A month after leading telecom firm, Bharti Airtel, deployed ‘fiber-to-hub’ connections in New Delhi, at least 10 buildings, all located in Marthahalli here, have this advanced, high-speed broadband connection deliver up to 100 Mbps (megabits per second).
The high-speed Internet lines, that are different from the traditional copper cables that bring the Internet to our homes, were deployed last week, Rohit Malhotra, CEO, Airtel (Karnataka Circle) told The Hindu . This deployment is for residential areas only.
Though BSNL has announced plans to offer ‘Fibre-to-home’ services, the plans are yet to materialize in Bangalore.
“We are the first to do this in the country,” he said.
Fibre connectivity provides fixed access platform to deliver high-speed broadband, IPTV offering HDTV or even 3D TV and a range of voice telephony services, Mr. Malhotra added. Currently, the capacity on copper lines is capped at around 16 Mbps. “Till now, by and large the last mile has been copper, where around six months ago we capped the bandwidth at 16 mbps, perhaps up to 20 mbps with VDSL.” But now, in Marthahalli the speed at the hub is “a stable 100 Mbps”.
The challenge in deploying these networks is not a technological one but that of logistics. “Laying fibre means digging and laying the fibre. Everything from clearances to the actual laying of pipes takes time, which is why we are concentrating on areas that are still developing,” he said. Airtel plans to deploy these services only in select areas, and is holding talks with several real estate developers and builders. The company is targeting areas where IT professionals work and live as it “specifically suits them, given many of them choose to work from home and need steady broadband access,” he said.
As Mr. Malhotra points out, the possibilities such high-speed Internet offers are limitless. Besides allowing value-added services, the enhanced bandwidth makes room for applications that can connect your appliances, your security systems or alarms, or your everyday gadgets on to the network.
The high-speed Internet lines, that are different from the traditional copper cables that bring the Internet to our homes, were deployed last week, Rohit Malhotra, CEO, Airtel (Karnataka Circle) told The Hindu . This deployment is for residential areas only.
Though BSNL has announced plans to offer ‘Fibre-to-home’ services, the plans are yet to materialize in Bangalore.
“We are the first to do this in the country,” he said.
Fibre connectivity provides fixed access platform to deliver high-speed broadband, IPTV offering HDTV or even 3D TV and a range of voice telephony services, Mr. Malhotra added. Currently, the capacity on copper lines is capped at around 16 Mbps. “Till now, by and large the last mile has been copper, where around six months ago we capped the bandwidth at 16 mbps, perhaps up to 20 mbps with VDSL.” But now, in Marthahalli the speed at the hub is “a stable 100 Mbps”.
The challenge in deploying these networks is not a technological one but that of logistics. “Laying fibre means digging and laying the fibre. Everything from clearances to the actual laying of pipes takes time, which is why we are concentrating on areas that are still developing,” he said. Airtel plans to deploy these services only in select areas, and is holding talks with several real estate developers and builders. The company is targeting areas where IT professionals work and live as it “specifically suits them, given many of them choose to work from home and need steady broadband access,” he said.
As Mr. Malhotra points out, the possibilities such high-speed Internet offers are limitless. Besides allowing value-added services, the enhanced bandwidth makes room for applications that can connect your appliances, your security systems or alarms, or your everyday gadgets on to the network.
