Motorola bets big on wireless telephony

Global telecom giant Motorola is betting big on India for growth in wireless infrastructure and device (handset) businesses in the next three years.

The company, which has secured a leading position in wireless network infrastructure sector with 38 per cent market share, believes the momentum in next three years would be similar to the growth China, world's leading emerging market for wireless telephony, had experienced in 2000-03.

Mike S Zafirovski, president and chief operating officer of Motorola Inc, said: "India is key market for Motorola going forward. We expect the market to explode with more and more subscriber added every month."

He noted that both formats, CDMA and GSM, has ample scope to grow and it would be difficult to choose a winner "Motorola is present in both formats, in network infrastructure as well as in handset. In fact we have carved out over 20 per cent market share in device business in last 18 months," Zafirovski told Business Standard at the sidelines of 'Motoinnovation', a three day event in Beijing.

Even though, the entry level phones are expected to continue to be a dominant segment of handset sales, number of first time user buying high-end phones is also on the rise.

"We plan to launch more mass market and entry level GSM phones aimed at the emerging markets," Ron G Garriques, senior vice-president and general manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region for personal communication sector (PCS), said. Motorola has announced 25 new handsets so far in 2004.

While handset business in India has got a leg up for Motorola, the company has also secured large contracts from all operators in the country.

In the first quarter of financial year 2004, Motorola has signed agreements worth $307 million with state run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd and private operator Tata Teleservices.

The company also sees playing an important role in convergence which is set to unfold in India. "Motorola aims to provide seamless mobility by providing convergence in network, device and services," Raghavendra Rau, corporate vice president and director, (global marketing) Global Telecom Solutions Sector (GTSS), said.

Motorola, which has over 1,500 employees in India, is also using the country for software development. The company is bringing the latest wireless technology into India and promoting the country as a 'development' base for next generation technologies and solutions. It has two research and development centres at Hyderabad and Bangalore.

(Travel and stay for this article was sponsored by Motorola)