Broadband - Voip

Almost every blog on blogger has been washed away. I have checked atleast 40-50 blogs and they all return an error 500 message. I opened my own blogger account and went into templets and there is a nice little message which says blogger is down and please visit wordpress.org as it is a very good blog hosting site. Looks like some hacker just thought lets screw google and see what happens or may be some one just did it for fun dont know or am i just being stupid and wordpress and blogger are friends and as blogger is down wordpress is being offered as an option by blogger guys?

I have been blogging since 4-5 months now on blogger and i have a lot of stuff which i did a lot of hard work on and i am just hoping that it is backed up and will be restored soon or else i am not returning to blogger again ever in my life
If you have any info on this please share it with us all by replying to this post.

I just thought I would share this experience with you guys can try this and some of you can benefit with this.
My friend lives in India at New delhi and I live in UK and have a 10mbps connection and my friend is a webmaster aswell so he some times needs to download and upload large files and so on. He has a 256kbps bsnl broadband connection….

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I have been a subscriber of stanaphone’s VOIP service for more then 2 years now and it has always been wonderful until recently when i tried to use it from India to call Canada and UK land line numbers, all it did was ring and then the thing just dies and charges put on on my account. I guess its the govt of India playing around with VOIP services again or may be something wrong with stanaphone’s end. Hope things get sorted out soon coz i use stana phone on a daily basis and its a pain not being able to call certain destinations.

So, Here is my Step-By-Step guide to configuring a Wi-Fi network with BSNL broadband DataOne. Though many wireless routers claim that it is a no-brainer setup to configure the wireless network, I found it to be not as easy as it looks to be. For example, NetGear comes with a wizard that never works with BSNL broadband connected via HUAWEI SmartAX 880. For those of you desperate to take your BSNL DataOne broadband wireless, follow these steps. It took me more than 2 days to figure and come out with these configuration details.

Before I start, let me share what I have:

1)BSNL DataOne 256Kbps connection.
2)HUAWEI SmartAX MT880 (The modem supplied by BSNL).
3)NetGear WGR614v5

There are 2 steps to configuring your wireless network. First, you have to change the default settings of the SmartAX MT880 modem and configure it to enable PPPoE (PPP over Ethernet). Second, you have to configure the NetGear Router to talk to the modem.

Keep your modem, wireless router and your username and password from BSNL handy before you proceed to the next step.

If you want to change your existing configuration, take a backup of your configuration. This guide is to build your network from the ground-up.

1)Configuring and testing your Bsnl Broadband connection
·Setup the modem as per the instructions mentioned in the manual. Ensure that the RJ11 (thin) cable from the splitter is connected to the ADSL port and the RJ45 cable connects your machine to the Ethernet port of the modem.

·Change the IP properties of your Ethernet card to the following:
192.168.1.2
255.255.255.0
192.168.1.1

·Open the browser and type http://192.168.1.1 to go to the HUAWEI configuration tool.

·Enter ‘admin’ as username and ‘admin’ as password

·Expand the Home node and select the WAN Setting

·Under this web page, configure the following:
PVC Number – PVC 0
Wan Type – PPP
Connection Type – PPPoE
VPI/VCI – 0 / 35
Default Route - Enabled
User Name –
Password –
Use DNS – Enabled
Max Idle Time – Always On

·Click on Apply and allow the modem to restart.

·Close the browser window

·Open the browser and type http://192.168.1.1

·Enter ‘admin’ as username and ‘admin’ as password

·You should see the Summary page. The Status is normally Red indicating that the connection is not ON.

·Click on the Plug icon in the Note column to connect.

·After the Connecting message, you should see the summary page again with the Status turning Green. Notice the IP Address and the Gateway Address.

·Expand Tools node and click on Misc.

·Type www.msn.com and click on Ping

·You should see Ping Result: Successful

·Click on the Lan Settings link under the Advanced node.

·Configure the following:
IP Address – 192.168.1.90
Subnet Mask – 255.255.255.0(/24)
Local Domain Name – Blank

·Click on Apply and allow the modem to restart

·Open the Network properties of your Ethernet card and change the IP properties to the following

IP Address – 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask – 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway – 192.168.1.90
Preferred DNS server – 61.1.96.69 (BSNL DNS Server IP)
Alternate DNS server – 61.1.96.71 (BSNL DNS Server IP)

·Open your browser and type your favorite URL. You should be online by this time!

2)Configuring the Wireless Router and enabling the WPA security
·Connect the network cable from the NetGear wireless router to the machine.

·Open the IP Properties of your Network card and Enable DHCP. Select the following on the IP properites dialog.
Obtain IP Address Automatically
Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically

·Open the browser and type http://192.168.1.1/basicsetting.htm

·Enter ‘admin’ as username and ‘password’ as the password

·Click on Wireless Settings link on the navigation pane and configure with the following values

Wireless Network
Name (SSID) -
Region – Asia
Channel – 11
Mode – g and b
Security Options
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)
Security Encryption (WEP)
Authentication Type – Automatic
Encryption Strength – 64bit
Security Encryption (WEP) Key
Passphrase -
·Click on Generate

·Record the value of Key1 – This is required when you log on to your Wi-Fi network the first time.

·Click on Apply and wait till the router reboots
(Wireless will not be enabled till you complete the next step)

·Click on the Basic Settings link on the left side navigation pane and configure the following

Does your Internet connection require a login? – No
Account Name – blank
Domain Name – blank
Internet IP Address
Use Static IP Address
IP Address – 192.168.1.91
IP Subnet Mask – 255.255.255.0
Gateway IP Address – 192.168.1.90
Domain Name Server (DNS) Address
Use These DNS Servers
Primary DNS – 61.1.96.69
Secondary DNS – 61.1.96.71
Router MAC Address
Use Default Address
·Click on Apply and wait till the router restarts

·Connect the Network Cable coming from the ADSL Modem to the Wireless Router

Few things to remember –
·Don’t connect the ADSL Lan Cable to the Internet Uplink port of the Wireless Router. It never worked for me. Always connect it to one of the 4 ports excluding the designated Internet port.

