Broadband and internet access

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The focus on broadband raises the question: what can subscribers do with it?
In the West, wide bandwidth use is driven by rich content that caters mostly
to an entertainment-oriented lifestyle. The analysis firm, Neilsen, reports
that broadband concentration is highest among affluent surfers in the United
States. That cannot be the raison d'etre for broadband in India. While
entertainment and lifestyle applications would no doubt create urban-centric
revenue models, those in education, skill development, health and
agriculture would be more appropriate for the technology. Such applications
would draw immense value from the several thousand route kilometres of
optical fibre cables laid across the country at great expense. There must be
a conscious effort to connect rural India to these optical fibre pipes and
evolve a new model for development communication. At another level, software
developers, particularly the smaller players who have been hamstrung without
adequate bandwidth can scale up their products and tap into the emerging
multimedia markets.

Source:
http://www.hindu.com/2004/06/02/stories/2004060200981000.htm