Accelerated migration to IP networks and high definition (HD) took the Indian videoconferencing market to the next phase of evolutionfrom plain vanilla to technologically advanced. But, even more importantly, the videoconferencing market in India became largely demand driven, a significant change from when growth depended on suppliers pushing technology to end-users. FY 07 marked an inflection point for this market in more ways than one.

Strong demand from corporate and government sectors and declining bandwidth and communication costs saw the Indian video conferencing equipment market garner Rs 110 crore against Rs 82 crore in FY 06, a 34% growth. Considering the growth trends, the Indian market, along with Chinas, is touted to be the most exciting growth engine in the Apac videoconferencing market over the next five to six years. A major chunk of the revenues came from endpoints market that brought home Rs 90 crore, accounting for 82% of the total videoconferencing equipment market size. The infrastructure systems market comprising primarily bridges/gateways made up for the remaining Rs 20 crore. Individually, the endpoints market grew 36%, up from Rs 66 crore in FY 06 while the infrastructure systems market grew 25%, moving up from Rs 16 crore in FY 06.

During this fiscal, the market continued to be dominated by Polycom, Aethra, Tandberg and Sony in the endpoints market, and by Polycom, Tandberg and Radvision in the infrastructure systems market. However, the entry of two new playersCisco and Life Size set the pace for changes in the competitive landscape for FY 08.

Market Uptake
A key highlight for FY 07 was the transition from a supply-driven market to a demand-led market. Corporates and the government were frontrunners in adoption.

There is an urgent need to improve the decision making processes in the government, bringing the state headquarters a click away from the district headquarters, and this drove adoption here. Chief ministers are now reviewing their pet projects with district administrations directly using the audio-video conferencing technologybringing in transparency and better accountability from the administration. National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been among the earliest adopters of the technology in the government sector. It provides videoconferencing services from 490 locations in India including all north-eastern state capitals, over its high-speed satellite-based network, NICNET. It has established videoconferencing facilities between various government departments in India. The main areas where the government uses videoconferencing are in judicial cases and district administration in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerela, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh.

Among key government projects undertaken in FY 07 was the one by the Ministry of Finance for connecting all the chief commissioners of income tax at 56 locations, and a videoconferencing project as part of the Himachal Pradesh SWAN. Polycom bagged both these projects.

The momentum is likely to pick up over the next few years with some more projects in the pipeline. This includes computerization of courts, to be implemented in three phases over five years, with an aim to set up videoconferencing facilities at the Supreme Court, High Courts and all the district courts, and establishing digital interconnectivity between all the courts from the taluka level to the Apex Court. According to Frost & Sullivan, the government usually goes for bulk purchases of videoconferencing equipment, making it the main reason for the governments major market share.

On the corporate front, BFSI along with IT/BPO led the adoption wave. One of the foremost drivers for this adoption has been increasing globalization, reduced travel time and costs which also led up to enhanced employee productivity, improved remote office productivity, better collaboration between geographically dispersed workforce and customers, and an expedited decision making process.

The next round of verticals where rampant activity is likely to happen in the coming years are education and healthcare. Educational institutions have implemented the use of videoconferencing and this vertical shall increase its share in the coming three to four years.

Enterprise Uses
Traditionally, the key areas where videoconferencing has been used are project reviews, client reviews, analyst meetings, new-hire interviews, and appraisals. General meetings within organizations and client meetings are the most common applications.

Training is an area where these conferencing services will gain importance as most large enterprises are going in for mass recruitments, and training them at a single platform shall become a necessity. The upcoming applications include telemedicine, remote consulting and assistance in diagnostics, remote faculty training and distance learning.

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