·IP Addresses can be anything of your choice. But it is a good idea to follow the 192.168.x.x convention

·If you get lost any time, feel free to reset the configuration by poking a pin into the reset slot on the modem and the router.

·Don’t compromise on the security. Always enable WPA and save your key. Don’t let your friendly neighbors ride on your network!

Have a happy Wi-Fi surfing and drop a comment at BSNL broadband forum in case you want more inputs.

There has been a very significant change in internet connectivity in India recently, atleast since i moved out of there and when ever i go back to india for holidays every 3-4 months or so I find something new.

Back in 2001 i used to spend Rs5000-7000 per month on a dial up connection in new delhi that is aprox $110-140 per month on a very slow dial up connection as there were no cable connections or dsl connections available and we are talking the capital of India Newdelhi. These days you can get a devent 256kbps connection for less then rs800 per month with a daily cap of 150meg in day time but thats something which is going to go away in some time as competition increases.

State owned BSNL is all over the place with thier adsl services and they are actually already equipped with modems and exchange equipment capable of pushin data up to 22meg which is not bad given the fact that not even 5% exchanges in UK are capable of doing that. Given all these facts it all comes down to the price of a PC which is still up to 5 times the monthly salary of a normal 9-5 worker which is a shame. The days ahead look bright as the internet penetration is rising by the day and services are getting cheaper and people resorting to pirated operating systems and assembled PC’s yess the day isint far when India will have a huge population of nitizens and with that as you all know will come a revolution in the lives of Indians and a huge opportunity for the comman man.

The main isp’s in India like Sify broadband, MTNL, Reliance are keeping the masses from getting connecting by artificially keeping th eprices up, For example on of the cheapest options in Delhi is sify broadband and they charge up to 650rs per month for a 64kbps connection with a 150mb usage limit every day. Now compare this with a UK isp where you get a 8meg broadband connection with no usage caps for £10 a month whihc is aprox rs850 a month which is a true reflection of what these isp’s in India are depriving people of.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will soon introduce online tuition facility for X and XII standard students in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.

Customers having BSNL broadband connectivity could avail this facility free of cost, likely from Vijaya Dasami day, K Sridhara, Chief General Manager, Tamil Nadu Telecom Circle, Chennai said on Thursday.

Mr. Sridhara gave away Sanchar Seva Padak and Bharat Sanchar Sarathy Awards to BSNL employees belonging to the Pondicherry Telecom District. Later, speaking to The Hindu , he explained that the facility would first be offered to students of State Board syllabus. A decision to offer the facility in other streams would be taken later.

Once launched, e-tuition would cover all the subjects in the X standard, while it would be restricted to Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology subjects in the XII standard.

He said that expert tutors would be drawn from different streams to conduct classes for one hour, during evenings, on each day. Students could also chat with experts in subjects. There would no extra charge for the online tuition facility, he added.

He informed that this was only one of the new schemes planned to increase the broadband subscriber base in the region. At present, it had 30,000 subscribers and BSNL hoped to increase the subscriber base to one lakh with the introduction of the new scheme.

New scheme

He also said that in the next few weeks, new schemes for pre-paid cellular subscribers would be introduced.

“The pricing would be highly competitive for some schemes. Special schemes, with attractive SMS features targeting the students, would be the highlight,” he noted. Ten per cent of the exchanges in the region had achieved zero fault and by next year another 600 exchanges would be geared to achieve the zero fault, he pointed out.

Earlier, along with T.S Kuppuswamy, Prinicipal General Manager, Operations, Tamil Nadu Telecom Circle, Mr. Sridhara distributed the awards.

Speaking on the occasion R. Marshal Antony Leo, General Manager, BSNL, Pondicherry said customer care centres would be opened in all telephone exchanges under its jurisdiction after a review of three centres that were opened recently.

Open standards and lower prices can drive the satcom market in a way not seen before

While the present broadband market in India has yet to fulfill the promise it holds, there is definitely a vast potential and a high possibility that the segment would really take off.

With huge amount of investments in the fiber backbone networks, from big players like BSNL, Reliance, VSNL, Railways, Bharti etc., the basic infrastructure to service the broadband market, whenever it materializes, seems already in place and is growing. The concern areas however are the last mile delivery of such services, the packaging of services and the consistency in quality of such services along with the price points at which such access is provided.

The vital ingredients for providing broadband services have now been more or less defined. Users today, demand one or more of the following:

High data rates not only for downloads but also for their transmit paths

Consistently high data rates irrespective of how the service provider manages his bandwidth allocations across his customer base

An ‘always-on’ connection, free from dialing hassles

And all these at affordable prices—both from upfront capital expenditure and the recurring perspective.

Other than the many options that have been increasingly deployed for such broadband services like DSL, cable modems, wireless solutions like Wi-Fi and shared radio links, there is the satellite option, that is really making huge inroads in this market the world over.

Traditionally, thought to be a solution for infrastructure-building, thin/medium route traffic and for connecting geographically dispersed locations, satellite now is emerging as a substitute to the above options for broadband delivery. Across the Asia-Pacific region, enterprise broadband services delivery through satellite is the fastest growing market amongst all the satellite based services, with countries like China leading the way.

The satellite-based Star networking market, so far most popular in North America, has arrived here and could rapidly increase the satellite share in the overall market. Star Broadband products today offer a high 2 Mbps return channel data rate on technologies like MF-TDMA.

Such technologies provide the platform for service providers like SpeedCast and Tatanet in India for broadband services. From their hubs in Mumbai and Hong Kong respectively, Tatanet and SpeedCast, provide an unprecedented offering of services by satellite to their customers, based on the latest technology that can sustain video conferencing or video and VoIP.

More and more advanced broadband applications have now become a reality—VoIP services provided by BT in Nigeria, telemedicine as implemented in China, distance education for more than 3500 schools all across Mexico in a government sponsored project etc.

