Hyderabad based Ichip has developed @Box, a sub-$100 computing device, reports The Hindu. The company has filed four patent applications, and has finalized a deal with a telecom operator to offer the device. They’re also in talks with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to offer the device with TV sets, though a broadband connection is key. The device could be priced at sub-$100 levels, though there’s no confirmation yet. A couple of months ago, Novatium signed a deal with MTNL to offer a $100 thin client to subscribers…Intel (NSDQ: INTC) also has plans for low cost PCs, and Reliance is piloting the One Laptop Per Child project in India. Question is: is the price of the computer the only issue that is holding back broadband? Is there some content or an application that will drive broadband/Internet adoption?
Update: As mohit mentions in the comments, even those who want a broadband connection are suffering from a lack of options: there are areas in Delhi and NCR where telcos like Airtel refuses to give a connection because cables haven’t been laid out yet…including my area. About time the last mile was unbundled.
I am not sure if price of computer is any issue what so ever. People are buying computers regularly, upgrading them. Its just that companies are not investing enough even though there is demand. There are still areas in NCR where Airtel refuses to give a connection cos they havnt laid their cables or whatever there..
@Nikhil, the need for content and applications has been well understood and documented by the industry and government both, but no action seems to have been taken yet. I have done my master's thesis on 'Content and applications for broadband networks in India' in 2004 – the time it was being talked abt a lot by CII, TRAI, Dept of Telecomm etc but now even the talks have subsided a bit.
TRAI, in its ‘Recommendations on Accelerating Growth of Internet and Broadband Penetration (2004)’, has identified eleven major hurdles preventing growth of internet and broadband services. One of which is “lack of locally relevant content and applications, especially for broadband”. It further adds, “Content and applications constitute the third pillar for the overall growth of internet and broadband, with the first two pillars being infrastructure for access and access device.”
CII in 2003, endorsed the fact and went a step further to add, “There are several gaps in the content value chain. The primary areas of concern include non-movie / music content creators, digital factories (to prepare content for use on broadband type of delivery systems) and content aggregators. From a perspective of all investment, new business formation and technical and management skills, there is a need to upgrade the capability of the industry within next 2-3 years.” They projected (in 2003) that a billion $ need to be invested in content-apps by 2006 and 2 billion $ by 2010 in their report – India’s Broadband Economy- Vision 2010.
Well, we know whats the status today.