From correspondents in Delhi, India, 08:00 PM IST

With the third generation (3G) mobile spectrum and Wimax auctions round the corner, industry experts estimate that almost 110 million households will have broadband services over the cable television network.

'Television will be the bridge for the digital divide. With very little additional cost, broadband facilities can be provided to over 50 million cable TV households right away,' Vijay Yadav, managing director of IPTV service provider UT Starcom, told reporters Friday at the fifth Broadband Tech India conference here.

'If this becomes a reality, then we can witness broadband subscriptions to go far beyond the target of 20 million by 2010,' he added.

Added S.D. Saxena, finance director at state-owned operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam: 'Broadband can get into the transaction segment by turning devices such as mobile phone into a transaction card, with the possibility that transaction would not just be between customer and business but also between customer to customer, thereby creating an explosive use of mobile phones.'

But Sunil K. Gupta, advisor to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on converged networks, said platform convergence - meeting of various media platforms such as the Internet, broadband and mobile phones - was required to push growth.

'The convergence of platforms with content need to take place if we want to witness the desired growth in broadband services,' Gupta said.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)