These present-day broadband terminals also offer very high scalability starting from the lowest end of applications—the narrow-band point-of-sale kind of applications—going right up to the truly broadband streaming-video kind of applications.

Nevertheless, it is the present cost of terminals and also the space segment prices in many cases that prohibit a rapid growth in these broadband markets. The growth in terminal volumes is the key to reducing the cost of services to such enterprise markets.

The same is even more critical to consumer markets. Open standards are typically seen as the path to such high-volume, low-cost production and increased market size. The satcom markets, so far driven by a few players, have now entered this phase wherein standards are emerging and customers are gradually demanding open solutions. There are presently two major trends worldwide in satcom—the DVB-RCS standards for return channel via satellite, and the DOCSIS cable-modem standards over satellite.

DOCSIS: New World Standard?
DOCSIS or data over cable service interface specification started nearly seven years ago, is a standard for transporting data over cable modems, which is by far the leading broadband choice for consumers especially in North America. Today, DOCSIS has more than 10 million subscribers worldwide. This proven technology has been adapted to provide similar services on satellite now under the DOCSIS-S version, and has been already deployed by WildBlue in North America.

The development of DOCSIS for satellite began in the late 1990s with WildBlue Communications’ plan to bring broadband to homes in North America. It quickly became obvious that modifying traditional VSAT technology was going to leave monthly service costs too high, never reaching the $40 to $50 per month benchmark already set by alternatives such as cable and DSL. This led WildBlue to consider cutting the costs of bringing satellite-based broadband to the home by adapting the cable modem DOCSIS chips, back office systems and tested technology.

Beginning with a contract for WildBlue, DOCSIS-S came into being—a version modified for the physical attributes of satellite transmission. With the existing DOCSIS cable-modems being built around the third and fourth generation components, the DOCSIS-S has a headstart over other standards, in lowering the cost of consumer terminals, enabling easy self-installation for customers, and providing mature back office, billing and network control software to network providers. Pricing for such complete terminals are projected at around $500, depending on volumes and demand worldwide.

Another significant advantage of DOCSIS-S is that it would offer lower satellite bandwidth usage, which is usually the major cost in any network. Advanced modulation and turbo codes are combined with powerful, dynamic fade mitigation techniques to offer over 2.25 bps/Hz on the forward channel, which would result in a 100–150 percent higher capacity per transponder, compared to competing VSAT technologies.

As already mentioned, the upfront cost of the terminals is not the only cost that is going to spur the growth of this market; it is rather the recurring space segment cost, that of using the terminals that is more critical for this market. To take advantage of DOCSIS-S, it is therefore the newer satellite technologies like the use of spot-beams, Ka-band frequency use or on-board processing that would define the success of these markets. For example, spot-beams would allow focused footprints with very high power over a small region, say for every state in India. Moreover, spot-beams would also be adjustable so that they could be oriented to address specific regions. They would take advantage of frequency re-use like in GSM, thereby allowing more efficient usage of the spectrum.

While the DOCSIS-S terminals were initially planned to be launched on these newer Ka-band satellites, considering the time-to-market such services, these service have already been rolled-out on Ku-band satellites.

Already two of the world’s leading satellite operator/service provider companies have put their money behind it. While Intelsat has expressed great faith in the technology, evidenced by its new 30 percent ownership of WildBlue, Eutelsat is conducting trials of a DOCSIS-based system, with an eye towards rolling out consumer services sometime this year. Although both these players see the technology as a potential to create a hot market for consumer satellite broadband, currently it is still the enterprise market leading the way in emand.

IntelSat has further announced along with Orbit Data Systems Limited (ODSL), a network for a two-way, satellite-based broadband Internet access service to be available directly to consumers and small office/home office users in West Asia based on these standards. In a multi-year agreement, Intelsat will provide the integrated, end-to-end network connectivity, while ODSL will be responsible for sales, marketing and retail distribution of the service in the West Asian region, targeting more than 18,000 terminals in the first two years.

With the new Ka-band satellites with high-powered spot-beams and frequency re-use techniques, the efficiencies and price structure of DOCSIS-S would become even more attractive.

DVB-RCS: The Other Forerunner
Of course, DOCSIS-S still faces major competition from DVB-RCS (digital video broadcast-return channel satellite). This standard is being backed by the well-entrenched DVB Project, established in 1992 with more than 300 members.

DVB-RCS incorporates some of the latest technologies like turbo coding, MF-TDMA, MPEG and ATM encapsulation standards and is emerging a strong standard on the terminal-satellite air interface.

The key to DVB-RCS success would be inter-operability, defined as terminals from X-vendor to work on hub from Y-Vendor and vice versa. This is what would ultimately drive the prices down for the end-users. It is this inter-operability and other issues like certification, that need to be resolved fast so as to pass on the benefits of the technology to the end users. The initial feeling in the market is that due to these very reasons RCS terminals are slightly high-priced with tags of about $2500–$3000.

The universal observation therefore is that RCS would only be able to address the enterprise markets and not go right up to the more voluminous consumer or SOHO markets. But DVB-RCS is definitely the focus of a lot of research and development and that could provide it a competitive position soon, especially for enterprise networking.

Again it is giants like EutelSat that are driving the use of this technology, along with many big players like Alcatel jumping on the RCS band-wagon, as also new satellite ground-segment players like Nera, Newtec, EMS etc.

No Clear Winner
As it stands today, DOCSIS-S, with all its roll-outs, has a slight lead over DVB-RCS, which is still in the process of certifying systems. But DVB-RCS is not far behind and would make a very strong pitch the day it achieves inter-operability.

Eventually, with or without the standards, it is the performance of a product offering and at the right price-points, which counts, and that is what would come out tops. Also it is not by refurbishing old products or by cost-cutting that the broadband satellite market is going to expand. The broadband market growth is largely dependent on volumes driven by innovative technologies and dramatic reduction in prices so as to make satellite an option for the mass-markets rather than the class-markets only.

