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Business Clicks With Broadband

Broadband

I first heard of broadband a few years ago from partners sellling wireless and networking solutions. Much of their current investments and future business and revenues seemed to hinge on the availability of broadband. At that time they were upbeat. Many vendors too were making noises, at just the right decibel to attract attention.

Availability of related products, equally if not more costly, caught up with many vendors realizing that’s the way to go.

Tariffs have fallen through the floor, and nothing tells us that it won’t fall further. Like the recent statement by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India that announced lower bandwidth prices, and a drop in broadband tariffs by over two-thirds.

The last three months also saw tariffs for individuals dropping on an average by 15-20 percent a month.

What is this leading to?

Lower international leased circuit rates mean a lower operating cost for ISPs, BPOs, and other IT service providers. More cash free for these companies to expand or even invest back in acquiring new technology. There is a market for almost everyone here.

The lower ISD rates and broadband tariffs are bound to have some kind of a domino effect in the non-metros locations where the Internet was just fast enough to read through news in text format. One reason perhaps that many in the channel haven’t realized the potential of the world wide web for bringing in new customers and portraying their businesses on a new platform. No online ordering, few online complaint registration, late responses are the effect.

Faster broadband connections for homes mean even more. Many of those who still use PII and PIII machines with two-year-old graphics cards and 20-GB HDDs will move on. Gamers is one group that have been licking their lips with glee an average gamer could end up spending Rs 10-15,000 alone on annual upgrades. Add downloads of movies, online or LAN gaming, and apart from the regular demand, consider higher need for service or replacements or sales for such products as mouse and keyboard.

That s one more reason to have at least one sku of a higher-end product in the basket be it in power supplies, motherboards, RAM, mouse, monitors, VGA cards and a message for the vendors and partners alike: make products available first, then promote them.

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