If the US market is witnessing a battle over bandwidth in the cable industry, then India shouldn't be far behind. Hard to believe!! Consider these figures.

India is one of the largest and most competitive cable TV markets in the free world. The country had more than 23 million cable TV homes in 1999. According to figures published by Satellite and Cable TV, a trade magazine, each home pays an average of US $2.5 per month and receives at least 36 channels of programming (inclusive of 5 to 10 subscription- based channels). The market has been growing at a healthy rate of 20 per cent per annum over the past several years.

This apart, the Internet policy prevalent in India holds that just about anybody can enter the business for a minuscule fee. This means that the cable operators can start offering Internet over cable right away.

Indian cable operators, especially in the urban areas, already have the requisite cable systems in place. An industry expert claims that Indian cable quality compares with the best in the world.

There are other studies that suggest the impact that Internet over cable could have. An article in Cable Waves, a newsletter on the Indian broadcasting and communication industry, highlights the IMRB study which puts the demand for cable TV at four times higher than potential PC owners; and 23 million intend accessing the Internet.

An estimated 247,000 households are likely to use cable systems to access the Net in 2000. Likely growth rates for Internet access via the PC is around 142 per cent . For Internet access over cable it is 339 per cent. This, assuming the customer incurs an equipment cost less than Rs 5,000 for a cable modem.

The most important factor in the business is that the cost of providing the service is extremely competitive. A 34 Mbps leased line from VSNL costs around Rs 6.35 crore for a year. Industry experts opine that bandwidth costs account for more than 60 per cent of the total capital costs associated with providing Internet over cable. These experts estimate that unlimited high-speed (64 kbps and more) Internet access could be provided for a rental of around Rs 1,000 a month.

Keeping this immense potential in mind, several cable operators have started offering Internet services even as others are gearing up and upgrading their systems.

Already, Pune-based Snehal Communications has started offering Internet access over cable to educational institutions. In Cablenet is all set to launch its cable system in Mumbai, the largest Internet access market in India. Satyam Infoway of the Satyam group and RPG Netcom of the RPG group have both floated a company to offer Internet service in Calcutta. All this even as many others are in the process of joining the bandwagon.

However there are certain snags that these companies have to grapple with. One is the cost of cable modems and the other is bandwidth fluctuation. The latter, industry insiders hold, is mainly due to the restrictive bandwidth available from the lone gateway and bandwidth provider -- VSNL. But, with competition in the gateway market expected to get keener, even this snag will be eased out.