Ultimately, as the market grows beyond the critical rollout numbers, there may be no distinction between enterprise and consumer technologies. Already, the distinction between the markets is blurring with a growing number of in-home offices that cross over from business to home use during the course of a day. It is only time, that will uncover the future of satellite broadband technologies and standards that would finally drive the growth of markets through the services they can offer.

Over the past few months, there has been intense speculation and excitement over broadband in India. The broadband market here is being targeted by a number of large international players, as well as domestic giants like Bharti, Tata, Reliance and Sify. But the main projections for the growing broadband market have been made on the basis of BSNL’s aggressive approach towards broadband. The Indian broadband market is perhaps the only one presently where telecom giants, Internet service providers, cable operators and even the Indian Railways are fighting for a piece of the pie. This is therefore a good time to take a look at the market for broadband in India.

In order to understand the current market scenario for broadband, we need to first understand the evolution of communication in India. Two years ago, the Internet was driving the PC boom, and the mood relating to the IT industry was optimistic and ambitious. Even then, broadband Internet access in the Indian home seemed to be the most lucrative market.

According to Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director, Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT), “Broadband fever is getting more active in India, especially because the Government of India has taken some aggressive initiatives in this direction. In the overall development IT in India, broadband has a major role to play.” Nevertheless, Mehta points out that although broadband connections have reached the 1.5 million mark this year, this number is almost half of the actual target.

Says Dr Subho Ray, President of the Internet & Mobile Association of India, “The broadband market seemed very lucrative for a number of reasons. Over 35 million Indian households already possess cable TV connections. The players entering the broadband race estimated that even if a portion of this segment opted for a broadband connection, the potential market would be huge.”

A couple of years ago an Internet connection was an expensive affair and also slow. Things have changed for the better since then. Commenting on today’s broadband scene, Pijush Kanti Das, President, Access Media, Sify says, “After two years of frenzied activity, the talk of broadband Internet access has turned into reality.”

Having said that, the current market for broadband in India can at best be described as nascent. Notes Dr Ray, “This market is unlikely to grow in a major way unless there is a huge and rapid improvement in infrastructure. There is no doubt that the broadband market in India has taken off, but it can achieve far better penetration. In fact, it is still in its infancy as far as consumer uptake is concerned.”

The road ahead

Need to move on

• Evolving applications
• Gaming and entertainment content
• P2P sharing
• E-commerceMajor hurdles
• Reaching broadband to the end-customer
• Providing the last mile connection
• Keeping costs low
• Meeting consumer demand in every corner of the country

Growth drivers

Comments Das, “Among the drivers for broadband in India—apart from faster downloads—will be the overall increase in productivity and the overall value proposition of being connected. The end-user in India has been exposed to using the basic non-bandwidth intensive applications like chat and e-mail. Another key driver for this market is the affordability factor. Using the Internet while sitting at home was not so common earlier. But now, due to cheaper rates, a common man can also use a broadband connection.”

In fact, many Indian companies are giving Internet-related facilities to their employees, like providing everyone with an independent mail ID and a machine that has Internet access. Adds Das, “Applications such as video-on-demand, which are bandwidth-intensive, are still unheard of in the Indian market. It is important that demand for these applications be created, because until applications like these become available, broadband will not pick up in the home segment.”

It is expected that the price of broadband in India will fall. The market will also move in the direction of a small number of users using more capacity (unlimited connections). On the other hand, it is expected that a large number of people will be happy with capped connections where a bandwidth usage cap is in place, say of 1 GB.

MAIT indicates that the market is growing at a rapid pace but still there are some initiatives required to speed up penetration. A recent MAIT report says, “The number of active subscribers increased to 4.12 million in March 2006 while the figure was 3.12 million in March 2005. Penetration of the Internet in the top 22 cities was 45 percent among businesses while for households it was 12 percent. Dial-up remains the most commonly used means of accessing The Internet among businesses. Although the proportion of businesses using dial-up has dropped from 54 percent in March 2005 to 38 percent in March 2006, the proportion of access through DSL/cable link has increased from 29 percent to 37 percent during the same period.”

Issues to be addressed

One of the primary issues is the lack of customer volumes which are needed if service providers are to subsidise rates. And Mehta believes that unless and until there is availability of localised content on the Internet, the broadband adaptation rate among Indian customers is not going to pick up. “With the term ‘localised content,’ I mean to say content for local users which is of their interest. In fact, a lot of private companies are now coming up with localised content, but it has to be more aggressively driven.”

Das agrees. “This is a most important factor for the growth of the Internet in India. Sify has already identified the potential of local content, and now we are offering content in many Indian languages.”

Elaborating on what kind of local content can drive the market details: “Taking an example. In Japan, the broadband market is booming because of the online gaming availability. On similar lines, I can suggest that the Indian Internet market could get good mileage from the availability of Hindi films over the Internet. Since Indian society is inclined towards movies and songs, this could be used to further broadband penetration.” Dr Ray highlights another issue that is affecting the broadband scenario in India: “The cost of bandwidth here is far higher than the prevailing rates in international markets.”

Getting on the highway

Broadband access can be offered through the following routes: cable, DSL, wireless and broadband satellite.

• Digital Subscriber Line: DSL holds tremendous promise for a country like India. The DSL technology allows a service provider to supply both voice and data on the same telephone line. It basically means that a person can effectively surf the Internet and receive a phone call at the same time, therefore a number of existing telecom players can effectively use their existing copper lines to deliver broadband Internet using DSL. One problem that can be eliminated through this technology is the issue of last mile connectivity. Having access to the local loop is the key to success for DSL in India.
• Cable: In a similar manner, the cable players who already have the reach and provide cable TV services to millions of subscribers have the potential to convert their existing subscribers to broadband Internet access subscribers. In addition to this, some of the cable players in India are also looking at providing value-added services to differentiate themselves from the competition.
• Wireless: Wireless players have been able to achieve last mile connectivity for delivery of broadband in such a way that it is acceptable to everyone, quick to deploy, and has a low cost of execution through hybrid technology. This has been done by making the service available in residential buildings through fixed wireless broadband access solutions, and tying up with cable operators on a revenue-sharing basis.
• Satellite: Traditionally, satellite communication services have been provided with the help of VSATs. But recently, the broadband platform in India supports applications like gaming, interactive education and training, and extended enterprise networking. By using broadband, companies can provide value-added services such as file broadcasting and multimedia content delivery.

