Bandwidth rates in India among highest

By agencies   |   Wednesday, 14 September 2005, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Bandwidth rates in India are among the highest in the world despite boasting of the world's cheapest mobile tariffs. The telecom regulator TRAI says lack of competition in the international long distance segment is the reason for the high tariffs. Take Japan for example. A 2 mbps line there costs Rs 1 million while the cost for same in India is Rs 1.3 million. Likewise, a 45 Mbps line in South Korea can cost Rs 4.4 million while the same costs over Rs 10 million in India. Even in a small country like Hong Kong, charges for a 155 Mbps line are only about Rs 13 million. Indian ITeS, BPO and Internet Service Providers have been demanding lower bandwidth tariffs for a long time now. However the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, which controls nearly 80 percent of the bandwidth market has opposed the move despite dropping the tariff by 70 percent in June, which is nowhere near global standards. The telecom regulator says tariffs in India can be brought down to the lower levels present in other countries through regulation until the market matures with competition. In Japan, the operators were subjected to price ceilings, and any tariff changes had to be approved by the regulator before implementation. VSNL insists that there should be no intervention by the telecom regulator on the grounds that there was enough competition in the Indian bandwidth market to allow free market forces to determine the price.

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