadu (Enadu, June 25, 2014).
Loyola Faculty Enlightened About Open Edn Resources (The New Indian Express, June 25, 2014).

Internet Governance

Freedom of Expression

As part of our project on Freedom of Expression (funded through a grant from the MacArthur Foundation) to study the restrictions placed on freedom of expression online by the Indian government and contribute to the debates around Internet governance and freedom of expression at forums like ICANN, ITU, IGF, WSIS, etc., we bring you the following outputs:

►Submissions

CIS Comments: Enhancing ICANN Accountability (by Geetha Hariharan, June 10, 2014).
Comments to ICANN Supporting the DNS Industry in Underserved Regions (by Jyoti Panday, June 13, 2014).

►Blog Entries

Free Speech and Contempt of Court: Overview (by Gautam Bhatia, June 8, 2014).
Multi-stakeholder Models of Internet Governance within States: Why, Who & How? (by Geetha Hariharan, June 16, 2014).
UN Human Rights Council Urged to Protect Human Rights Online (by Geetha Hariharan, June 19, 2014).
Free Speech and Source Protection for Journalists (by Gautam Bhatia, June 19, 2014).
WSIS+10 High Level Event: A Bird's Eye Report (by Geetha Hariharan, June 20, 2014).
Understanding IANA Stewardship Transition (by Smarika Kumar, June 22, 2014).
IANA Transition: Suggestions for Process Design (by Smarika Kumar, June 22, 2014).
Free Speech and Civil Defamation (by Gautam Bhatia, June 25, 2014).
CIS Policy Brief: IANA Transition Fundamentals & Suggestions for Process Design (by Geetha Hariharan and Smarika Kumar, June 22, 2014).
An Evidence based Intermediary Liability Policy Framework: Workshop at IGF (by Jyoti Panday, June 30, 2014).

►FOEX Live
We are also posting a selection of news from across India implicating online freedom of expression and use of digital technology: June 8 – 15, 2014 and June 16 – 23, 2014.

Privacy

As part of our Surveillance and Freedom: Global Understandings and Rights Development (SAFEGUARD) project with Privacy International we are engaged in enhancing respect for the right to privacy in developing countries. We have produced the following outputs during the month:

►Blog Entries

A Review of the Functioning of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal and Adjudicatory Officers under the IT Act (by Divij Joshi, June 16, 2014).
Content Removal on Facebook — A Case of Privatised Censorship? (by Jessamine Mathew, June 16, 2014).
Vodafone Report Explains Government Access to Customer Data (by Joe Sheehan, June 16, 2014).

►Event Organized

Privacy and Surveillance Roundtable (co-organized with the Cellular Operators Association of India and the Council for Fair Business Practices, June 28, 2014, IMC Building, Churchgate, Mumbai).

►Participation in Events

Commonwealth Domain Name System Forum 2014 (organized by the CTO, hosted by ICANN, and supported by Nominet and the Public Interest Registry, London, June 19, 2014). Pranesh Prakash was a panelist. Jyoti Panday participated in the event.
Research Advisory Network Meeting (organized by the Global Commission on Internet Governance’s Research Advisory Network, OECD Headquarters, Paris, June 26-27, 2014). Sunil Abraham was a panelist.

►News & Media Coverage

CIS gave its inputs to the following media coverage:

Right to be forgotten poses a legal dilemma in India (by Leslie D' Monte, Livemint, June 5, 2014).
Stay connected even when you go underground (by Sunita Sekhar, The Hindu, June 12, 2014).

Digital Humanities

CIS is building research clusters in the field of Digital Humanities. The Digital will be used as a way of unpacking the debates in humanities and social sciences and look at the new frameworks, concepts and ideas that emerge in our engagement with the digital. The clusters aim to produce and document new conversations and debates that shape the contours of Digital Humanities in Asia:

►Blog Entries

Not a Goodbye; More a ‘Come Again’: Thoughts on being Research Director at a moment of transition (by Nishant Shah, June 15, 2014).
Living in the Archival Moment (by P.P. Sneha, June 19, 2014).

Telecom

CIS is involved in promoting access and accessibility to telecommunications services and resources and has provided inputs to ongoing policy discussions and consultation papers published by TRAI. It has prepared reports on unlicensed spectrum and accessibility of mobile phones for persons with disabilities and also works with the USOF to include funding projects for persons with disabilities in its mandate:

►Newspaper Column

A Great Start (for the Modi government) (by Shyam Ponappa, Business Standard and Organizing India Blogspot, June 5, 2014).

About CIS

The Centre for Internet and Society is a non-profit research organization that works on policy issues relating to freedom of expression, privacy, accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge and IPR reform, and openness (including open government, FOSS, open standards, etc.), and engages in academic research on digital natives and digital humanities.

► Follow us elsewhere

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CISA2K
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k
Visit us at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge
E-mail: a2k@cis-india.org

► Support Us

Please help us defend consumer / citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of ‘The Centre for Internet and Society’ and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd ‘C’ Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru – 5600 71

► Request for Collaboration:

We invite researchers, practitioners, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org or Nishant Shah, Director – Research, at nishant@cis-india.org. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia, write to T. Vishnu Vardhan, Programme Director, A2K, at vishnu@cis-india.org.

CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/june-2014-bulletin

February 2012 Bulletin

praskrishna — 2012-07-09T07:48:11Z

Welcome to the Centre for Internet and Society newsletter! In this issue we bring you the updates of our research, events, media coverage and videos of the events organized by us during the month of February 2012!

Accessibility

Around 70 million disabled persons in India are unable to participate in information societies as lack of compliance with accessibility standards make interfaces impossible to use, and retrograde copyright and patent policies make it impossible to access knowledge. Accessibility is denied in banking services, web and mobile interfaces, etc. Material for the disabled therefore needs to be converted into accessible formats. The programme has resulted in outputs such as Web Accessibility Policy Making, Making Mobile Phones and Services Accessible for Persons with Disabilities, Accessibility Policy Making: An International Perspective, e-Accessibility Policy Handbook for Persons with Disabilities, Universal Service for Persons with Disabilities: A Global Survey of Policy Interventions and Good Practices, etc.

Featured Research

Web Accessibility Policy Making: An International Perspective: G3ict and the Centre for Internet and Society are pleased to announce the publication of a new, improved edition of the Web Accessibility Policy Making: An International Perspective. The report published in cooperation with the Hans Foundation provides an updated synopsis of the many policies that governments have implemented around the world to ensure that the Internet and websites are accessible to persons with disabilities.

Event

ITU Tutorial on Audiovisual Media Accessibility (India International Centre,New Delhi, March 14 to 15, 2012): At the invitation of the Centre for Internet and Society, in cooperation with the ITU-APT Foundation of India, International Telecommunication Union is organizing a two-day Tutorial on Audio Visual Media Accessibility. The Tutorial will be preceded by the fourth meeting of the Focus Group on Audio Visual Media Accessibility on March 13, 2012. The meeting will take place in the same venue and will be hosted by the Centre for Internet and Society in cooperation with the ITU-APT Foundation of India.

Access to Knowledge

With the emergence of digital technologies and the unprecedented growth of the Internet and other related technologies, intellectual property rights (IPRs) the questions of ownership and control of information have become crucial. The programme focuses on the inequitable distribution of IPR, royalty, outflows, and beneficiaries of intellectual property regimes, the lack of balance in current IPR regimes [local, national and international] between consumer rights and IPR-owners’/corporation’s rights. The programme has produced analyses such as WIPO Treaty for the Print Disabled, WIPO Broadcast Treaty, Copyright Amendment Bill and Parallel Importation of Books.