Poor penetration

Over the past five years mobile phone tariffs have dropped considerably— almost by 90 percent. In response to this, the number of subscribers has risen by 85 percent in each of the last few years. This has helped the subscriber base cross 26 million.

However, this promising experience has not been repeated in the case of the Internet and broadband, which partly explains why several neighbouring countries including China, South Korea and Malaysia have stolen a march over India. They have achieved this by growing their user base and in turn those sections of the economy that benefit from digital technologies. Consider this statistic: the existing penetration of 0.02 broadband connections per 100 persons in India is in sharp contrast to the 25 per 100 persons in South Korea and even the 1.4 per 100 persons in China.

Yet Das remains optimistic. “Indian broadband is growing like anything these days. The focus is now moving from Class A cities. Vendors are targeting smaller Class B and Class C cities as well. Naturally, Sify is geared up to expand its horizon and reach out to the entire country.” The numbers support him. Sify Broadband is currently available in more than 90 cities across India, with a subscriber base of over 2,00,000. Indeed, the company added 43 cities and more than 100,000 subscribers in 2005.

The new Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommendations for broadband expansion take into account and acknowledge the absence of any serious initiative to popularise high bandwidth connections. In response to this problem, TRAI formulations seek to harness a variety of technological solutions to deliver broadband. They also aim at including solutions that would effectively use the existing network of copper cables connecting conventional telephones.

Factors that will improve the broadband footprint are:

• Increase in PC penetration across homes
• Increase in awareness of broadband and related applications
• Increase in availability of broadband services with the entry of telcos
• Government focus
• Decrease in the cost of bandwidth.

Muses Mehta, “Broadband penetration and acceptability are surging smoothly because of many things. Apart from the government’s thrust and costs coming down, users of broadband are also getting mature. Users now demand more bandwidth and speed, and better service. In the West, the market is driven by rich content that caters mostly to an entertainment-oriented lifestyle. Broadband concentration is highest among affluent surfers in the United States. But this cannot be the reason for broadband penetration in India.”

Entertainment and lifestyle applications will definitely play a strong role in creating urban-centric revenue models. However, applications that are related to fields such as education, skill development, health and agriculture will be more appropriate for drawing immense value from the broadband infrastructure in India.

In future

Last mile connectivity will have a bearing on the future of broadband in India. Issues such as affordability for end-users, availability of killer applications (which are bandwidth-intensive but of such great interest to users that they opt for it despite high costs) and demand for these applications become important only after the service becomes available.

Das of Sify comments, “The future seems to be very attractive as broadband acceptability is consistently moving up in India. Services like gaming, e-commerce and sharing will definitely influence and dominate the market.”

The broadband policy of India defines broadband as an “always on” connection with speeds over and above 256 kbps. The policy as it stands today is unlikely to make it affordable to the common man of India.

Dr Ray points out that “in today’s global world, where competition has also gone global, the Indian communication and connectivity status desperately needs to be enhanced. Our policy makers need to take a proactive approach to spread communication services to the 70 percent of India’s population living in rural areas. This in fact could also become a way to enhance our GDP.”

To overcome the many hurdles, the best strategy for spreading broadband is probably to make use of India’s available infrastructure. It needs to be done not only through telephone lines but also through power lines. The electric line will become the most obvious choice for spreading broadband since it is far more widespread and touches many homes.

On the future of broadband Vinnie Mehta has this to say, “The Indian market seems very attractive, but at the same time there are various issues that are yet to be resolved. There are a number of last mile infrastructure problems, and lack of content and applications, both of which are critical for the success of broadband in India. But I am sure we will find a way to overcome all the hurdles and build a well-connected country through broadband.”

Broadband users in the UK spend an average of 50 days a year online, new research has found.

The survey, commissioned by Uswitch, questioned 15,323 broadband users.

Users spent an average of 23 hours a week on the internet, with general surfing the top activity at seven hours 54 minutes. Playing online games accounted for four hours 40 minutes, while email made up three hours 26 minutes of users’ time online.

Nine out of 10 people shop online, 39 per cent download music and 40 per cent listen to online radio. Online banking proved popular, with 81 per cent of men and 75 per cent of women happy to conduct their transactions over the internet. Only one in eight users make phone calls over their net connection, however.

Given the number of ‘free’ broadband services available, two out of five people are overpaying for their connection, Uswitch claimed. Nearly three quarters of consumers haven’t changed supplier in the last year and just under half have never switched.

“The uptake of broadband in the past 18 months has been nothing short of explosive,” said Chris Williams, broadband product manager at uSwitch.com.

Noting the recent introduction of bundled services from TalkTalk, Orange and Sky, Williams said, “Very soon customers are going to be able to turn round to their provider and say ‘Why should I carry on paying for my internet connection?’”

“Now that most households can receive ‘Up to 8Mb’ services, the digital divide feared by some analysts may be avoided. However, consumers need to vote with their feet to take advantage of these new deals and ensure they are not wasting money on more expensive packages,” Williams advised.

“Where free broadband is bundled with either mobile phone or landline packages, those thinking of signing up should consider the cost implications of the attached products and the contract length. Alternatively, for those users who prefer a standalone broadband product, they really shouldn’t have to pay more than £15 a month for a 2Mb connection.”

NTL has begun to feel the pinch from the number of ‘free’ broadband offers from rival Internet providers.The UK cable provider revealed that while it had gained an additional 104,000 new broadband subscribers in the last quarter, growth had slowed considerably, down from 191,400 in the previous quarter.

In addition to pressure from ADSL providers, NTL’s chief executive, Steve Burch cited more people moving house and stricter credit checks as further reasons for the drop.

