Telecom Talk: India needs a new metric to judge network quality

Many people stroll round our properties with a telephone and laptop computer in hand, trying to find robust sign.

In these unprecedented instances, how typically we now have needed to wring our fingers over coming into a poor protection house and shedding sign, resorting to, as an example, turning the digicam off to enhance audio high quality in a poor-network space! Such examples have, sadly, grow to be half and parcel of work-from-home. Entry to the web is a elementary human proper. However, ever for the reason that Covid-19 pandemic started, it has grow to be carefully tied to our different elementary rights—the precise to work and the precise to an training.

OTT video-conferencing has shot by way of the roof as a result of work-from-home and on-line training. Proper now, additionally it is a lifeline for our well being. Community connectivity is required to register and get vaccines, connect with helplines, and search oxygen or a hospital mattress for family members, and many others. Medical doctors worldwide are providing telemedicine providers. Isn’t it time we raised the expectations on high quality of service on the subject of community connectivity in our nation?

India locations a low forty ninth within the world rating of nations for high quality of expertise (5GMARK). We proceed to measure web High quality of Service (QoS) solely by community speeds. However, that is now woefully insufficient; 20 years in the past, most of our communication was restricted to a couple calls, textual content messages, and e-mails, however now, we have to measure community high quality by video efficiency.

Whether or not for leisure, work, faculty, or different actions of each day life, Indians have an insatiable thirst and wish for video-streaming. At 30% CAGR, India is the world’s fastest-growing OTT market and is anticipated to hit $3 billion in 5 years. The extra correct measure of our community is how briskly our movies obtain, the viewing expertise of our 500 million+ customers, the responsiveness and effectivity of the OTT platform or app. This can be a prime precedence proper now, with Covid-19 persevering with to pressure restrictions on motion.

For the final three a long time, our focus was to develop the attain of cellular and knowledge providers—and rightly so. With over 800 million internet-users, India has the second-largest such base on the earth and will hit 1 billion effectively earlier than 2025. That is an achievement of which we have to be immensely proud. However now, we have to set and obtain greater targets. Indian customers have already adopted a video-first strategy to web entry. However the high quality of our video streaming and community connectivity should catch up.

Sadly, with quiet resignation, we now have accepted that telephone and video calls shall be interrupted and sub-optimal inside buildings. Mobile phone and web alerts have to be robust to penetrate by way of the thick steel sheets of elevators or stone, however they’re too weak in India. Many people stroll round our properties with a telephone and laptop computer in hand, trying to find robust sign.

We want a greater score system for our wired and wi-fi networks. Fortuitously, we now have new measurable know-how metrics to gauge the QoS of our OTT platforms. A just lately launched report from MOZARK compares OTT video streaming efficiency and ranks them based mostly on varied parameters. The research measures general high quality by way of a number of metrics. Curiously, it gives an Utility High quality Index (or AQI) rating that charges OTT platforms based mostly on time to load, responsiveness, and different consumer-facing metrics. For instance, it highlights that content material supply networks (CDN) ship 60% of any OTT’s video site visitors. CDNs that rating greater in wider geographical networks and purposeful parameters have a powerful affect on service ranges. Widespread adoption and steady monitoring of those metrics can considerably assist enhance the standard of service.

Take the instance of the worldwide commonplace for score inexperienced buildings—the LEED (Management in Power and Environmental Design) score. Any constructing or housing group can get LEED-certified, supplied they adhere to the LEED’s framework for sustainability. Advantages embrace water conservation, decrease waste, extra inexperienced supplies utilized in development, and lowered vitality use and carbon emissions.

It will be useful for India to equally develop a set of connectivity requirements for all buildings in India to work in direction of improved in-building web connectivity. Requirements would allow a monitoring, one of the simplest ways to assist enhance community connectivity.

Within the late Nineteen Nineties, digital connectivity in India was newly-born and didn’t care if it labored in just one spot in the home or if we needed to twist ourselves into unusual poses to catch a sign from our terrace. However, in 2021, India’s wired and wi-fi networks are approaching center age, and what was acceptable a long time in the past can’t be the usual for our future.

From companies to massive residential housing societies, there’s a excessive demand for video content material. It’s excessive time so as to add high quality of connectivity metrics to our geographical penetration numbers to measure the true success of Indian web. Atmanirbhar India may effectively be a trailblazer and develop its personal high quality index for its journey of digital transformation.

Analysis inputs from Chandana Bala.

Author is an honorary fellow, IET (London), and president, Broadband India Discussion board