Blog Entry

Analysis of Copyright Expansion in the India-EU FTA (July 2010) by Snehashish Ghosh.

Video

Recently, the Centre for Internet and Society organised a public lecture in its office, the video is now online.

Gandhi, Freedom, and the Dilemmas of Copyright: (Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, January 30, 2012). Prof. Shyamkrishna Balganesh from the University of Pennsylvania gave a lecture on Gandhi, Freedom, and the Dilemmas of Copyright.

Openness

The advent of the Internet has radically defined what it means to be open and collaborative. Even the Internet is built upon open standards and free/libre/open source software. The broad rubric of the ‘Openness’ programme focuses to provide evidence based research that will help inform policy and practice of the local, national, regional, bilateral and international policies and practices around Open Government Data, Open Access to Scholarly Literature, Open Access to Law, Open Content, Open Video, Open Standards and Free/Libre/Open Source Software. The programme has resulted in reports such as Open Government Data Study, Online Video Environment in India, a reader on the Wikipedia titled Critical Point of View: A Wikipedia Reader and a film titled People are Knowledge – Experimenting with Oral Citations on Wikipedia.

Comments

Comments on Technical Standards for Interoperability Framework for E-Governance in India (Phase II), submitted to the e-Governance Standards Division.

Event Report

Francis Bags EPT Award for Open Access in Developing World, (Sambasivan Auditorium, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, February 14, 2012). The award function was organized by the Electronic Publishing Trust for Development and the Centre for Internet and Society. Prof. Subbiah Arunachalam gave the welcome address. View the video of the award function.

Interview

An Interview with Dr. Francis Jayakanth: The Centre for Internet and Society conducted an email interview with Dr. Francis Jayakanth, recipient of the inaugural EPT Award for Open Access in Developing World.

Events

Free Arduino Workshop (For Beginners): (Centre for Internet and Society,Bangalore, March 3, 2012). The Centre for Internet and Society organised the Arduino workshop in Bangalore.

Internet Governance

Governments and private corporations are engaging in human rights violations online. Many different rights are impacted by internet governance policy changes. The growing phenomenon of illegal electronic surveillance by state and non-state actors and censorship of speech online are some specific problems that the Internet Governance programme seeks to address by providing evidence based research that will help inform policy and practice of the local, national, regional, bilateral and international privacy regime in the interests of the public in sectors key to information societies with a particular focus on information technology, privacy and freedom of expression. The programme has resulted in outputs such as Banking, Telecommunications, Consumer Protection, IT Act, Limitations, Copyright, Internet Protocol, Media, Sexual Minorities, UID and policy submissions such as, NIA Bill, IT Act, National Policy on Electronics, Cyber Café Rules, Security Practices Rules, and Intermediary Due Diligence Rules.

Featured Research

Privacy India in partnership with Privacy International, UK, the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, and Society in Action Group, Gurgaon is pleased to bring you the draft chapters of its book on Privacy in India. These include the Country Report, Telecommunication and Internet Privacy, E-Governance Identity and Privacy, Finance and Privacy, Health and Privacy, Transparency and Privacy. The chapters are an early draft which is in the process of being reviewed and updated. We greatly appreciate your comments and feedback:

Privacy in India — An Early Draft.

Media Coverage

Personal Data, Public Profile: “Whether we like it or not, we live in a world that is rapidly being Googlised”, writes Nishant Shah in the Financial Express, February 13, 2012.
Do we need the Aadhar scheme?: “Decentralisation and privacy are preconditions for security. Digital signatures don’t require centralised storage and are much more resilient in terms of security”, writes Sunil Abraham in the Business Standard, February 1, 2012.

Event Reports

The High Level Privacy Conclave (Paharpur Business Centre, Nehru Place Greens, New Delhi, February 3, 2012): India is in dire need of privacy law; experts say government is ironically creating huge national security risks in attempts to prevent crime and terrorism. The event was organized by Privacy India in partnership with the International Development Research Centre, Canada, Privacy International, UK and Society in Action Group, Gurgaon. Sunil Abraham was a Conclave Advisor and the moderator for the session on Internet and Privacy, Malavika Jayaram moderated in the panel on National Security and Privacy, and Elonnai Hickok spoke in the session "The Way Forward".

All India Privacy Symposium: (India International Centre, New Delhi, February 4, 2012): Experts gathered in Delhi for a public symposium on privacy, transparency, e-governance and national security in India. The event was organized by Privacy India in partnership with the International Development Research Centre, Canada, Privacy International, UK, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and Society in Action Group, Gurgaon. The webcast of the event is online. Sunil Abraham was a Symposium Advisor and moderated in the panel on Privacy and Transparency. Elonnai Hickok gave the welcome address and spoke in the session, “The Way Forward”. Prashant Iyengar was the moderator for the panel on Privacy and Banking. Malavika Jayaram spoke in this panel.

Event Hosted

GeekUp with Erica Hagen (Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, March 1, 2012). HasGeek organized a GeekUp with Erica Hagen of the GroundTruth Initiative. Erica gave a lecture on the theme: "From Information to Empowerment: Unpacking the Equation.

Blog Entry

Unique ID System: Pros and Cons, by Natasha Vaz.

Other Events

Cartonama Workshop (Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, March 2 and 3, 2012). HasGeek organized a hands-on training for managing and building location based services. The Centre for Internet and Society was a partner for this event.

Climate Change and Controversy Mapping (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, March 19 to 21, 2012). The workshop is being organised in collaboration with the Devechia Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Bruno Latour, Dean for Research at Sciences Po, Paris will speak in this event.

Videos

View the videos of some of the recent events organised by us:

All India Privacy Symposium, (India International Centre, New Delhi, February 4, 2012). Privacy India in partnership with the International Development Research Centre, Canada, Privacy International, UK, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, and Society in Action Group, Gurgaon, organized the event.

Whose Data is it Anyway?, (Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, January 24, 2012). Centre for Internet and Society and Tactical Tech co-organised the second round of discussions of the Exposing Data series. Siddharth Hande and Hapee de Groot spoke in the event.

Privacy Matters — Analyzing the "Right to Privacy Bill", (Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay). Privacy India in partnership with International Development Research Centre, Canada, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, the Godrej Culture Lab, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and the Centre for Internet and Society organised this event.

Free Speech Online in India under Attack?, (Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, December 22, 2011). The event was co-organised with the Internet Democracy Project. Achal Prabhala, Lawrence Liang and Anja Kovacs gave a lecture on freedom of expression online in India.

Telecom

The growth in telecommunications in India has been impressive. While the potential for growth and returns exist, a range of issues need to be addressed for this potential to be realized. One aspect is more extensive rural coverage and the second aspect is a countrywide access to broadband which is low at about eight million subscriptions. Both require effective and efficient use of networks and resources, including spectrum. The programme has resulted in reports such as India's untapped potential: Are a billion people losing out because of spectrum?, India Study Tour - Report: The South African Telecommunications Sector: Poised for Change and the Unlicensed Spectrum-Policy Brief for Government of India NTP '11.

Featured Research

Unlicensed Spectrum-Policy Brief for Government of India NTP '11 by Satyen Gupta, Sunil Abraham and Yelena Gyulkhandanyan: The research paper aims to recommend unlicensed spectrum policy to the Government of India based on recent developments in wireless technology, community needs and international best practices, and seeks to demonstrate the need for and importance of unlicensed spectrum as a medium for inexpensive connectivity in rural/remote areas, as well as catalyzing innovation by being a barrier-free and cost-effective platform for the testing and implementing of new technologies.