We can really start to reap the benefits of being able to exploit our bundling, branding and network strengths along with new channels to market,’ Burch said. ‘The launch of quad-play and Free TV bundles will provide more opportunities to offer our consumers unbeatable value and service, whatever their communication and entertainment needs.

NTL also stressed the value of its broadband package, which, it said, provides consistent speeds no matter where users are located on the network, with top speeds of 10Mbps - and from September an entry-level of 2Mbps - throughout its coverage area.

NTL’s profits rose 62 per cent in the quarter, its first full accounting period since the merger with Telewest was completed.

All too many voice-over-IP (VoIP) vendors want to sell you “complete solutions,” from the telephone on your desk and voice mail to the wide-area connectivity between your sites and to the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

But I’ve seen that unless the customer and vendor are thoroughly experienced and check every detail, complete VoIP systems can be recipes for failure.

Enterprises that have had problems with VoIP may have done so because they jumped into a covered wagon and leaped into the technology frontier, rather than first learning to ride a horse.

But it’s easy to move incrementally into VoIP technology, especially for larger businesses. Small and home businesses, with a limited range of conventional plain old telephone services (POTS), may have to make more of a leap of faith - but I always counsel having a backup plan for advanced telephone services.

If, for example, you want to move your POTS service to the much cheaper - and often quite reliable - voice-over-cable system, it’s wise to ensure that you have a mobile phone or keep one POTS line. Even with large organisations, one of my basic questions to be sure they understand telephony requirements: If your VoIP switchboard catches on fire, how do you call the fire department?

Basic Connectivity
Most enterprises use an on-site private branch exchange (PBX) or the similar Centrex located in telephone company facilities. Whichever is used, its functionality allows things such as dialling internal extensions rather than full telephone numbers, as well as more powerful features such as call transfer and forwarding. Some PBX - and all Centrex - systems allow dialling off-premises extensions as if they were in the local building. Enterprises with multiple locations often have direct connections among the offices’ PBX, as well as PBX connections to the PSTN.

To begin reducing the cost of these links, you will need to know what you now have. To do this, you will need to know a bit of telephone terminology. While I would normally spell out three-letter acronyms (TLA), the reality is that the words that make up some telephony TLAs are lost to antiquity. Remember that it’s been over a century since Alexander Graham Bell wanted to order a pizza and realised he had to invent the telephone first.

he first place to start your analysis is your detailed local telephone bill. From a detailed bill, find out how many of each of the interface types in Table 1 for which you are being charged. You may have to get clarification from an account manager, since telecommunications providers often use unique marketing terms for lines and interfaces, not standard terminology, for example:

FXS - The POTS interface between a telephone and a PBX, or from a telephone to the local telephone office.
FXO - One possible POTS interface of a PBX or PBX-like device to the PSTN. It is a two-wire/one-pair physical interface.
E&M - Another PBX interface, using a four-wire, two-pair analogue interface.

Multiplexed Connectivity

When there is need for more than a very few voice or data lines at a small to midsize site, the telecommunications provider sensibly combines them into a multiplexed links, with the combined traffic in a DS1 (also called T1, at 1.544Mbit/s) signal format.

T1 is actually a specific cabling system, and the service provider might provide the DS1 signal through other means. At each site, either you or the telecommunications firm may have a “splitter” known as an integrated access device (such as Adtran Atlas or Total Access) or Cisco’s term, Integrated Service Router. These break out some number of DS1 interfaces, and use the rest for data applications. IADs are usually limited in the speeds and types of interfaces they support.

It’s a very low-risk approach to replace the IAD, or individual DS1 links, with routers that provide both voice and data interfaces. If you own the IAD, however, before replacing it, be sure it can’t be upgraded with new software to full router functionality. The only “VoIP” present here are digitised voice endpoints between the PBX external connections.

A good first start, for an enterprise with more than one site, is to begin replacing the direct telephone lines among your sites with VoIP. At this stage, you are not replacing your PBX itself. You can set up a secure virtual private networks (VPN) to telephones on small office/home office (SOHO) routers that have FXS interfaces for telephones.

If you use Centrex service, there still may be advantages to using incremental VoIP, the details of which will be discussed in a future article.

Checklist for Tie Line and Related POTS Replacement
Does my organisation have more than one site? Find out how your tie lines are provided, and how they can be replaced.
Do you have remote telephone users? Consider VPN.
If not, does it have a PBX at its single site or intelligent telephones that can transfer calls and the like? Consider virtual PBX.

Hotlines
There is a wide range of business applications for phones that don’t provide dialling, but call a predetermined number as soon as their handset is lifted from the cradle. These are used in applications as critical as calling for “code blue” teams in a hospital and as mundane as calling a cab to take you away from the car repair shop. In telephony jargon, this function is called private-line automatic ringdown (PLAR), and it often lends itself to VoIP.

To implement these services, you program what is effectively automatic dialling into the voice-capable router at both ends.

A caution: proceed slowly and carefully if this is a life-critical function. VoIP actually can add value if used properly in such situations. For example, many hospitals will have at critical locations one line that goes through the switchboard and one that does not, to protect against PBX failure. Having one VoIP phone that goes through a data connection (eg. cable) while another phone goes to a POTS or VoIP PBX protects you further from a single point of failure.

Wrap-up
In this article, we’ve shown one incremental approach to introducing VoIP. In future articles, we will deal with other incremental capabilities such as using facsimile over IP (FoIP) and reducing what is sometimes a huge and unexpected cost for fax services. We will explore replacing the PBX or Centrex service, emerging services such as virtual PBX, and also when it is wise to retain some of the PBX-associated capabilities, such as voice mail, in the early stages of VoIP introduction.

U.S. subscribers to Internet-based telephone services grew 21 percent to 6.9 million in the second quarter, with cable TV companies expanding their lead in market share compared with Vonage and other pure-play providers, the research firm TeleGeography reported Wednesday.The latest tally on the market for Voice over Internet Protocol, better known as VoIP, marks a 153 percent increase compared with mid-2005. But the second-quarter gain was slightly slower than in the first quarter, when it grew by 28 percent, TeleGeography said.

