Does broadband mean only that you''ll get access to the internet at high speeds? What other services can you expect to get with a broadband connection?
You had an important meeting and so couldn't see your favourite television program. Or when you were watching TV when someone called you and you missed parts of the program. Or you'd like to fast forward a boring movie to see the ending. Indeed, you'll be able to do all this if you're television set is connected to a broadband network, something your local cablewallah next door can't offer you.
All you need is a set top box which makes it possible for you to pause, rewind, fast forward and start live TV programmes and see them whenever you want to. By pressing a few buttons, you can also watch programmes that you have missed in the last few days without having to ask someone to pre record them.
Companies like UT Starcom are already hawking set top boxes (at around $ 100 to $ 150, or almost Rs 4,400 and about Rs 6,200) to telecom companies like BSNL (which used them on a trial basis), MTNL and Bharti Tele-Ventures. BSNL officials promise to offer a heap of value added services once the launch of broadband services in 198 cities stabilises. To be sure, many telecom companies are already offering subscribers innovative solutions. The Tata-run Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), for instance, allows subscribers to its broadband services a unique facility: they''re given an ID and they can log on to their broadband account from anywhere in the country, provided the place from which they''re accessing their account is also a VSNL broadband service subscriber.
Will you be able to access a broadband connection by using a mobile phone?
The answer is yes. You will soon be able to download a song on your mobile phone for a few seconds or see a TV channel programme streamed live. The GSM mobile phones that you use now offer you about 14 kbps speeds. Hutchison Essar executives say that Edge services are catching on faster than general packet radio switching (GPRS) services because handset prices have tumbled. Hutchison Essar offers an Edge phone for a very affordable Rs 10,000.
Read full story here - The broadband revolution's coming