Interview

An Interview with Stephen Song: Yelena Gyulkhandanyan interviewed Stephen Song, the founder of Village Telco, an initiative to bring practical and inexpensive communication network infrastructure to rural and remote areas. He spoke about factors that catalyzed the initiative, the benefits of the network, some challenges, and the Mesh Potato.

Job Announcement

Content Developers/Trainers: The Centre for Internet and Society is looking for a content developer/trainer to work on an upcoming project Building Knowledge and Capacity around Telecommunication Policies in India. This is a full-time position. To apply, please email your curriculum vitae along with three writing samples to yelena@cis-india.org.

Digital Natives with a Cause?

Digital Natives with a Cause? is a knowledge programme initiated by the Centre for Internet and Society, India and Hivos, Netherlands. It is a research inquiry that seeks to look at the changing landscape of social change and political participation and the role that young people play through digital and internet technologies, in emerging information societies. The programme has resulted in a four-book collective titled Digital AlterNatives with a Cause? and reports such as Digital Natives with a Cause? A Report and Digital Natives with a Cause? Thinkathon: Position Papers.

Events

Digital Natives Video Contest: Twenty-one candidates have been shortlisted, videos will be online soon. Voting begins from March 10, 2012. The Centre for Internet and Society is co-organising the video contest with Hivos, Netherlands.

Essay Review: Digital AlterNatives with a Cause: The monthly essay review for the four book collective of Digital AlterNatives with a Cause? was held from February 17 to February 26, 2012. The Centre for Internet and Society co-organized the “Essay Review” with Hivos, Netherlands.

Book Review

How to Put Up a Facebook Resistance: “The current discussion about Facebook's timeline is only the tip of the iceberg, a symptom of a larger conflict that lurks behind it: how much direct marketing are Facebook users willing to take? How many drastic top-down changes of the user's Facebook experience are possible unless they understand that their presence on this site and what they do there is in tension with the company's goals that provides this digital environment?”, Oliver Leistert reviews Marc Stumpel’s essay, "Mapping the Politics of Web 2.0: Facebook Resistance", in Digital Alternatives with a Cause Book 2: To Think, pp.24-31.

Privacy, Piracy and the Wiki Way of Web: “Privacy is about having more control over the personal information that we have disclosed. As we disclose more information online, we must ask who might access it and why.” Nishant Shah in the Digital Natives Newsletter, volume 9, issue 2.

News and Media Coverage

What is Stewardship in Cyberspace?: The second annual Cyber Dialogue forum takes place March 18-19, 2012 in Toronto, Canada. Sunil Abraham is a panelist in the session on Plenary Panel and Discussions.

Secure IT 2012 — Securing Citizens through Technology: The event was co-organised by DST and NSDI, Govt. of India in partnership with Elets Technomedia Pvt. Ltd. on March 1, 2012 at Claridges in New Delhi. Sunil Abraham was a panelist in the event.

Digitisation is making e-learning simple: “Learning should not be restricted to the Internet and interactive classroom sessions but should be made available on mobile phones through audio files as mobile penetration is much higher compared to Internet reach”, Sunil Abraham in Deccan Herald, February 13, 2012. The article was written by Shayan Ghosh.

India debates limits to freedom of expression: “The government’s proposals on Web censorship would kill the vibrancy of the Internet in India”, Sunil Abraham in the Washington Post, February 13, 2012. The article was written by Simon Denyer.

Developing location-based services, Hindu, February 26, 2012.

Grooming the geek: “Children have to learn fine motor and social skills; tablets and other technology hinder the development of these skills”, Sunil Abraham in LiveMint, February 24, 2012. The article was written by Gopal Sathe.

FUEL Kannada - Workshop on Kannada Computing Terminology: A two days workshop on the standardization of Kannada computing terminologies was organized on January 28 and 29, 2012 at the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore under the FUEL project. The workshop was organised by Sanchaya and sponsored by Red Hat.

Will open access replace costly commercial publishing models?: “Most scientists in India are forced to work in a situation of information poverty. Others are unable to access what Indian researchers are doing, leading to low visibility and low use of their work. Thus, Indian work is hardly cited. Both these handicaps can be overcome to a considerable extent if open access is adopted widely, both within and outside the country”, Subbiah Arunachalam in the Hindu, February 19, 2012. The article was written by Vasudha Venugopal.

Research papers will be available in public domain: “A research produced by the Tuberculosis Research Centre in Chennai which would be of great relevance to researchers, say in a university in Maharashtra, may not be even noticed by the scientists there. Both groups receive funds from the same source - Government of India - and yet what one does is not easily accessible to the other. Open Access would bridge that gap and make information available to everyone”, Subbiah Arunachalam in the Hindu, February 15, 2012. The article was written by Vasudha Venugopal.

OurSay: how India’s technology is cutting into corruption: “Print and cinema reflected the views of citizens and informed them of the visions and changes that the country was going through”, Nishant Shah in Crikey, February 17, 2012. The blog post was written by Gautam Raju, co-founder and creative director, OurSayAustralia.

India won't censor social media: Telecom Minister: “Glad that Sibal does not believe in censorship and that companies operating in India should follow local laws.” “But on the other hand he has asked them to evolve new guidelines and actively monitor user content which is not legally sanctioned. This makes him look two-faced”, Pranesh Prakash in the Tribune. The article written by Salil Panchal was originally published by AFP and reproduced in the Tribune on February 14, 2012.

Govt set to gain ‘back-door’ access to corporate email: “There are no allegations of terrorists using BES or any indication that any of the 5,000 enterprises have any links to terrorists or other banned outfits in India”, Pranesh Prakash in LiveMint, February 14, 2012. The article was written by Shauvik Ghosh.

Indian law caught in web: “The Internet needs regulation but it cannot be treated as a gigantic newspaper or media channel”, Pranesh Prakash; “In liberal democracies like India and the US, information was taken for granted and not perceived as central to the understanding of society”, Nishant Shah. Nishant and Pranesh are quoted in an article by Moyna published by Down to Earth magazine.

Prometheus bound and gagged: The article by Adarsh Matham was published in the New Indian Express on 20 January 2012. Pranesh Prakash is quoted in this article.

Internet Curbs: Sunil Abraham’s article “The Quixotic Fight to Clean Up the Web” which was published in Tehelka is referred to by Rishi Majumder in this article also published in Tehelka, Vol. 9, Issue 07, February 18, 2012.

Tweeple say it pithily with hash tags: “Our social networking sites and writing platforms are performances of a certain kind... they allow us to convert our everyday lives into games — with rewards, actions, punishments or rules”, Nishant Shah in the Hindu, February 11, 2012. The article was written by Deepa Kurup.

New Bill to decide on individual’s right to privacy: “Tesco, a major retail chain in England, is now into E-banking… There are numerous examples of such private banking entities sharing customer information with insurance policy firms. These details are often used as markers for the kind of premium that will be set for a person”, Malavika Jayaram in Tehelka, February 6, 2012.

A new domain name, but concerns remain the same: “The rhetoric is that the Internet is global, but we've been seeing [governments say] how this information has to be regulated”, Nishant Shah in the Hindu, February 5, 2012. The article was written by Karunya Keshav.

Common man as crusader: “The movement targeted at the middle-class for whom corruption is a big issue was also the first middle-class movement in a long time.” Nishant Shah in the Hindustan Times, February 4, 2012.