VoIP revenues for the second quarter were up 173 percent at $607 million across the United States, compared with a year-ago level of $221 million.

The report also added some credence to the worries that have bedeviled the stock price of Vonage Holdings Corp., the biggest VoIP provider, whose share price has tanked since an initial public offering in May: Cable TV companies now account for 60 percent of VoIP subscribers, up from 52 percent in mid-2005. Vonage and other pure-play VoIP providers serve the remaining 40 percent, or about 2.8 million subscribers.

“Even more significantly, (cable companies) accounted for 68 percent of new subscribers added in the second quarter, a sign that (their) aggregate consumer VoIP market share will continue to grow in coming months,” the report said.

Vonage raised about $500 million in badly needed capital with its IPO. But its share price has fallen 60 percent amid fears the company spends too much on marketing for new customers, and subscriber losses may accelerate as the cable players and phone rivals AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. introduce competitively priced bundles of TV, Internet and phone services.

While the cable companies entered the market after pure-play VoiP companies, “their superior financial resources and established customer relationships have provided them with a significant marketing advantage,” the TeleGeography report said.

Vonage Holdings Corp., its quarter sullied by the embarrassing stock performance since its IPO, remained the industry leader with 1.8 million subscriber lines. Time Warner Inc.’s cable TV business was second again at nearly 1.6 million. The companies added roughly the same number of accounts, with 243,000 for Vonage and 234,000 for Time Warner.

While Cablevision Systems Corp. remained the nation’s third-largest provider, growing by 122,000 subscribers to 987,500, No. 4 Comcast Corp. is now on track to surpass it by year-end, TeleGeography said.

Comcast, which launched VoIP more slowly than most of its cable rivals, posted a 73 percent jump in users during the second quarter, finishing with 721,000.

More companies are turning to videoconferencing now, as a way to cut down on rising travel costs. Video over IP is an inexpensive way for small to mid-sized companies to take advantage of videoconferencing, however the low barriers to entry mean many are jumping into virtual meetings without being fully prepared.

In the wake of rising gas prices and broadband’s explosive growth, companies that used to gather far flung employees together for important face-to-face conferences now turn to videoconferencing over IP. Substantial cost savings in both transmission and equipment mean small to mid-sized businesses and schools are also taking advantage of video over IP communication. Voip.com, one of the leading resources for voip and IP communication, offers these pointers for successful video over IP.

One of the first questions people have is, “What equipment do I need?” Since a virtual videoconference is transmitted over the internet, like voip internet phone calls, a high-speed broadband connection of at least 300-400 kbps is needed. Monitors can be as small as the screen on a laptop, but organizers should keep in mind they must also be large enough for everyone on your end of the meeting to see. 20″-35″ is a common choice for small to mid-sized groups. Software, like Microsoft’s NetMeeting is frequently used to encode the video signal for transmission and decode it when it reaches its destination, instead of more expensive hardware options. Although more costly cameras are available, inexpensive internet cameras may be used with generally positive results. Speakers and microphones are the last piece of the audio-visual equipment puzzle and come as either stand-alone sets or part of an integrated headset. If headsets are not used, some type of microphone, whether voice-activated or manual, has to be provided.

Once the equipment is in place, be sure to perform a dry run of the system before your critical videoconference. You can shake the bugs out of your system and ensure that the broadcasting environment is configured for successful videoconferencing. Some often overlooked failure points are inadequate lighting, poorly arranged seating, and background noise pollution.

After you’ve finished setting the stage for your next videoconference, it might be a good idea to do hold a practice session, allowing participants to let go of any performance anxiety they may have and get comfortable with being on-camera. This also gives you an opportunity to check camera angles and audio quality.

Video conferencing over IP is a valuable asset in any company’s communication toolkit. Effective presentations save time, money, and increase productivity. For more information about video over IP, check out voip.com’s recent piece on videoconference etiquette.

It seems so, according to a Red Herring article from yesterday. According to that article, Skype is expected to announce a version of its service for Windows-based mobile phones as soon as this week in a move that reflects eBay’s eagerness to profit from September’s multibillion-dollar purchase of the VoIP pioneer.
For owners of dual-mode phones, a major benefit will be that they will be able to choose whether they use Skype over Wi-Fi or over a 3G connection, sources within the company told RedHerring.com.
Such a facility would enable users to create their own do-it-yourself “converged” service. They could connect to their own wireless broadband router at home and use 3G when traveling.The wireless versions are expected to help Skype’s parent, eBay, boost its sales worldwide. eBay could use a lift after reporting slowing sales growth on July 19. The auctioneer has been striving to derive value from Skype since it snapped up the VoIP service in a deal worth up to US$ 4.1 billion (see eBay Acquires Skype).

In May 2005, at the VON Europe show in Sweden, Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom refused to say how soon a mobile Skype phone client would be available. He did, however, hint that the company was working on a Symbian version, too.

At present, Skype offers a client that run on Windows Pocket PC-based devices only. However, the release of a Windows Smartphone 2003 Second Edition client would expand that number considerably, encompassing T-Mobile’s MDA, Orange’s SPV, and O2’s Xda phones. But according to Red Herring, only a Windows Mobile 2003 version is planned yet which could work on Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone anyway.

The volume of voice over IP (VoIP) traffic crossing telecoms networks is predicted to double over the next 12 months, and IP call quality on some services may suffer as a result.

A report published by analyst company Infonetics Research noted the continuing pressure on telecoms carriers to move customers to some form of VoIP, primarily to generate extra revenue from new applications and services while simultaneously reducing capital and operating expenditure.

The hope is that new Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based services such as messaging, collaboration, conferencing and presence-aware applications enabled by Internet Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) upgrades to their networks will attract both consumer and business customers.

Paulo Pescatore of analyst IDC said fixed-line carriers are keen to switch customers to VoIP services because of growing competition from wireless, mobile and broadband providers offering low-cost VoIP, converged fixed-mobile packages and emerging “triple-play” systems, which combine voice calls, internet and TV or video-on-demand on a single bill.

