WiMax, or wireless broadband, on your way

PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Internet access in India is on the threshold of a change that could eventually mirror the transformation in the telephony market.

Come April, Dishnet Wireless, a company owned by C. Sivasankaran's Sterling Infotech, is to roll out its wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) and wireless microwave access (WiMax) services across eight cities.

Mobile phones are perhaps the best analogy for Dishnet's plans. Dishnet and other companies that are bound to follow plan to provide customers wireless access to the internet. Initially, the concept is likely to be promoted for the convenience it offers. Sounds familiar?

Wi-Fi uses radio signals to link a computer to the net. All that one needs is an access point (a box with an antenna) and a card in the computer to access Wi-Fi. World over, Wi-Fi service providers also set up hotspots (public access points).

Dishnet's hotspots would be hotels, coffee shops and airports. The Barista chain, also owned by Sterling Infotech, would be one of its hotspots. In a hotspot, customers can buy a wired equivalent privacy (WEP) key to access the net. Dishnet officials liken it to buying a prepaid card for a mobile phone.

If Wi-Fi allows wireless access to the net from a hotspot, WiMax goes farther. Based on the samke technology as Wi-Fi, WiMax provides internet access over a much bigger area.

WiMax works in a way that is similar to that of mobile phones. A service provider builds base stations in a city, for instance. Within a certain area, WiMax towers transmit signals that can be picked up by the computer of a customer.

As long as the customer is within range, he can access the net. The WiMax station, in turn, uses wires to get itself connected to an internet provider.

This seems an uncommon time to introduce Wi-Fi and WiMax services. Their main competitor, wired broadband services, are at a stage here when prices are dropping sharply. Wi-Fi and WiMax services have to use broadband prices as a reference point.

V G Suri, vice president-sales and marketing at Dishnet, thinks this is as good a time as any to launch WiMax. Suri feels taking wires all over the place is an expensive and messy proposition- Dishnet used to provide wired broadband services. There is latent demand for wireless services, feels Suri.

Wireless service is going to be more expensive than the current broadband cost, for sure.

When Suri spoke to Business Standard last week, he expressed a "wish" that Dishnet could price its wireless services at a 20 per cent premium to broadband services on account of the convenience and quality on offer "" the speed at the hotspots is 512 kbps.

Subsequently, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) initiated steps that are bound to bring down broadband prices once again.

The Dishnet spokesperson would only say, "Rates are to be competitive."
 

Broadband prices: WiMax offerings are expected "to be competitive"
Company	Data transfer  allowed (GB)	Speed (kbps)	Time (month)	Price (Rs)
BSNL Home Plan	5	512	1	1800
BSNL Buss. Plan	10	512	1	3000
Tata DSL Unlimited	N.A.	128	1	6000
Sify Data Transfer	1	256	3	950
Notes: Information sourced from companies' websites. The companies offer a variety of plans, but just one has been used in the table to provide an indication of the price range of wireless access to the net. Most companies allow additional data transfer at extra cost.

The current broadband rates quoted by BSNL, VSNL and Sify are given in the table alongside to provide an indication of WiMax pricing. However, the rates in table are likely to be history soon on account of Trai's move.

As things stand, Dishnet is to roll out Wi-Fi and WiMax services in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune next month.

The company plans to vary the pricing method according to the nature of the client. Households and the small office home office (Soho) segment would be offered a price that would depend on the time spent surfing the net. Corporate billing would be "value-based," said the Dishnet spokesperson.

WiMax's use is not likely to end with internet access. The technology has the potential to play a much larger role, and certainly rattle telephone companies.

The technology is designed to accommodate different methods of data transmission. One such, is voice over internet protocol (VoIP), which allows people to make telephone calls.

The spread of WiMax is likely to be accompanied by steps that make it uniform the world over. Intel, one of the leaders in the development of WiMax standards, says that one only needs to make sure that WiMax around the world is provided on the same frequencies to develop a communications standard.

Intel says the licensed frequencies that it has targeted for WiMax are 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz. The WiMax community is working with governments around the world to allow the use of WiMax in this spectrum, adds the website.

Technology that would allow us to access the internet is on the threshold of a significant change. It remains to be seen if WiMax eventually is as affordable as the ubiquitous mobile phone.