The power to communicate

New lines of communication tend to develop in parallel with older systems. The dirt track gave way to the highway. Later, railway lines followed the same route. Telegraph lines rode along the rails. And finally, power pylons and telephone microwave relays followed suit.

Every time communications technology changed, new entrepreneurs dreamed of cutting capital costs by reusing the infrastructure of the earlier technology. In 19th century America, Western Union diligently tried 8212; and failed 8212; to send telegraph messages down railway lines. After the War, when telephony came into its own, there were attempts to string phone lines on power pylons. Again, it didn8217;t work. Telephones were analog in those days, and the 60-cycle hum of the power lines swamped phone conversations.

Despite the failure, the American telephony majors began to dream even bigger. They tried to develop filters which could transmit digital signals down the power cable itself, yet keep it free of noise. Again, they failed. But now, another set of researchers has tasted success across the Atlantic. Northern Telecom Nortel and Norweb Communications of Britain will soon be in a position to offer Internet access at 1 Mbps, about 10 times faster than ISDN, which is considered the state of the art now. Potentially, everyone with a power socket will be wired for Net. They would only have to buy a box to be attached to their electricity meter, which will handle user authentication. Getting online, therefore, would be unbelievable cheap, and the service would offer a constant connection to the Internet at a flat rate, something that every Net entrepreneur has been praying for. Nortel8217;s system has been developed for the European grid, which means that it can be implemented right away in India, which shares the same standards. The immediate implication for the user: goodbye to MTNL8217;s whopping bills, and to VSNL8217;s steep constant access charges. The implications for prospective users, who have been wondering whether a second-hand bike might not make more sense than a Net account at the same price: the devaluation of Net to the price level of a moderately upmarket bicycle.

Perhaps this is the key to the Indian Internet revolution which is always impending but never quite gets rolling. In its Internet Policy, the government has already announced that Powergrid Corporation8217;s distribution system will be used as a sort of ready-made backbone for Internet services. Just add Nortel8217;s technology and you have the country wired cheap, ready for CD-quality audio and video, animation, high-speed gaming and, for those cursed with a Protestant work ethic, video conferencing. Internet video telephony is a possibility in the near future.

It would also be a sensible option in a country where computer literacy isn8217;t too hot. Once installed, the system8217;s black box automatically makes all software upgrades as they happen at the base station. Easier on the pocket, and easier on the nerves of everyone who can8217;t tell COM2 from LPT1.

Of course, revolution is never that painless thanks to the bugbear of all development 8212; vested interests. There are established interests in telephony, with very iniquitous tariff cards, who would hate to see most of their business going to the power companies. The Internet policy does point to a more liberal future, but it will be some time before the attitude change it has introduced is reflected in policy on other services.