80% of all internet traffic is video. Indians consume data at the incredible rate of 72% CAGR (Assocham-PwC). Indians spend an average of 10 hours and 54 minutes a week viewing online video content compared to the global average of nearly 8 hours (State of Online Video 2020-Limelight Networks). India\u2019s online market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 26% to approx..Rs.35,000 crores ($4.5 billion) by 2025.

There is no dearth of content providers \u2013 the OTT market in India is booming. The time taken to load and download content is critical; competition is fierce, and every second counts. Around the world, users abandon videos that take longer than two seconds to start. Akamai estimates that 6% of viewers leave for each additional second of the delay. This lag in delivering content to a user is called latency. If videos, images, and content do not load as quickly as their competitors, online businesses can lose thousands or even millions of users. In fact, the Quality of Experience (QoE) for video content and internet downloads is measurable and correlates with better financial performance for businesses.

Market research has also shown that conventional metrics are not adequate for measuring user experience with different use cases and types of videos. There is a Minimum Operating Threshold (MOT) which is the minimum speed necessary to deliver Play Start Time (PST) and re-buffering rate necessary for quality video experience for end user. While MOT could vary across use cases, they found it to be about 14 Mbps for video download speeds. However, currently, whether we purchase a premium or a basic internet account, if there are many concurrent users using the same network, we either wait for the higher-quality video to download, or compromise by watching a more compressed format that greatly lowers the quality of experience.

This negative experience is heightened when each household uses multiple concurrent devices for work, school, and recreation. The Indian IT and data processing services industry also require sufficient bandwidth to conduct multiple video conferencing calls, run analytics on large datasets on a cloud, or access data from servers that are not in the country.

Additionally, the next generation of video is already here. 4K videos use 10Mbps for each user. Digital photographers and cinematographers are already beginning to shoot 4K videos for super high-resolution imagery. However, when consumers want to watch them, they are at a great disadvantage. 4K videos need 10Mbps per user. Imagine a household with 4 smartphones \u2013 not a far-fetched idea at this point. Each house will need to consume multiple of 10 Mbps in the near future (it is noteworthy that NDCP 2018 had stipulated 2022 goal of \u201cuniversal broadband connectivity at 50 Mbps to every citizen\u201d).

To fix India\u2019s bandwidth issues, multiple stakeholders must band together with the same goal in mind \u2013 the consumer experience.

Data clearly show that close collaboration between telcos and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), the latter can make significant improvements in end user experience with suitable interaction and focused feedback, CDNs would be able to make the required investments in a robust content delivery network, streamlined app architecture and a thorough testing and debugging mechanism to achieve good end user experience.

CDNs help deliver information or content around the world in minutes or even seconds. A CDN has several servers located close to users across the globe and at strategic junctions. They are all linked to central servers that host the original content. The concept is similar to fast grocery delivery services that have a centralized hub connected to several hyper-local junctions around a city to improve delivery speeds. Since traditional web hosting services are not as effective, websites leverage CDNs to help reduce latency and get content out faster when users are spread over large distances. While in the past, only large businesses could leverage the power of CDNs, now any company with users spread out in various locations can use them.

There is no doubt about it \u2013 Indians love their OTT content. In particular, content created specifically by Indian creatives and storytellers, for India. OTT is projected to be the new key advertising platform to reach consumers. A recent BCG-CII report identifies Indian OTT in a strong growth stage due to record-high numbers of subscriptions and large-scale investments. The report states that Indian OTT boasted 70-80 Million subscribers in 2021 and projects that Indian OTT will be approximately Rs 1to1.1 lakh crores of rupees ($13-15 billion) market by 20300 with a 22-25% CAGR. In 2021, the market was already at about Rs 13,800-17000 crores ($1.8-2.2 billion). Investments in 2021 surpassed Rs.4600-5400 crores ($600-700 million). The industry is also poised to have a high market penetration into tier II and tier III regions in 2022 and beyond.

The future is clearly in countries that invest in their holistic digital infrastructure and growing industries. GDP alone, by definition, is limited in how we address this new economy. The GDP number reflects only what we pay for goods and services. It is a very narrow lens that does consider the workings of the digital economy in perspective (Brynjolfsson and Collins, HBR 2019). After all, we pay nothing for most of our emails, Youtube, or video conferencing via Zoom. However, these are incredibly empowering platforms that have spurred entrepreneurship, and connectivity.

Indians sitting in tier II cities can run online businesses and feed their local economy while living with their families instead of moving to the metros. Video content on social media channels can connect thousands of Indian creators with their target audiences across the country, and even worldwide. In the past, this type of brand recognition and visibility was limited to only extremely large global corporations with enormous budgets and resources. Now a startup of three people can do the same, with a little creativity.

While entertainment leads the way, many other sectors like healthcare, financial services, e-commerce and access to government services will benefit. A faster and more comprehensive internet network can help school systems cater to tier II and tier III regions.

Indian content can soon be a global phenomenon - \u2018neighbor\u2019s envy, owner\u2019s pride\u2019 \u2013 just like South Korea has been promoting its industry. However, the industry being at a nascent scaling stage such as currently, featuring intense competition, the rulebook for success demands less regulation, more conversation. Fortunately, Indian policy makers and regulators have maintained a facilitating approach towards this important industry, and it is blossoming in a healthy manner. This needs to be maintained, nurtured and enhanced.

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