Today, a variety of industries including the medical, military, telecommunications, industrial, data storage, networking, and broadcast industries are able to apply and use fiber optic technology in a variety of applications.  Additionally, it is indeed relevant to say that the telecommunications industry is the dominant user of optical fiber technology because the demand is high.  In India, this demand has been on the rise and is being driven by factors like growth of fixed broadband, replacement of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (BSNL) aging copper network with fiber optic cables (FOC), building an alternate network for National Defense, wireless backhaul network upgrade, and the need for higher speeds for 3G & broadband wireless access networks.

Indian Telecom: A Network Scenario

India has an established backbone network connecting states with each other and a central network. While FOC network exists at the block level, the backhaul network hasn’t been upgraded to an Optical Fiber Cable Network to date.  Almost 80-90% tower backhaul connections are still on microwave links and they do not offer support for higher bandwidth capacities.  The beauty of fiber is that it has nearly unlimited bandwidth potential.  Besides with increase in rural penetration, scarcity of spectrum is likely to increase further and consequently the demand of FOC for backhaul as well as Business and Tourist Services (BTS) access will be on the rise.

The FOC market

Fiber optic technology and wireless data communication systems are becoming a necessity in many residential and commercial projects across the globe.  It?s the evolution of the market and as the options keep getting more and more advanced, realtors are keen on offering ?futuristic? products to their clients.  Today, several initiatives promise to make fiber to the building (FTTB) more economical to deploy and better positioned to meet even the most aggressive bandwidth demand forecasts. Telecom cables are required across the backbone, aggregation, and access networks.  Fiber to the premises (FTTP), fiber to the home (FTTH), and fiber to the building (FTTB) applications are some of the key factors driving the demand for the FOC industry worldwide.

Need for High Speed Connectivity

The increasing need for 24×7 high-speed connectivity and increased traffic generation from voice, messaging, emails, games, downloads, mobile internet access, video streaming & other services have unleashed the benefits of optical fiber cable networks.

Recognizing the need for high speeds and 24×7 connectivity, there has been a conscious effort to make the telecommunication network robust, future proof and reliable.

  • FTTH/FTTB has been introduced in India and is a fast growing phenomenon for a robust telecom network.
  • India?s fixed broadband user base grew by 24.5 percent in 2011 to 13.3 million, up from 10.7 million at the end of 2010.
  • India is set to become one of the Top 10 largest fixed broadband markets in the world during the course of this year (it is currently 11th).
  • The Fixed broadband market is set to grow to approximately 49.3 million subscribers in 2015.
  • The market for fixed broadband equipment is expected to increase by a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.6% from 2010 to 2015

However, the overall Broadband penetration in India is very low when compared to developed countries.  India had only 13.95 Million broadband connections in April 2012 against the target of 20 Million by 2010.

To address this issue of connectivity, the Indian government in its National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012 has proposed the following objectives:

  • Providing affordable and reliable broadband on demand by 2015.
  • Achieve 175 million broadband connections by 2017 and 600 million connections by 2020.
  • Revise existing broadband download speeds from 256 Kbps to 512 Kbps and subsequently to 2 Mbps by 2015.
  • Increasing the rural teledensity from 39 to 70 by 2017 and 100 by 2020

Studies all over the globe have proved that higher broadband penetration has helped the global economic situation to move from recession to recovery. Broadband penetration acts as an indicator to overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, 10% increase in broadband penetration leads to 1.2-1.3% increase in GDP. Broadband also improves the competitiveness of an economy and would change the way people lead their lives by creating new segments of Industry, while creating more jobs

India?s Fiber Manufacturing Capability

Though the market consumption over the last two years has not lived upto the demand projections, Indian fiber manufacturing capacity is on the rise with over 30 Mn fkm/year. Also, capacity for FOC manufacturing in India is over 8 Lakh Cable KM. Thus, India can domestically meet the requirements for the upcoming OFC projects.

Sourcing fiber optic cable from domestic manufacturers, will not only suffice upcoming projects? requirement for resources but in fact provide a great impetus on bolstering the domestic market, save on foreign currency, promote R&D, and provide high quality evolving products for an evolving Indian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry.

Supporting the Indigenous Fiber Manufacturing Industry

India is one of the most promising markets for the growth of fiber optics among the developing countries.  Indian fiber optic cable manufacturers have been increasing their efforts to meet the internal demand for fiber optic cables.  However, it is imperative that manufacturers of optical fibers receive total support to ensure sustainable development of the overall economy.  In fact, most developed economies have set up policies and frameworks that favor their own indigenous manufacturers against foreign players.  Several initiatives like tax incentives, substantial project subsidies and financial support for R&D, have assisted domestic industries in countries like China go from being an importer to a large exporter of technology products.  Similar support is envisaged by Indian manufacturers to harness India’s entrepreneurial energy and intellectual capital for the cause of R&D and manufacturing.  Further, the setting up of a regulatory framework will help the cause of national projects and ensure an upfront purchase commitment, thus encouraging domestic manufacturers to keep investing in their technology and continue evolving better products.

Benefits of Sourcing Optical Fiber and Optical Fiber Cable from Indigenous Manufacturers

  • Logistics support and timely delivery of supplies
  • Help avoid security & information leak
  • Creating huge value as well as increasing employment
  • Complete process control and if required inspection at all stages at any point of time
  • Committed to future supplies required for Network maintenance/replacement purpose
  • Test facilities available domestically
  • Network Ownership ? future maintenance and installation becomes easier

In conclusion, a concerted effort to boost manufacturing activity is now exigent as robust economic growth in the country is leading to an extraordinarily high demand for electronic products in general and telecom products in particular. Further, to ensure focused indigenous development in the telecom sector, efforts need to be concentrated towards a definite policy direction by creating a suitable road-map to align technology, demand, standards and regulations, after considered evaluation of candidate technologies and the emerging trends.