5 things you need to know about online privacy policies: “India needs to have a broad and horizontal law that establishes online privacy as a right. Unlike in European countries, India doesn't have a privacy commissioner who can state the principles, interpret the data and question the online providers”, Sunil Abraham in the Economic Times on February 6, 2012. The article was written by Indu Nandakumar.

India needs an independent privacy law, says NGO Privacy India: “India doesn't have a privacy law, but there are provisions for it in different laws. During the course of the research, we found that the Indian judiciary has not been very strict in overseeing the implementation of the privacy clauses in various laws,”, Prashant Iyengar in the Economic Times, February 2, 2012.

Privacy, speech at stake in cyberspace: “The clampdown on online free speech and the roll-out of a multi-tiered blanket surveillance regime via the draconian IT Act and its associated rules in India is part of a global trend”, Sunil Abraham in LiveMint, February 3, 2012. The article was written by Leslie D’Monte.

Freedom of Expression in Community Media and on the Internet Understanding Connections, Finding Common Ground: A meeting co-organised by the Internet Democracy Project (Delhi) and Maraa (Bangalore) with the support of the Community Radio Forum in New Delhi on 3 February 2012. Pranesh Prakash participated in this event. Anja Kovacs gave the welcome address and spoke in the session on “The Internet and Freedom of Expression.”

Google move is not good for netizens, say experts: “Google is doing what is good for shareholders. This is not positive for netizens,” Sunil Abraham in the Hindu Business Line, January 31, 2012.

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CIS is grateful to Kusuma Trust which was founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin, for its core funding and support for most of its projects.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/feb-2012-bulletin

Use of DPI Technology by ISPs — Response by the Department of Telecommunications

Smita Mujumdar — 2012-07-19T07:45:17Z

CIS filed requests under the Right to Information with the Department of Telecommunications, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, BSNL and MTNL, asking a number of questions related to the use of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology by Internet Service Providers (ISP) in India and corresponding regulations.

We raised the following questions with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI):

Do ISP's in India (public and private) use DPI technology? Please provide details of all ISPs known to use this technology.
Please provide copies of documents relating to rules and regulations and license agreements for use of DPI (infrastructure and processes) by ISPs in India.
What are the purposes for which this technology is used in India?
Please provide details and copies of documents relating to regulation of network traffic management by ISPs in India.

DoT has responded to this application, while the response from the TRAI is awaited.

According to the DoT response to the RTI "as per the present License for provision of Internet Services, based on Internet Guidelines dated 24/08/2007, there is no direction/reference for DPI as mentioned in your RTI application."

The following questions were asked of BSNL/ MTNL:

As a national Internet service Provider, does BSNL deploy DPI on any Internet network in India? If so, please provide details of equipment used, including, but not limited to

Hardware and software
Details of purchase (manufacturer, date, price)
Technical specifications

Please provide details of the nature of information obtained through DPI of Internet networks and clear details of what purpose such information is used for.

Please provide details and copy of documents pertaining to traffic management and traffic shaping policies followed by BSNL.

MTNL has responded to the application, while the response from BSNL is awaited. In response to the above questions, MTNL sent the following reply:

MTNL does not do any DPI.
a. 1(1), 1(2), 1(3): not applicable in view of reply 1 above
Not applicable in view of reply 1 above.
Not applicable in view of reply 1 above.

While MTNL has denied the deployment of DPI technology in their networks, it is interesting to note that they have avoided providing details of their traffic management policies.

For a scanned version of the response we got from the Department of Telecommunications, click here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/dot-response-to-rti-on-use-of-dpi-technology-by-isps

Gauging Users' Reactions Towards Zero Rating

Aadya Misra — 2015-11-25T15:30:14Z

In the ongoing debate about zero-rated plans and net neutrality, this blog post aims to study the possible effects of a survey conducted in Bangalore to gauge users' reactions towards such plans, and specifically "limited packs" offered by major telecom companies.

I would like to thank Amba Kak, on whose research the survey was conducted.

Zero-rating is the practice of not counting (aka “zero-rating”) certain traffic towards a subscriber’s regular Internet usage. There are different types of zero-rating that exist in the market.[1] For example, Facebook Free Basics or Internet.org as it was formerly known is a platform which provides limited content to subscribers, free of cost.[2] Airtel Zero is another such platform that provides free content to subscribers. Instead of charging these subscribers, the providers who choose to get on the platform are charged.[3]

Social media packs offered by major telecom companies are another variation of zero-rating. For a fraction of the price of regular data plans, users have access to apps like Facebook and Whatsapp. As per the Airtel website, a Whatsapp pack that allows 200 MB of Whatsapp for a month costs INR 46 in Karnataka.[4]

I conducted a small survey in Bangalore to determine the effects these limited social media packs have on users. I conducted interviews that were spread over five days in three different localities in Bangalore. I interviewed eight people and five recharge shops about their take on these limited packs.

I targeted two groups of users: new users of the Internet, and early adopters. The group of interviewees comprised of three university students, two shopkeepers, and three watchmen. I also talked to recharge shops in the neighbourhoods of the interviewees.

Through my research, I wanted to understand how users reacted to these social media packs, and gauge the popularity of these packs. This is where feedback from recharge shops would have been useful, however, what was surprising was that none of the shops I talked to offered these plans. Two out of the five shops had not even heard of Facebook or Whatsapp packs.

The fact that recharge shops did not offer these services made it difficult to identify subscribers of limited packs. I instead decided to talk to users of mobile internet, and discern their interest towards such packs. My questions followed a specific format: I’d find out which service provider the user subscribed to, their billing structure, their internet browsing patterns, whether they had heard of limited packs, and their interest towards such packs. Out of the people I interviewed, only three expressed interest towards these packs, Whatsapp in particular. For two of them, Whatsapp was the only service they used on their phones, and a Whatsapp pack seemed more useful to them than a regular data pack.

I also wanted to find out how much of an effect price played on the users while they chose a data plan. Even though a limited pack is substantially cheaper than a regular[5] data plan, six out of the eight users said they would choose an all-access data pack. Three of these six users expressed wariness towards such plans as they found the billing structures confusing. They were nervous about the possibility of being charged unfairly high rates in the accidental case of accessing services that were not provided by the limited packs. Further, three of the others were of the opinion than a regular data pack with full access to the internet was preferable to the limited access services provided by these packs.

From these interviews, one can assume that knowledge of these limited packs is low among both users and recharge shops, and the takers for the same are minimal. It would be hasty to jump to the conclusions from this admittedly anecdotal evidence, keeping in mind the small pool of interviewees, but it raises interesting questions with no easy answers: how great a factor is price for the users while choosing limited packs over regular internet packs? Perhaps more importantly, do these packs confine users to the walled garden, or will they venture out of it in order to access the whole Internet? [6]

My findings explore a tiny proportion of what users think about these plans. However, there is a long way to go for policy and regulation decisions.

[1]. The Background Paper to CIS Submission for TRAI Consultation on Regulatory Framework for OTT Services which can be found here: http://trai.gov.in/comments/24-April/Attachments-75/2015-04-24_CIS-background-paper_Net-neutrality.pdf

[2]. Facebook, Reliance Communications launch Internet.org in India by Nimish Sawant for Firstpost

[3]. Airtel Offers Customers Free Access to Select Apps With 'Airtel Zero'

[4]. The tariff rates can be found here.

