If you have recently been frustrated by buffering while watching an HD video-on-demand stream, then hold that thought. For those in the less developed parts of the world, watching HD video at all, is, quite literally, something of a pipe dream. In these countries, for those fortunate enough to be able to move past existential concerns such as food and housing, internet connectivity and bandwidth is still a mere fraction of what those in developed countries are used to. It’s a pain point of which Dileep Agrawal, chief executive of Nepalese ISP WorldLink, and a speaker at the Broadband ip&TV Asia conference in May, is only too aware.

Working in the telecom industry is a tricky business. Restructuring is a way of life, market consolidation is urgently needed, and margin defence – let alone growth – is a consuming pre-occupation. Then there’s the internal issue of turf: Who owns which customer? For builders and operators of telecom infrastructure, that’s a critical issue to address – right now.