The domestic telecom manufacturing industry is divided over the specifications of an upcoming department of telecommunications (DoT) tender for wireless in local loop (WiLL) equipment that mandates only corDECT systems, an indigenous system modelled on the European digital enhanced cordless telephony standard, DECT.
D K Ghosh, director of Siemens Public Communication Networks Ltd and president of the Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association (Tema), which has a membership of over 40, convened a press conference here on Thursday to talk about the `loss' the country is incurring by restricting itself to these two systems.
The Telecom Industry Services Association (Tisa) president P K Sandell joined him in saying that without standardisation of different systems in the market, consumers of telecom services, and the economy as a whole, stand to lose. He felt that the country should choose WiLL systems only after a careful study of the different technologies in the market.
On the other hand, however, domestic companies involved in the manufacture of corDECT and other systems opposed the Tema-Tisa move. A letter issued by some members of Tema said, "Tema welcomes the DoT move to go in for WiLL technology which will benefit customers."
"There are some associations trying to delay the process, which we don't support. Tema fully supports the DoT move to induct indigenous technology and these will benefit the local manufacturing industry," it concluded.
A DoT tender for 25,000 lines of WiLL equipment is expected to open next week, which has been reserved for corDECT-based systems because the department feels that indigenous technologies need to be encouraged. The system was developed jointly by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and some private telecom manufacturers.
It is being currently manufactured by seven companies, including Shyam Telecom, Crompton Greaves, WH Industries, Himachal Futuristic Communications and Indcehm Electronics. The corDECT system has been validated by DoT in the Chennai and Delhi sites.
Restricting participation in the tender for corDECT systems precludes the participation of global giants like Siemens, Alcatel, Nortel, Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, NEC, Fujitsu and Lucent.
DoT is also expected to come out with a tender for 56,000 lines next week to be spread over 15 cities in the country. This tender is, however, free of technology restrictions and vendors supplying DECT, D-AMPS, Japanese PHS and CDMA technologies have shown keen interest to participate.
A D-AMPS system is being tested in Bangalore using an Ericsson system, while Nokia has been pushing for the test of a DCS 1800 system.
The domestic WiLL market is expected to boom over the next few years. Estimates of the market vary from 1-2 million fixed wireless telephones over the next three to four years since the private basic telecom operators are expected to opt for them in a big way given the dropping prices and faster deployment times.
An entry into the DoT market is also considered critical by manufacturers since the department is likely to follow the basic telecom companies example. "The sooner a technology gets accepted the better it is. That is why getting a toehold into DoT's first few tenders is so critical," a domestic manufacturer of telecom equipment said.