[5]. For example, an Airtel Whatsapp pack is less than half the price of a one month 2G connection

[6]. Zero for Conduct by Susan Crawford for Backchannel

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/gauging-users-reactions-towards-zero-rating

The Telecom Crisis is an NPA Problem

Shyam Ponappa — 2019-12-15T07:26:50Z

After interim relief for telecom, structural reforms must follow.

The article originally published in Business Standard on November 7, 2019 was also mirrored on Organizing India Blogspot

The Committee of Secretaries to mitigate financial stress in telecom must act quickly on interim measures for the sector to survive. But is its mere survival sufficient for India’s development and growth? Is it possible to fix telecom in isolation?Our communications needs are very poorly served, although at rock-bottom prices. Is it even possible for our hapless citizens and enterprises to get past shoddy services and productivity foregone, to trade with other countries on a more even footing?

Yes, if we succeed at major structural changes, starting with telecom. But to transform telecom, the government and all of us have to come to the stark realisation that just as finance drives the economy, digitisation and communications have to be at the heart of production and delivery. Telecom and digitisation are strategic enablers for all infrastructure and in all sectors. Leading countries are so far ahead and functioning so effectively that it is difficult for us to imagine. We must want that path, plan for it, and put in the requisite effort.

Simply tweaking overdue payments, tinkering to reduce charges, and plugging along as before isn’t going to get us there. In this sense, the Committee’s charter is too limited. All it can do is assuage the pain, whereas our need is for a revitalised industry to serve our purposes.If the Committee’s scope were broader, could we actually adopt digitisation as our core strategy for development and growth? A study on China, “Telecommunications reforms in China”, about the transformation in policies to make digitisation its development priority, is instructive.1

Their approach to reforms was to balance the government’s aims of universal coverage, governance and control, and efficiency; industry’s profit-seeking; and the people and enterprises’ needs for freer, more rapid communications. This is what we need to do, in a way that works for us.Also, the government, the judiciary, the press and users need to understand and accept that the telecom crisis is part of the larger non-performing assets (NPAs) problem. It has systemic links to NPAs and banking, which links to real estate and construction, electricity and roads, and stable and predictable taxes. Government payment delays and tax terrorism must stop. Business as usual will not resolve NPAs soon to enable growth. These two articles explain why and deserve attention.2

Essentially, entities that take deposits need Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulation. In a crisis, people with domain expertise and capacity must be appointed to take immediate steps to protect assets and operations, as with Satyam or IL&FS, because seizing/freezing assets often hurts depositors and creditors. A bureaucratic process as with the Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative bank is likely to result in yet another zombie bank, burning depositors’ money just to stay alive.The Committee’s focus should be on cash flows, modelling cash flows and their timing, not just the present value of discounted flows, or other extraneous emotional, political, or judicial/administrative reasons.

Employment is a legitimate consideration, but has to be sustainable, with timely cash generation. Else, other sources of timely cash support must be arranged, because without sustained cash flows, no gambit or subsidy can succeed (and maintaining unproductive employment will not be possible). Some fixes need major legislative changes to policies.

BSNL & MTNL

On BSNL and MTNL, a recent article sets the context and explains why the revival plan is unrealistic.3 In short, these poorly supported and much-abused enterprises have so much debt that earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation would have to be at least 35 per cent. Governments have used them as market spoilers as with Air India, precipitating unsustainable price wars that gutted the industry.An alternative is to downsize, re-skill as needed, and retain the public sector entities (as one or both) in the role of security-and-public-interest-anchors in infrastructure consortiums. These must be run by the private sector (and in strategic areas, by defence). This will facilitate policies such as assigning spectrum for payment on usage without auctions, and extending Wi-Fi to 60 GHz and 6 GHz (details at: https://organizing-india .blogspot.com/2019/10/extend-tax-cut-logic-to-infrastructure .html, and https://organizing-india.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-great-start-on-wi-fi-reforms.html).

Weak Financial Systems

The Committee needs to apprehend and convey the need to strengthen financial institutions. Financial systems provide second-order infrastructure for productive activity and wellbeing. They need an adequate underlay of first-order, basic infrastructure, comprising communications, energy, water, waste, sewerage, and transport, leaving aside housing and the basics of security, and law and order. While most of us take these for granted, there should be no doubt about how critical these attributes are, and that they are being eroded and increasingly at risk because of social disorder and economic inadequacies. In addition, basic health care and education are essential adjuncts for the supply of trainable people to operate these sectors.

Until some years ago, despite weak infrastructure, financial systems were among India’s real strengths, although eroded periodically by disruptions resulting in NPAs. However, there was strength in the professional capacity of this sector that held up in spite of the pressures. Over time, these institutions have been severely degraded, through laxity, complicity, pressures for evergreening, the abrupt imposition of credit quality and NPAs, the extent of frauds because of lax or complicit supervision and the reputational damage, the buffeting from demonetisation and pressures to cross-sell products such as insurance. Governments need to understand this and support building professionalism, avoiding melas and waivers.

The scope of the Committee could be expanded to set the objectives of telecom and digitisation in the interests of governance, industry, and users, and to outline next steps. They could consider the experience of China and others such as Sweden for this vast effort, while addressing linkages and NPA issues. Perhaps, they could be exemplars by setting the tone for a national approach that is not departmental and becomes bipartisan, and helps to move away from our abrasive, confrontational politics that leads to deadlocks.

Becky P.Y. Loo, October 2004: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227426547_Telecommunications_reforms_in_China_Towards_an_analytical_framework
Debashis Basu, October 27, 2019: https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/how-to-fix-the-pmc-bank-crisis-119101400006_1.html October 13, 2019: https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/lessons-from-pmc-why-govt-is-responsible-for-co-operative-bank-crises-119102700620_1.html
Rahul Khullar, October 31, 2019: https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/don-t-bet-on-bsnl-mtnl-s-revival-119103100040_1.html

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/shyam-ponappa-business-standard-and-organizing-india-blogspot-november-7-2019-telecom-crisis-is-an-npa-problem

Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP): An Opportunity for Funding Rural Internet Connectivity in India

abhishek — 2021-12-14T02:12:53Z

A paper titled "Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP): An Opportunity for Funding Rural Internet Connectivity in India" authored by CIS' researcher Abhishek Raj got published in the book "Community Networks: Towards Sustainable Funding Models". This book was released at the United Nations Internet Governance Forum(IGF) 2021, and is also the official outcome of the IGF Dynamic Coalition on Community Connectivity (DC3).

Internet connectivity has become important for socio-economic development of any region, especially the rural and remote regions. However, a major population of the world including India still remains unconnected to the internet. The traditional ‘top-down’ approach for enabling connectivity has proved to be insufficient for rural and remote areas. In this paper, we discuss an alternative ‘bottom-up’ sustainable multistakeholder model for enabling connectivity in rural India which has an active involvement of the village community through ‘Gram Panchayats’ (also known as Village Council). We also discuss the funding mechanism for this model through ‘Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP)’. We suggest that ‘Internet for Development’ be included as one of the cross-cutting development areas in the GPDP to fund access to the internet in villages.

Click here to access full PDF of the paper. (Refer p. 129- 146). The author extends thanks to co-authors of the paper Dr. Sarbani Banerjee Belur and Ritu Srivastava.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/gpdp-an-opportunity-for-funding-rural-internet

Opinion: Delicensing 6 GHz, 60 GHz bands is crucial to improve Wi-Fi scenario in India

abhishek — 2022-01-03T15:30:43Z

Recently, there has been growing demand from industry bodies and associations to delicense 6 GHz and 60 GHz bands in India.

