If India grows as shown in the figure, the future of triple play is bright. The decisive factors for a triple play to be successful are the last mile broadband connectivity, a critical mass of consumers and the affordability of the service. The critical mass of consumers and affordability are interdependent and these two are again dependent on the last mile broadband connectivity to take place.

Thus, the major roadblock is the last mile broadband connectivity. The infrastructure to reach the end user is at the early deployment stage. The biggest problem is reaching the customer from the Point of Presence (PoP) and laying down fresh infrastructure, which can turn out to be an expensive proposition. Given the geographical diversity of India, last-mile connectivity has always been a challenge for telecom operators. The time required for paperwork for digging and laying down infrastructure, makes it difficult for the operators to provide high-bandwidth and reliable connectivity. These are making the private operators to aggressively pursue the fiber/wireless route to deliver high-speed connectivity. The last mile broadband connectivity can be achieved through five different technology options. They are,

Optical fiber technologies. The fiber optics technology can provide nearly unlimited bandwidth potential and is steadily replacing copper network especially in intra-city backbone networks.  This is being deployed in commercial buildings and complexes and some metros / big cities having high-density potential broadband subscribers. The fiber based models are future proof as they are able to provide huge amounts of bandwidth in the last mile that can deliver high quality voice, data and video. There are more than 4.5 lakh route kms of optical fiber laid by BSNL / MTNL and more than 1 lakh route kms laid by private operators.

Digital subscriber lines (DSL) on copper loop. DSL has proved to be an important technology for providing broadband services through the copper loop. Recognising that last mile copper loop is not a ‘bottleneck facility' for broadband services, the DoT has made access providers free to enter into mutually agreed commercial arrangements for utilization of available copper loop for expansion of broadband services in the year 2004.

Cable TV network. Cable TV connection as last mile infrastructure reaches more people than even the telephone infrastructure. The cable operators are increasingly leveraging this to provide broadband connection.

Satellite media. Very small aperture terminals (VSAT) and direct-to-home (DTH) services are another evolving area through which a last mile broadband connectivity can be established. This has an added advantage of reaching the remote and the most inaccessible areas.

Terrestrial wireless. This is the most explored option these days by the private players in India. They use 802.11b and 802.11g standards to reach the consumers. The growing number of users of portable computers is only increasing the potential of this service.

Once the connectivity is established, the service providers deploying triple play services could see increased broadband revenue per user and new revenue streams. Their decreasing ARPUs could see a reversal. Consumers will be able to get high-speed Internet, video and telephony at their home or enterprise through a single cable from a single provider. Video and digital music downloads, telemedicine, remote education, etc would become the norm of the day. Triple play could also enable the professionals to telecommute, which means working from their homes.

Triple play service delivery is an emerging opportunity for enterprises and consumers, enabling them to enter a new era of user-centric multimedia communication and broadband experience. For service providers it is an opportunity to enter into new markets by offering increased service differentiation to remain an attractive partner for providing solutions to an established customer base.

India currently has 2.52 million broadband users. With the DoT declaring the year 2007 as the year of broadband, the number of broadband users is expected to increase exponentially in the coming years. We are only two years away from the days of triple play. We may even bypass triple play to deploy quad play provided more governmental policies with regard to 3G are in place. Which ever be the way, we are about to witness a broadband revolution as we continue to see in the cell phone communication.