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Telecommunication in Rural Development for a Sustainable Economy
Discussion:
It is about time people started thinking about the rural development more seriously. There are a lot of schemes like the Prime Minister’s Clean Drinking Water Plan, the Prime Minister’s Transportation Plan etc. The Department of Telecommunication has privatised its services so that the private industry can provide telecommunication facility to rural areas faster than a government body can do. The government schemes are being advertised heavily on the television stations; but again how much of these are implemented is something not clear yet. With the red tape and the bureaucracy in place in the government departments, it is difficult to guess when these schemes would be implemented, if and when they take off. With these schemes being available for rural development it is imperative that the topographic maps produced by the Survey of India be used to identify the potential areas (for development). These areas should be marked on these maps and a plan to create satellite towns or the regional centres should be worked out. Some of the industries should be shifted to these satellite towns or regional centres that will help create the required infrastructure. Although the topographic maps were reproduced during mid-60s and early-70s, they would still be essential tools for starting the process of identification. The Geographical Information System (GIS) would provide the latest information on the present features on the land. This data can be used as supplementary information for locating the more recent features. Certain initiatives have been taken by some private agencies like the Midas Communication Technologies in the field of Telecommunication and they are highlighted in the subsequent paragraphs. A few alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT, M) founded Midas in April 1994. Midas’ mission was mainly to provide a Technology that will be cost effective voice and Internet access to as many villages as possible. The technology is known as corDECT Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) system. IIT, M also incubated n-Logue Communications, an Internet Service Providing Company. This company has acquired license to provide Internet access to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, initially and extending the same service on all India basis. n-Logue is deploying Midas’ WLL Technology to provide this service at Nellikuppam area. What is corDECT? The corDECT wireless in Local Loop (WLL) system consists of a DECT Interface Unit (DIU or the Wireless Subscriber’s Exchange), a Compact Base Station (CBS), and a Wall Set (WS or the Subscriber’s Terminal). The DIU performs system control and does the interfacing to telecom network. In other words the DIU acts as a mini exchange. The Compact Base Station or simply the Base Station offers a wireless access in the area on twelve simultaneous channels. A CBS can provide communication for a distance of 10 kilometres in a line of sight situation. The distance can be increased by another 25 kilometres by introducing a Relay Base Station (RBS). The Wall set or the subscriber’s terminal is a fixed wireless terminal connected to any standard telephone, modem or a FAX machine. The Wall Set-Internet Protocol (WS-IP) provides the simultaneous voice and the Internet data facility to the subscriber(s). Also included with the package is Network Management System (NMS) software and is used to manage 30 DIUs and their subscribers. The NMS performs operation and maintenance (O & M) functions for all the DIUs and the subscribers connected to them. CorDECT Wireless in Local Loop Technology is a versatile system of communication that can offer connectivity to the entire India at a very low cost and maintenance. No digging for copper wire laying will be necessary. Also, it is only system in the world, which can offer simultaneous voice and Internet data. A composite picture of the system is shown in plate1. Plate 2 shows the Bharath Sanchar Nigham Limited (BSNL) installations in India. Also, the Mahanagar Telecom Nigham limited (MTNL) is getting 35,000 lines between Mumbai and New Delhi. Recently, Midas has signed a deal with Reliance Telecom for deploying 1.5 million lines in 1,450 sites throughout the Country.  Plate 1  Plate 2 |