The article by Abhishek Raj was published by the News Minute on December 21, 2021.

The Wi-Fi space has become a lot more exciting with the emergence of new Wi-Fi standards such as Wi-Fi 6E (the latest generation of Wi-Fi) and WiGig (that uses the V-band and offers advantages such as faster gigabit speeds). These standards require airwaves in 6 GHz and 60 GHz frequency bands to operate. As a consequence, governments and telecom regulators across the globe are deliberating on policy options for spectrum allocation in the aforementioned bands.

Stakeholders are divided on the issue of allocating 6 GHz and 60 GHz bands in India. For instance, there are certain telcos who strongly oppose delicensing these bands and demand a licensed framework with the use of auctions for allocation. As per their argument, delicensing the said bands will put their investments at risk and upset a level playing field. Whereas, on the other side, US tech majors Cisco and Intel, alongside industry bodies and forums such as the ITU-APT Foundation of India and Broadband India Forum, are in favor of delicensing. Notably, the delicensed/ unlicensed frequency bands are “free to use” by anyone, and the users need not pay any fees or obtain a license (right to use) from the government. On the contrary, licensed bands come with a “right to exclusive use” and are usually allocated through auction. They have associated costs including auction amount, license fees, usage charges, etc.

In this article, I argue that the government should consider delicensing the 6 GHz band and 60 GHz range in the V-band, simply known as the 60 GHz band, to meet the increasing data demand, provide a better connection experience, and, more importantly, unlock the economic value and potential of these bands.

Evolution of Wi-Fi Standards

Let us begin by understanding the fundamentals of Wi-Fi and its evolution over the years. Wi-Fi is a wireless networking technology based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 802.11. To keep things simple, consider ‘Wi-Fi’ a user-friendly name for IEEE 802.11 standard. Since its advent in 1997, Wi-Fi has become an indispensable wireless technology alongside mobile technology. The term ‘Wi-Fi’ is used synonymously with the internet by many users as a result of its widespread use in providing an interface with the internet.

IEEE 802.11 standards have evolved over the years, from 802.11a to 802.11ax. Again, these terms don’t sound so user-friendly, and for this reason, Wi-Fi alliance, a non-profit organisation that owns Wi-Fi trademark, came up with simplified generational names such as Wi-Fi 4, Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6, etc. The most recent Wi-Fi 6E [read Wi-Fi 6th generation- extended] is a simplified name for IEEE 802.11 ax standard. Needless to say, every new generation of Wi-Fi brings greater speed, lower latency, and a better user experience.

Benefits of Wi-Fi 6E & WiGig: Case for Delicensing

In addition to the pre-existing growth in demand for data, the COVID-19 pandemic has escalated data requirements due to the radical shift to work-from-home, online classes, etc. Dependence on Wi-Fi has increased in parallel to meet this increase in demand. On the other hand, India has only around 700 MHz of spectrum available for unlicensed use, concentrated majorly in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands which are currently used for Wi-Fi services in India. The 2.4 GHz band is already crowded, and the same is anticipated for the latter. In order to support the growing data demand, policymakers in India need to explore the option of opening up more unlicensed spectrum. Notably, the quantum of unlicensed spectrum in India is significantly lower than in other countries such as the USA, UK, China, Japan, and Brazil, all of which have approximately 15,000 MHz of unlicensed spectrum.

The policy reluctance of DoT to delicense more spectrum is partly because of fear of losing out on revenues which licensed spectrum generates, and partly because of a narrow interpretation of Supreme Court’s 2012 judgement. However, considering the recent developments in Wi-Fi, 6 GHz and 60 GHz bands appear to be ideal candidates for creating more unlicensed spectrum. Let us explore this further.

Unlike its previous versions, which operated in either the 2.4 GHz or the 5 GHz band, Wi-Fi 6E operates in the 6 GHz band. The 6 GHz band contains radio frequencies between 5.925 and 7.125 GHz, and is much wider than the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. The wide channels, along with other distinct features such as lesser interference, enable Wi-Fi 6E to perform with better speeds, even in multi-user connected, congested, and dense networks.

Furthermore, Wi-Fi 6E is a new and niche technology, whose market will undoubtedly develop in the coming years. Indian telecom hardware and software companies have the opportunity to capture a chunk of this market in India as well as globally. We know that service provision in unlicensed bands is less expensive, and thus attracts a lot of innovations. We need to open up the 6 GHz band very soon to foster innovations by indigenous companies. We took a late call on delicensing the 5 GHz band which affected the prospects of Indian innovators and companies. We can’t afford to repeat this.

Similarly, we have WiGig – another exciting Wi-Fi technology. WiGig uses the V-band’s 60 GHz range (i.e., airwaves between 57-71 GHz frequency) to operate. The V-band offers advantages such as faster gigabit speeds and lack of interference due to oxygen absorption within its frequency range, making this band ideal for shared unlicensed use. The government launched a public Wi-Fi initiative of India known as PM-WANI in December 2020. PM-WANI aims to promote broadband in the country through the deployment of public Wi-Fi access points. Supporting such a dense deployment of Wi-Fi access points would require a “fiber speed” backbone. However, cost structure and right-of-way hurdles may be prohibitive for the deployment of fiber backhaul in dense urban environments. WiGig offers a cost-efficient wireless backhaul solution as an alternative to fiber backhaul, with multigigabit speeds and reliability similar to fiber. Delicensing the 60 GHz band can thus especially benefit PM-WANI, because of its potential to provide alternative backhaul solutions.

It is important to remember that unlicensed bands for Wi-Fi access have significant economic value. Although unlicensed bands do not generate direct revenue for the government through auctions, spectrum usage charges, etc., the economic value of unlicensed Wi-Fi is huge. According to a report by Wi-Fi Alliance, the global economic value of Wi-Fi will reach Rs 362 lakh crore (USD 4.9 trillion) by 2025. A BIF (Broadband India Forum) report authored by Prof. Rekha Jain estimates the economic value of Wi-Fi in unlicensed spectrum bands (2.4 GHz, 5GHz, 6 GHz, and 60 GHz) for 2025 to be INR 12.7 lakh crore in India. A major concern raised by telcos recently is that the government might lose out on revenue if 6 GHz and 60 GHz bands are delicensed instead of licensing and sold through auction. However, this concern seems to be evidently misplaced due to the huge economic potential of these bands, as also pointed out by other experts.

Several other jurisdictions have already started delicensing these bands. Almost 35 countries, including the USA, UK, Brazil, UAE, and Korea have delicensed the 6 GHz band, and several others are considering the same. Similarly, around 70 countries across the globe have delicensed the V-band in the 60 GHz range.

Conclusion

Wi-Fi 6E and WiGig are exciting technologies with numerous benefits and will play a crucial role in improving the Wi-Fi scenario in India. Had the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands not been delicensed in the past, could we have even imagined a Wi-Fi revolution? The government must consider delicensing the 6 GHz and 60 GHz bands to bring in the next Wi-Fi revolution.

(The author is thankful to Arindrajit Basu and Isha Suri for their review and suggestions.)

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/the-news-minute-december-21-2021-abhishek-raj-opinion-delicensing-6-ghz-60-ghz-bands-crucial-improve-wi-fi-scenario-india

August 2014 Bulletin

praskrishna — 2014-10-04T06:09:57Z

Eighth issue of the newsletter (August 2014) below:

We at the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) welcome you to the eighth issue of the newsletter (August 2014). Archives of our newsletters can be accessed at: http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters

Highlights

CIS published a policy guide on Privacy in Healthcare that seeks to understand the legal regulations governing data flow in the health sector - particularly hospitals, and how these regulations are implemented.
Nehaa Chaudhari wrote two articles on the Karnataka Goondas Act in Spicy IP. The first one is an overview on the various provisions of the law and discusses the potential impact of the amendment . The second one is a note on legislative competence .

