The Bharti Group of India and Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) have just marked the completion of the i2i cable network, the world‘s largest in terms of capacity, as well as the first private cable to link India and Singapore.

The 3,200-km i2i cable lands in Chennai in India and Tuas in Singapore. It has been developed by Network i2i, a 50:50 joint venture between Bharti and SingTel, at a cost of US$250 million. It is one of the largest infrastructure projects between Indian and Singaporean companies.

Utilising the latest Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing technology, the 8.4 terabits cable system can support 130 million Internet dial-up connections simultaneously. Construction of the i2i cable network began in late 2000 and it will begin to carry commercial traffic within the next four weeks.

Speaking on this president and CEO of SingTel Lee Shine Yang said: "The i2i cable network is a product of SingTel‘s successful collaboration with Bharti. The cable is linked to SingTel‘s extensive network in the Asia Pacific and will enhance telecommunications connectivity between the Indian sub-continent and East Asia."

The cable will support Bharti‘s introduction of IDD services, another important step in Bharti‘s vision to be a leading telecommunications service provider in India."

Chairman and Group MDirector of Bharti Enterprises Sunil Mittal said, " The cable will create huge bandwidth capacities that will help in making the Indian business environment increase productivity and fuel economic growth."

The domestic and international long distance markets in India were liberalised on 1 April 2002. Network i2i expects this development to stimulate demand for telecommunications services.

CEO Network i2i Ng Seng Sum said: "The Indian telecommunications industry has enjoyed some of the highest growth rates in Asia in recent years.The relatively low penetration rates for fixed-line and cellular services offer significant potential for growth. Continued economic development and increasing use of information technology and the Internet will fuel demand for international bandwidth."

Lee and Mittal also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), on behalf of SingTel and Bharti respectively, to extend the partnership between the two companies.

As part of the MOU, SingTel and Bharti will study the possible enhancement of the i2i cable network to other parts of Asia, including the Middle East and Europe. This can be achieved either through new infrastructure or acquisition of capacity on other cable systems.

The two parties will also develop joint programmes to market the i2i cable and, in support of market liberalisation in India and Singapore, enable open and non-exclusive access to the cable for all carriers in the two countries.

SingTel has invested $650 million in the Bharti Group and presently has an effective stake of 28.5 per cent in Bharti Tele-Ventures, the listed vehicle of the Group.

Bharti Tele-Ventures, a company promoted by Bharti Telecom, is India‘s leading private sector provider of telecommunications services based on an aggregate of approximately 1,553,822 customers comprising Internet, National Long Distance and about 1,274,846 cellular customers (as at 28 February 2002).

Cellular services currently constitute the largest portion of its business in terms of total revenues.

SingTel claims to be Asia‘s leading communications company with a comprehensive portfolio of services that include voice and data services over fixed, wireless and Internet platforms.

The government seems to have the mandate of the people in the matter of conditional access.

The latest indiantelevision.com poll that queried if conditional access is the solution for the ills facing the Indian cable and satellite industry, had a whopping 71 per cent endorsing CAS. Those who answered in the negative were a mere 17 per cent, while 13 per cent were unable to decide either way.

Information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj does seem to be inclined to push in conditional access, a move that is likely to ring in some cheer for the cable industry. The broadcaster community has not been quite so enthusiastic though .

Star Group CEO James Murdoch, in Mumbai last month, made no bones about his displeasure with the cable op fraternity, which he blamed for the mess the industry is in. According to Murdoch, the whole call by the cable industry for CAS systems to be introduced was no more than a delaying tactics was reacting to what was potentially a major threat to his business interests in India. The government task force‘s report on the introduction of conditional access has not been too helpful to the broadcaster either.

Among other recommendations, the report stipulates that CAS should be mandated under the Cable Television Networks (Regulations) Act, 1995, that a set top box be required only for pay channels (premium tier) while FTA channels continue to be receivable by subscribers in the current mode. While the government does not intend to interfere in the pricing of the pay channels or the pricing of set top boxes, leaving both to market forces, it would still retain the right to regulate the price of the ‘basic tier‘ of FTA channels, the report says.

The government, meanwhile, has not really moved forward on this issue. Whether it is the political uncertainties prevailing that have virtually paralysed the government or whether it is due to some heavy duty behind the scenes lobbying is still to be ascertained.

The past few weeks have witnessed some hectic lobbying for easing up of the bug bear clauses as far as DTH regulations are concerned. Star TV Asia chairman James Murdoch, and News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch have made whistlestop visits to India for meetings with information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj. Murdoch Jr in fact in a public address at Ficci Frames blasted any move to legislate conditional access, and privately made a pitch for DTH with Swaraj.
At around the same time there was also the buzz that Zee TV was considering a joint DTH venture with AOL Time Warner, which was denied later by both its Turner India boss Anshuman Mishra and Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra.

Now the unconfirmed news emanating from Delhi is that Star India has applied for a DTH licence (or is seeking to do so in the very near future) through a company called Space TV. The fact that Star India is indeed thinking of such an initiative is an indicator that the government may be backtracking on its tough stance on quantum of foreign equity permitted, and cross media restrictions in DTH ventures. Star India was the first mover in DTH in India through ISkyB in 1997 but had its foray scuttled by a skittish government and rivals. The government issued a ban on distribution of Ku-band reception equipment and the regulations were eased up only a year and a half ago when it issued DTH guidelines which placed a cap on foreign equity and cross media equity of 20 per cent. No one applied for a licence, because TV companies and others found the DTH guidelines too draconian.

When contacted Star India denied that it had made any move in recent times on its part to apply for a DTH licence. Altaf Ali Mohammed, president digital platforms group, who oversees its DTH project and is currently operating out of Dubai, said: "We continue to explore the DTH option but we have made no firm decisions on that score."

Market sources insist otherwise. "The reason Star wants to clam up on its decision is because it does not want a repeat of the ISkyB disaster of 1997," says an industry observer.

Watch this space to find out more.