Great Opportunities for Broadband in India and South Asia

India and South Asia's operators are very much in the news this week, with broadband launches announced by some of the most dynamic players in the region: Indian operator Bharti Airtel has launched its 16 Mbps broadband service in India (delivered through a fibre backbone carrier ethernet network with last mile delivery on copper using ADSL2+ technology), Indian mobile operator Reliance Communications has launched its CDMA-based mobile broadband service in Kolkata, and Pakistani wireless service provider Wi-Tribe announced a contract for the deployment of its IP backbone, to fulfill its objective of launching WiMAX services in Pakistan this year.

Broadband access is one of the most talked-about topics in the region, as a great tool to launch new services (including high-revenue content), and to boost access to communications in under-served areas. It is therefore fitting that it will be a major topic of discussion at the forthcoming India & South Asia Com, just a month away from now. The congress is the annual meeting place for the region's operators (GSM, CDMA, fixed-line, wireless), regulators, suppliers and all other stakeholders in the booming telecommunications market.

Over two days, leaders from the sector and expert speakers will discuss market strategies, investment, broadband technologies, rural markets, content and entertainment services, cost-effective network and commercial strategies. Among the key speakers will be Kuldeep Goyal (Chairman of India's incumbent BSNL), Sanjeev Aga (Managing Director of Indian GSM operator Idea Cellular), Sugato Barnge (Chief Marketing Officer of aforementioned Bharti Airtel), Anand Dalal (Addl Vice President of Tata Teleservices Ltd, India), Anoja Obeyesekere (Chief Executive Officer, Dialog Global, Sri Lanka), Sandeep Keshkar (DGM(NSS) Mobile Services, MTNL Mumbai), Sanjeev Chachondia (Director & CEO, BPL Mobile Communications), and representatives of Grameenphone, Vodafone Group, Banglalink, Reliance, Zong (China Mobile Pakistan), Virgin Mobile India and more. In addition, partner association COAI is strongly supporting the event and confirming official addresses by senior representatives of India's Department of Telecommunications, to give updates on the latest policy decisions in the region's largest markets, and one of the world's fastest-growing.