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Internet used to be simple: one click and your modem would dial and connect you to an ISP who would then offer you the service. But dial up services were slow, expensive and prone to disconnections. Then came broadband, freeing your phone. But broadband, akin to a dial-up facility, were limited to home or offices via cables. Not anymore.

Today’s broadband technologies are more than wires. They are available in a multitude of technologies today that were not imaginable a few years ago. Far more complex is the fact that none of these technologies are complete. All of them have their own shortcomings.

In a way, broadband has actually hit a wall. Using present technologies, it is difficult to provide broadband to most locations in the country. For broadband to become truly global it will have to evolve into something that everyone can use far and wide, irrespective of infrastructure, usage and market. So there are many new technologies along the way, but they have their own limitations.

While broadband over power lines is a nice option, then erratic power supply in India can put an end to this technology. Cables are a good idea, but cable operators cannot convince customers to get broadband, as most houses cannot afford to buy computers or pay for broadband technologies.

Then what is the best bet? Ask that to Alfred Mockett, CEO of Motive Inc, a maker of management software for broadband and mobile data services and his reply is, “Mixed solution is the answer. There is not one technology that can work completely.” Converging all available broadband technologies to make it work is what he wants and what perhaps the world needs if broadband truly needs to make it big globally.

“When we look at broadband, we have to look at more than just people in the industry. We should look at those who serve the broadband industry and those who are served by the broadband industry and our ultimate objective in the industry is convergence,” says Mockett.



For the broadband industry to truly thrive, Mockett says broadband sector must provide most content to customers anytime and at any place irrespective of the device--whether it is a PC, cellphone, TV, or a gaming console. “That is where we are heading and that is the ultimate objective,” Mockett says.

The power of broadband lies in delivering the customer compelling content and that comes only with convergence of technologies so that customers get value for their money. Otherwise all technologies developed for broadband goes nowhere. There are 280 million broadband connections globally, of which 185 million is Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) alone. According to industry estimates, there will be 400 million DSL lines in the world. DSL and cable will mature and the biggest uptake will come from Optic Fibre connections.

In North America cable is the dominant broadband delivery system and in Europe it’s DSL. As both these markets are set to mature soon, the next growth will come from countries like India, China, Romania, Czech Republic, and Latin America where fibre is the best broadband transport system.

But Mockett bets on WiMAX, for India. WiMAX, when it was conceived, was just a last mile delivery system as opposed to DSL. Today it has found varied use, however. “I believe it can be used to tie together hotspots to different Internet access networks, it can also be used to leapfrog technologies and hence I believe it will find its use in India,” Mockett says. “By that I mean in rural areas, where there is no established infrastructure, there is a need to provide that connectivity and I believe WiMAX will produce cost effective technology to deal with that.” WiMAX will also help in turning whole cities into hotspots besides making hotspots available in places where there is flat land and diverse population with diverse usage.



The issue is not the cost of deployment but whether customers will use all the services or any of the services the operators supply? Customer experience is important -- service providers should know how to make customers use those technologies and make a case for that use and broadband is ready for takeoff, Mockett says. “Don’t let the hapless customers learn newer technologies. Provide him the service within his available knowledge. Simplify their lives is the message here,” Mockett says to broadband service providers.

Broadband industry, believes Mockett, is about competing technologies. It will thrive only when quadplay is provided. “You have to provide competitive fixed line voice, mobile voice, high-speed Internet access and video programming and content,” Mockett says. “Only then will broadband will takeoff.”