Andhra Loyola College and CIS entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to steward the growth of Telugu Wikipedia and to make available free knowledge in Telugu to all Telugus across the globe.
In July 2014, the Department of Biotechnology and the Department of Science, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India released a draft Open Access Policy. CIS participated in discussions along with experts brought on board by the Drafting Committee to develop and review the open access policy. As a follow-up, CIS prepared comments to the draft Policy .

Anandini K. Rathore wrote a report on the second privacy and surveillance roundtable held in New Delhi at the India International Centre on July 4, 2014.
As part of its project on mapping cyber security experts in Asia with funding from Citizen's Lab, CIS interviewed Tibetan monkGyanak Tsering and Saumil Shah, security expert.

Published a white paper on content removal best practices and put it up for feedback. The draft paper has been created to frame the discussion towards the creation of a set of principles for intermediary liability in consultation with groups of Internet-focused NGOs and the academic community.
Shyam Ponappa's monthly column Transformation, or Drift? published in Business Standard and Organizing India Blogspot was mirrored on the CIS website.
P.P. Sneha blogged on the emergence of the phenomenon of the alt-academy in the West and the nuances and possibilities of such a space in the Indian context .

Accessibility and Inclusion

Under a grant from the Hans Foundation we are doing two projects. The first project is on creating a national resource kit of state-wise laws, policies and programmes on issues relating to persons with disabilities in India. CIS in partnership with CLPR (Centre for Law and Policy Research) compiled the National Compendium of Policies, Programmes and Schemes for Persons with Disabilities (29 states and 6 union territories). The updated draft is being reviewed by the Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities. The draft chapters and the quarterly reports can be accessed on the project page. The second project is on developing text-to-speech software for 15 Indian languages. The progress made so far in the project can be accessed here.

NVDA and eSpeak

Monthly Update

Work Report for August (by Suman Dogra, August 31, 2014).

Blog Entry

Smartphones and the Return to Dependency (by Anandhi Viswanathan, August 30, 2014).

Participation in Event

Towards an Accessible Internet for People with Disabilities (organized by International Centre for Free and Open Source Software and ISOC Australia, Delhi, August 4, 2014). Sunil Abraham was a speaker at this workshop organized as part of APrIGF.

Access to Knowledge

Blog Entries

Preventive Detention for Copyright Violation: Karnataka Amends the 'Goondas' Act (by Nehaa Chaudhari, August 13, 2014).

Karnataka Goondas Act - A note on Legislative Competence (by Nehaa Chaudhari, August 28, 2014).

Interviews with App Developers: [dis]regard towards IPR vs. Patent Hype - Part II (by Samantha Cassar, August 14, 2014).

Openness

Submission

Comments on the Department of Biotechnology and Department of Science Open Access Policy (by Anubha Sinha, August 22, 2014).

Participation in Event

Connecting the Next Two Billion: The Role of FOSS (organized by ICFOSS, Noida, August 4, 2014). Sunil Abraham was a speaker at this workshop held as part of the APrIGF.

Wikipedia

Announcement

Andhra Loyola College and the Centre for Internet & Society sign MoU for Better Net Access (by Rahmanuddin Shaik, August 19, 2014): Ten theosophical books authored by Rev. Fr. P. Jojaiah, SJ were released under free license (CC-BY-SA-4.0); For the first time an educational institution in the state of Andhra Pradesh is signing an MoU with CIS-A2K to work collaboratively to qualitatively improve Telugu Wikipedia; ALC faculty and students will create free e-content in Telugu on Telugu Wikipedia; Digital content from the fields of Botany, Physics, Chemistry, Telugu, Statistics, Ethics and Religion, Music and Dance will be produced on Telugu Wikipedia.

News and Media Coverage

CIS-A2K team gave its inputs to the following media coverage:

Now, Christ students will contribute to Wikipedia (by H.M.Shruthi, Deccan Herald, August 5, 2014).

CIS-A2K Signs MoU with Andhra Loyola College in Vijayawada (Eenadu, August 15, 2014).

ALC signs MoU for better net access (The Hindu, August 15, 2014).

Participation in Event

Konkani Global Enclave (organized by Jagotik Konknni Songhotton, Kalaangann, Shaktinagar, August 24, 2014). T. Vishnu Vardhan participated in the event.

Internet Governance

Privacy

Policy Guide

Privacy in Healthcare: Policy Guide (by Tanvi Mani, August 26, 2014).

Event Report

Second Privacy and Surveillance Roundtable (by Anandini K Rathore, August 6, 2014).

Blog Entries

Surat's Massive Surveillance Network Should Cause Concern, Not Celebration (by Joe Sheehan, August 3, 2014).

Learning to Forget the ECJ's Decision on the Right to be Forgotten and its Implications (by Divij Joshi, August 14, 2014).

Participation in Events

Learning Event - The Internet and Economic, Cultural and Social Rights (organized by the International Development Research Centre and Association for Progressive Communications, August 8 - 10, 2014). Sunil Abraham was a remote participant.

Understanding Surveillance and Privacy in India (organized by Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, August 28, 2014). Bhairav Acharya delivered a lecture.

Free Speech

White Paper

Zero Draft of Content Removal Best Practices White Paper (by Jyoti Panday, August 31, 2014).

News & Media Coverage

CIS gave its inputs to the following media coverage:

'I'm going to ruin you, dear' (by Prasun Chaudhuri with additional reporting by Varuna Verma in Bangalore, August 3, 2014).
We the goondas (by Shyam Prasad, Bangalore Mirror, August 4, 2014).
Sunil Abraham | The online warrior (by Anirban Sen, Livemint, August 9, 2014).
Dot Bharat domain to roll out on August 21 (originally published by IANS and mirrored in FirstPost, August 19, 2014).
The Uncertain Future of India's Plan to Biometrically Identify Everyone (by Jessica Mckenzie, TechPresident, August 28, 2014).
Will domain dot भारत spur the growth of Indian languages on the internet? (by Rohan Venkataramakrishnan, August 29, 2014).
SC seeks govt reply on PIL challenging powers of IT Act (by Shreeja Sen, Livemint, August 30, 2014).

Cyber Stewards

As part of its project on mapping cyber security actors in South Asia and South East Asia with the Citizen Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto and the International Development Research Centre, Canada, CIS conducted 2 new interviews. With this it has finished a total of 21 interviews:

Video Interviews

Saumil Shah (August 30, 2014).

Gyanak Tsering (August 31, 2014).

Telecom

Newspaper Column

Transformation, or Drift? (by Shyam Ponappa, Business Standard, August 6, 2014 and Organizing India Blogspot, August 7, 2014).

Blog Entry

"OTTs Eating Into Our Revenue": Telcos in India (by Geetha Hariharan, August 7, 2014).

Digital Humanities

Blog Entry

Digital Humanities and the Alt-Academy (by P.P. Sneha, August 19, 2014).

About CIS

► Follow us elsewhere

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CISA2K
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k
Visit us at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge
E-mail: a2k@cis-india.org

► Support Us

Please help us defend consumer / citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of 'The Centre for Internet and Society' and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru - 5600 71.

