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Faster internet! Coming soon to Asia (India)

image A few weeks back I wrote a comparison on prices for internet in India and the USA. Well, A lot is about to change. According to CNet news, a 7.68Tbps line is due soon to Asia. Bharati Airtel (one of the largest telecom companies in India) is part of the Unity Consortium which is making this happen.

According to the story,
The Unity Consortium, which consists of Google, Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, KDDI, Pacnet, and SingTel, has nearly completed the testing of the $300 million project. Internet users in Asia will start seeing faster Internet speeds over the next several months from the new cable, which has the potential to create a 7.68Tbps (terabits per second) connection under the Pacific.
This could mean a lot of change in dynamics and economics of internet traffic. With already (considerably) low prices in India (thanks to a tough competition among BSNL, Reliance, Airtel and Tata), The only complaint was the speeds of unlimited plans. A limit-less user, generally capped by a speed of 512kbps, is almost never a happy YouTube viewer. Speedy lines like these would allow more bandwidth to the end users. The effect will trickle down to prices and a tougher competition.

India's Wimax (Apollo, Hathway, BSNL) and Wireless (read Tata PhotonPlus, Reliance NetConnect)  Internet markets will also have tougher competition from their wired line counterparts. This market is already very inexpensive when compared to options available in USA.

Mobile Internet, TRAI's futuristic IP Telephony will be a interesting watch following this development.

All in all, Its a welcome trend. India must now work more on expanding its internal infrastructure.

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