INDIA: Broadband over power line

21 January 2008

Broadband over power line can be looked upon as among the best options to enhance broadband penetration in India. For this to happen, collaboration between Internet Service Providers and power companies is essential. By Kushal Shah

In 2004, the US Federal government had shown interest in having an alternative for delivering Internet access, and now there are reports that the Government of India is thinking along the same lines. Both governments had focused on the same concept—Broadband over Power Line (BPL)—which is an old idea, but has not been exploited commercially. To put it in simple terms, BPL is nothing but being able to access the Internet using your power sockets rather than a phone line or coaxial cable.

This technology can open fresh scenarios, for both power companies and consumers, but before peeking into the nitty-gritty of BPL, the present Internet scenario in the country is worth evaluating. According to a recent report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India and IMRB International, the number of Internet users in India in the ‘claimed user category’ had touched 46 million in September 2007 up from 32.2 million in September 2006, which is a high 40% year-on-year growth. The statistics seem impressive but discouraging when weighed against approximately 250 million urban population and 1.1 billion national population. We need a technology that can spread deep across the length and breadth of the country with the help of existing systems.

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