Services to be introduced by year-end; will check decline in revenues.
With the auctioning of spectrum for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) and 3G (third generation) technology just a month away in India, there’s palpable excitement in the global telecommunications world.
3G has had a clear headstart in India. However, support for WiMax is gaining momentum. Chip-makers, telecom carriers, PC makers and consumer electronic companies like Intel, Motorola, Samsung, Asus, Google, Lenovo, Acer, Toshiba, Panasonic, Nokia Siemens Networks and Sprint Nextel are readying themselves to offer managed network services to players in India, besides introducing a host of Wimax-enabled end-user devices.
“We are not telling people that 3G is not the way. Rather, we are helping networks around the world to handle data traffic with WiMax networks. This is one reason we are ready to invest more in India (Intel Capital recently announced an investment of $11.5 million in Taiwanese carrier VMax) and have been talking to the Indian government for the last three years in this regard. Simultaneously, we are embedding WiMax the way Wi-Fi was done. We are co-marketing with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and operators. We plan to get the price points for OEMs down to reasonable levels soon,” asserts Ron Peck, director (Wimax Program Office), Intel.
The market opportunity is huge since 3G and WiMax hold the promise of increasing the consistently-declining average revenue per user (ARPU) for telecom operators besides the promise of achieving broadband targets for the Indian government. The Indian government is targeting 20 million broadband (256Kbps and above) subscribers by 2010, from the current 5 million.
iSuppli forecasts 3G and WiMAX will garner 250 million and 19 million subscribers, respectively by 2012. Nevertheless, Wimax supporters believe it can provide a credible alternative to 3G wireless telecom networks with faster speeds for data.
Samsung and Intel are also engaged in developing the chips, the other two big brands associated with the Sprint network — Nokia Oyj and LG Electronics — are expected to use third-party chipsets. “We will surely want to leverage both the WiMax and 3G networks,” asserts Paul Thurneysen, senior account manager, Samsung Telecommunications (US).
Earl Clark, head, customer team, Nokia Siemens Networks, says “the flatter IP-based structure of WiMax as compared to 3G is what endears itself to the business community. We are watching the developments in India too”.
Xohm, a business unit of Sprint Nextel, is exploring the possibility of managing WiMAX networks of telecom operators in India. “While telecom operators may get a licence for spectrum and have the money to build networks, they may not necessarily have the management skills. We are in talks to explore possibilities of knowledge transfer and help operators build capacities by lowering entry barriers,” explains Barry West, CTO of Sprint and Xohm president.
WiMax is not new to India. State-owned telecom operators BSNL and MTNL are expected to roll out their 3G and WiMAX services 2008-end. Tata Communications launched WiMAX (fixed) in Bangalore early this year. The company plans to invest $500 million over the next four years to rollout the service in Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad. Its partner is Telsima, a Sunnyvale, California-based WiMax vendor. Bharti Airtel, too, has WiMax trial roll outs, and so does Reliance Communications.