► Request for Collaboration:

We invite researchers, practitioners, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, atsunil@cis-india.org or Nishant Shah, Director - Research, at nishant@cis-india.org. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia, write to T. Vishnu Vardhan, Programme Director, A2K, at vishnu@cis-india.org.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/august-2014-bulletin

Consultation Paper on Promoting Local Telecom Equipment Manufacturing

Admin — 2018-01-02T15:55:57Z

Rohini Lakshané and Prof. Contreras's Vanderbilt paper was quoted in this TRAI consultation paper.

To read the submission on TRAI website, click here
To read CIS comments on local telecom equipment manufacturing, click here

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/news/consultation-paper-on-promoting-local-telecom-equipment-manufacturing

NPAs & Structural Issues

Shyam Ponappa — 2018-01-05T13:32:32Z

To fix one you need to fix the others.

The article was published in the Business Standard on October 4, 2017 and Organizing India Blogspot on October 5, 2017.

An aspect of financial services often overlooked is that they serve as second-order infrastructure, essential for commerce, industry, and daily living. A disruption in the financial sector slows everything by cutting productivity. Other reasons for decline, such as structural issues in power supply, telecom/broadband, and in farming, are accepted as part of the landscape. That is why devising corrective measures is not so simple. Setting aside political considerations, misattribution does not help in problem-solving. Resolution needs root causes to be identified and addressed.

Consider the example of the guillotine approach to non-performing assets (NPAs). Imagine if an inspection of water and sanitation in your locality were to result in the shutting off of the water supply because conditions are deemed unsanitary. There would be a scramble for sourcing water, while economic activity and productivity would tank. What if it were a metropolis, or the whole country?

This is what happened with the abrupt change in booking NPAs. From around 2.5 per cent between 2006 until 2011, they began to rise in 2012 (see Chart 1).

Public sector banks in particular responded to the government’s accommodative efforts after the 2008 crisis. As growth fell, NPAs rose, especially for long-gestation, regulation-dependent infrastructure loans. In 2015, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) adopted a hard line as the economy was gaining momentum after slumping in 2014 to 6 per cent. Earlier, the RBI was faulted for allowing the ever-greening of loans. An abrupt change without a gradual coming to terms to manage cash flows resulted in a crisis.

Leaving aside malpractice/fraud, NPAs resulted from factors such as aggressive, unsustainable lending, regulatory delays, the domestic and global slowdown, and commodity price shocks, as when export duties were imposed in Australia and Indonesia on coal. Cash flows drive demand, and a weak economy can make or break a business.

Apart from crippling banking and financial services, the consequences of the NPA shock were enormous, especially for sectors such as iron and steel, construction, power, telecom, transport, and agriculture, with knock-on effects on MSMEs across sectors. Could a phased, more gradual, differentiated approach have yielded better results? Probably, just as when water supply fails, interim arrangements involving pipes, equipment and tankers have to be made to tide over the crisis. For stressed loans, the requirements were for a differentiated approach to the category of wrongdoing, including overreach, and support for stressed sectors undergoing a downturn. The need was and is to prevent disruption in cash flows from a systemic perspective, conserving employment and assets in untainted enterprises with the potential for recovery. This also retains momentum and market sentiment to the extent possible.

Ways Out?

NPAs in the mid-90s were outrageously high. Yet, what followed especially after 2003 was high growth until the global financial crisis of 2008. The NPAs were reduced and ceased to be a problem (see Chart 1). One explanation is that banks did significant NPA provisioning from profits in bond trading, as interest rates on 10-year government bonds fell 8.1 per cent from 1997 to 2003. A booming economy from 2003 did the rest, although there were no changes in the underlying causes that led to the NPAs. Hence, bond trading could be a way out provided interest rates fall, and so could economic growth.
Regarding interest rates, the dilemma is of high rates for domestic savings because people save with banks in India, and for foreign investors in bonds, against low rates for consumer demand and for capital investment. Given our acute need for growth and misaligned real interest rates, this needs rectification (see Chart 2).
There’s a need to insulate banking from political influence, while ensuring rigorous procedures for evaluation and monitoring. Any system can be gamed, however, and to work well, players need competence, integrity, and the freedom to exercise both. Banks are not well suited for funding long-gestation infrastructure because their deposits are more short-term. This is an institutional and market deficiency that needs to be bridged through developing bond markets, and channeling long-duration funding from pensions and insurance.
There are compounding effects from imposing the Aadhaar/UID without the requisite connectivity, processes and safeguards, likewise the hasty imposition of the goods and service tax (GST). There is little doubt of benefits when properly applied, but that needs time and support for thorough implementation; meanwhile, the immediate need is for relief. Rescue measures are needed to lighten the burden of the GST and its reporting requirements on MSMEs (up to a higher ceiling?) over a long period. Interim solutions could be flat rates for a larger set, augmented by support for implementation.
Meanwhile, structural issues resulting in NPAs need to be fixed. Three obvious areas:

Farming, with its large population, small holdings, outmoded practices, low productivity, and the issues around pricing. Pricing is an essential aspect, as are direct benefits, for example, subsidies through cash transfers depending on income. But simply increasing farm prices addresses only one aspect of a multifaceted problem. What’s needed is to change the way production and marketing are organised. Practicable strategies are needed for produce, perhaps like the approach in dairy farming for milk production and marketing. Systems need be designed (worked out) and implemented properly, with design elements to promote and safeguard honest, competent, disciplined behaviour.
Telecom and broadband services need policies based on a complete change of mindset and market structure, such as shared networks and equipment including spectrum, protection from anti-competitive action, and revenue sharing instead of auctions.
Electricity supply: Power generation and distribution are both stressed by low economic activity, while many states continue with lax practices of under-recoveries for electioneering.This cannot be resolved as long as profligacy and indiscipline continue.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-shyam-ponappa-october-5-2017-npas-and-structural-issues

Centre for Internet and Society

An Interview with PK Garg

Digital India Needs These Policy Changes

A Market Structure for Digital India

The Triad of Interests

Assumptions about Enabling Policies

Seminar on Quality of Services in Telecom and Data Services: Issues, Challenges and Solutions

Video

Comments to the (Draft) Indian Telecommunication Bill

June 2014 Bulletin

Highlights

NVDA and eSpeak

Wikipedia

Freedom of Expression

Privacy

February 2012 Bulletin

Accessibility

Featured Research

Event

Access to Knowledge

Blog Entry

Video

Openness

Comments

Event Report

Interview

Events

Internet Governance

Featured Research

Media Coverage

Event Reports

Event Hosted

Blog Entry

Other Events

Videos

Telecom

Featured Research

Interview

Job Announcement

Digital Natives with a Cause?

Events

Book Review

Newsletter

News and Media Coverage

Follow us elsewhere

Use of DPI Technology by ISPs — Response by the Department of Telecommunications

Gauging Users' Reactions Towards Zero Rating

The Telecom Crisis is an NPA Problem

Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP): An Opportunity for Funding Rural Internet Connectivity in India

Opinion: Delicensing 6 GHz, 60 GHz bands is crucial to improve Wi-Fi scenario in India

Evolution of Wi-Fi Standards

Benefits of Wi-Fi 6E & WiGig: Case for Delicensing

Conclusion

August 2014 Bulletin

Highlights

NVDA and eSpeak

Openness

Wikipedia

Privacy

Free Speech

Cyber Stewards

Consultation Paper on Promoting Local Telecom Equipment Manufacturing

NPAs & Structural Issues

Ways Out?