India's New Internet Economy Surges Forward with RAD Modems

• Application
• - Internet Access
• Challenge
• - Construction of a countrywide broadband Internet backbone based on HDSL technology
• Solution
• - Thousands of RAD HTU and ASM modems, deployed at POPs and access nodes, provide 64 kbps to 2 Mbps connectivity to ISPs
• Benefits of RAD Modems
• - Cost-effective
• - De facto standard in India
• - Extended transmission range over 4-wire and 2-wire

India has a burgeoning Internet economy, with the number of Internet users in India doubling every six months. New sites are springing up daily to market everything from traditional homeopathic remedies to real estate to classical Indian music. This surge in Internet activity is made possible by the entry of private ISPs into India and low cost connectivity being offered by these ISPs. (Private ISPs were allowed to enter the market in 1999 to compete with the government-owned VSNL, the only ISP in India at the time). To date, there are 130 licensed ISPs in that country, with approximately 14 already operating commercially.

Building a Broadband Internet Backbone

To accommodate this torrent of Internet activity, India required a better Internet backbone with enhanced broadband capabilities. India's Department of Telecommunications (DoT) therefore commissioned the National Internet Backbone (NIB) project, which will establish a broadband Internet backbone across the country. Network architecture is divided into three tiers, according to city size and link capacity. The NIB will make the Internet accessible to a wider segment of the population and enable ISPs to offer a complete suite of Internet services, including email, VPNs and Internet browsing. The ambitious, two-phase project will be completed within two years and will offer seven million subscribers widespread Internet access and seamless connectivity to ISPs. Phase I will link 45 major Indian cities with a network capacity of 8 Mbps to 155 Mbps.

RAD Modems at All POPs and Access Nodes

The NIB is based on a copper infrastructure that employs HDSL technology. All leased line modems in the DoT backbone are being supplied by RAD through MRO-TEK, RAD's exclusive distributor in India.

"The RAD devices are being deployed in the backbone POPs and Internet access nodes of the NIB project. This is not surprising, since RAD's HTU and ASM-31 modems have become the de facto standard throughout India for 64 kbps and 2 Mbps connectivity," says N. Mahesh Kumar of MRO-TEK. In phase I of the project alone, MRO-TEK furnished approximately 800 of RAD's HTU-E1 HDSL termination units for 2 Mbps Tier 1 POPs. The HTU units interconnect various large and medium-sized cities and carry traffic to the Internet gateways. An additional 1,400 HTU-E1 units and almost 300 ASM-31 short range modems are being deployed at Tier 2 and Tier 3 POPs in the state-level wide area network (WAN) backbone. The ASM-31 units provide 64 kbps connectivity to small towns, with the traffic carried over the backbone to the Internet gateway. The number of RAD units is expected to triple by the final phase of the NIB project.