“[Traditional fixed-line carriers] are being hit by wireless carriers focusing on fixed-line to wireless services, especially from the international calling perspective. The next element of competition is [internet telephony from] Skype, Google and potentially Yahoo too,” said Pescatore.

Yet as more people use IP telephony, the worse the call quality could be, according to one interpretation of research conducted by free VoIP quality-testing portal TestYourVoip.com, run by IP and VoIP testing systems vendor Brix Networks.

The site is reported to have conducted nearly one million IP phone tests since its launch in March 2004, and has noted a marked and consistent deterioriation in call quality over the past 18 months, though it is not clear if this is a direct result of higher volumes of traffic.

As broadband Internet becomes more mainstream, one of the most common questions we get is: which is better, cable or dsl?The answer to that question is not so definite. Many factors come into play when deciding which high-speed connection to choose. Regardless of which you choose (DSL, Cable, or even Satellite) it’s going to be a ton better (and faster) than that ancient dialup modem you’ve been using. Not to mention, your Internet experience will be much more enjoyable.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)

Just like your existing dialup modem, DSL uses your existing copper wire phone line to deliver data at high speed. To qualify for DSL, you need the following:

- a phone line

- a DSL modem (which normally comes with the service)

- an Ethernet card or an available USB port ( most DSL modems allow both connections, but Ethernet is recommended).

- a phone company (ISP) that is offering DSL service (e.g., Verizon)

One important factor that will influence your DSL connection is the distance between your home or office and the phone company’s central office. The farther away you are from the central office, the signal becomes weaker, thus a slower connection. With that said, DSL is not as available widespread compared to cable. You’ll need to contact your local phone provider to check availability.

Speed wise, depending on the package you choose, DSL can range from 128 kbps to 3 Mbps. Generally, the faster your connection the more expensive your service will be. You can expect to pay around $25-$30 a month for a 768 kbps connection, which is roughly 13 times faster than a 56k dialup modem.

::Pros::
- Relatively cheaper than cable
- Dedicated line, so speeds are almost guaranteed
- You can talk on the phone at the same time while surfing the net

::Cons::
- Slower speeds compared to cable
- Speeds drop the farther away your home/office is from the central office
- Not available in all areas

Cable Internet

Cable Internet gets our recommendation. Cable, which you can probably already tell, uses the coaxial cable that your television uses. To qualify for cable internet, you need the following:

- a cable modem ( which normally comes with the service)

- an Ethernet card or an available USB port (most cable modems allow both connections, but Ethernet is recommended)

- a cable company offering cable Internet (e.g., Adelphia)

Unlike DSL, cable Internet does not depend on the distance between your home or office and the central office. However, unlike DSL, cable connections are typically shared among your neighbors. Although, most cable companies provide pipelines with huge bandwidth that this rarely becomes an issue.

Speed wise, cable Internet typically ranges from 3 Mbps to 10 Mbps, up to 3-4 times faster than DSL. However, expect to pay more for the service - $40-$50 per month.

::Pros::
- Faster speeds than DSL
- More widespread than DSL
- Distance does not affect speed

::Cons::
- More expensive than DSL
- Line is shared with other users
With all that said, you need to think about what type of user you are. If you are a heavy Internet user and downloader, you would highly benefit from a broadband connection. For the light users who use the Internet just to check emails, are probably better off with a dialup. However, if you are willing to splurge some cash on a broadband connection, then by all means, upgrade!

We are now well ensconced in a time when the Web is riddled with graphics, animations, sounds, and videos, bringing about a necessity for superior internet access such as that which broadband can provide. The fact is that anything less than the speed supplied by a broadband cable has become inadequate for today’s Web users.

Of course, if you use the internet only once every so often, you wouldn’t be as heavily dependent upon high-speed internet access as is provided by broadband, however, if you’re a regular user, it’s virtually a necessity.

But wait a minute…even though you use the internet, it doesn’t mean you know exactly what this high focus form of internet access actually is. So lets start there. In essence, broadband is a very fast form of internet connection. Broadband Will provide you with a noticeably faster internet speed than a dial-up connection.

Broadband used to be a challenge only because of it’s limited availability, however, today there are many ways that you can have a much faster connection. The delivery methods of broadband have been expanded to the following types of broadband cable:

- Copper telephone wires
- Cable TV wires
- Radio microwaves from local base stations
- Satellite microwaves from geo-stationary satellites

Now lets look at why this faster style of internet access is actually better. The benefits of broadband actually include much more than faster downloads. Broadband is the connection that is always “on”. As soon as you start up your computer, it’s already connected to the internet. For anyone who has waited for a modem to dial up and connect, the advantage of this is quite apparent. Furthermore, broadband allows you to download movies, music, and web pages that were virtually inaccessible in practical terms when using dial-up.

But the benefits of broadband aren’t just felt by individual users. Businesses, governments, schools, and communities can all experience the superiority that broadband cables can provide.

Here are some examples of benefits for each of those types of organizations:

- Businesses will notice an increase in productivity when large data files transfer quickly and directly among local and head offices, no matter the distance between the locations. Moreover, with the popularity of net-meetings and videoconferencing, a face-to-face meeting becomes entirely possible without the travel costs.

- Schools can now offer equal opportunities to their students no matter their location or funding. A student in a remote community is now able to use a broadband connection to receive violin lessons from the same revered instructor as a student in a large city. Moreover, rural students can take virtual field trips and see the same fascinating and educational museums as city kids.

- Local governments are now enjoying broadband benefits that let them provide one-stop shopping for town business transactions, as well as licensing, permits, billing, and utility payments.

- Communities have been quick to jump on the broadband band wagon to promote their local historical and other various tourist attractions. No other marketing resource reaches as far and as effectively as the internet.

There are so many fantastic benefits to a high-speed, broadband internet connection, that it is becoming as “basic” a need as a computer in today’s society.

Of primary concern to all internet users is their actual connection to the internet.A user needs to look at all the factors and weigh the benefits and costs

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