Enterprise Applications : Why WiMax?

The entry of 3G services in the Indian marketplace is like a dream come true.

The launch of 3G in India created great hype and seems to have opened a great

opportunity for services providers and equipment vendors. But the reaction from

large enterprises is not very exciting!

Though 3G claims to have many attractions to excite the industry -like better

bandwidth connectivity and more efficient unified communication services

supported by 3G-but they are betting big on WiMax, one of the wireless

technologies.

According to V&D-IDC enterprise survey, the reaction from enterprises about

3G for broadband requirements has been cold. The key findings of the survey is

that while 3G technology is like a boon for service providers, only 13% of the

enterprises seem to be excited about it and rest 87% gave a negative response.

The enterprise segment has not given a clear verdict regarding 3G's entry

into the country. The segment is neither very enthused by 3G's entry nor is it

indifferent to its presence.

3G or WiMax?



With the evolution of various alternative technologies, enterprises are

looking forward to technologies that can facilitate better RoI and easy

accessibility. With most applications demanding high bandwidth, enterprises have

been forced to invest in scaled down footprints for mobile users which comprise

functionality. The availability of technologies like 3G and WiMax has removed

this constraint.

3G and WiMax would come up with a host of applications for the business

users. All the applications which would drive business value will be adopted by

enterprises. Some of the applications which enterprises would use are CRM

solutions, ERP access, stocks, banking and e-commerce.

During difficult times, no one would wish to invest into service offerings

that are new. What the enterprises need is predictability and a very clear value

proposition. These services have to save costs or improve existing customer

services or utilize existing investments. No other fancy offering will work.

WiMax-A Winning Formula



With increased competition and changing business environment, enterprises

are continuously looking for better alternatives that would reduce the cost and

fulfill their mobility requirements. 3G and WiMax both have tremendous potential

to reform the enterprise environment. V&D spoke to a section of large

enterprises that are looking at high-end broadband access to know their

preference between 3G and WiMax. Majority of enterprises are looking at WiMax as

the ultimate and cheaper solution when compared to 3G.

“The industry is pinning its hopes on WiMax due to its ability to increase

broadband penetration. WiMax makes huge sense for companies as it enables them

to provide cheaper mobile Internet and broadband services, in turn, increasing

Internet penetration,” says Sudesh Agarwal, VP, IT, Landmark Group.

Around the world, WiMax is predominantly used for fixed services but it is

moving over to mobile. WiMax technology offers downloads of upto 70 Mbps as

compared to the 15 Mbps that 3G provides. WiMax has eventually emerged as an

alternative technology because of its potential for lower cost deployment,

higher bandwidth and low end user price tag.

According to Shirish Gariba, CIO, Elbee Express, “WiMax is a cheaper and

better option for enterprises, since operators are betting big on it and the

whole ecosystem is gearing up for the same. The low cost of WiMax spectrum, says

a research agency, will clearly be the driver for service providers to enter

into the field; and they would come up with a host of applications for the

business users.”

3G: A Ray of Hope



Some telecom service providers, on the other hand, are betting on 3G and

believe that 3G is going to bring dramatic changes in the enterprise segment.

According to Arun Gupta, group CTO, Shoppers Stop, “WiMax has been used

effectively by carriers for providing last mile coverage and has not become a

mainstream consumer technology as yet, whereas 3G has been moderately successful

wherever it has been deployed. I believe that for nomadic users 3G has a better

fit compared to WiMax.”

While 3G is generally considered to be applicable mainly to mobile wireless,

it is also relevant to fixed wireless and portable wireless. A 3G system should

be operational from any location and offers the potential to keep people

connected at all times and in all places.

The delays from the time of the announcements to the execution have contributed to the waining interest in 3G Arun Gupta, group CTO, Shoppers Stop	The quality of handset setups should improve and should be available at affordable prices to encourage 3G adoption among enterprises Suresh A Shanmugam, CIO, Mahindra&Mahindra Financial Services	WiMax is better suited for campus applications, which has large coverage but is still limited to boundry, and its investment upfront are cheaper than 3G Shirish Patwardhan, CIO, KPIT Cummins Infosystem

Increasing demands have led enterprises to a process of adding applications

and moving toward a sophisticated mobile strategy for fully integrating

workforce with various back-end systems. But increasing competition and a

dynamic business environment have fast changed the scenario.

There are potentially immense benefits to traveling employees as well as for

those working from home. Retailers can engage their customers with their new

options enabled by 3G. The pricing model of the service providers will decide on

how widespread the adoption is likely to be.

Expressing his views, Zameer Syed, VP, IT, HDFC Bank, says: “It's a great

thing to happen in Indian telecommunications sector. As in the past, any new

technology takes its time to establish itself till the user becomes comfortable

with it, and the same goes for 3G. I hope 3G would become more popular than GPRS

among users.”

Major Concerns



One of the major concerns regarding adoption of 3G in the enterprises would

be availability of the services across large areas and cities, with consistent

quality of service along with tariffs. The biggest shortcoming of 3G would be

that this service would be available only in 3G enabled phones, and the

associated cost of the phones with this feature.

Though the manufacturers are already working on making their existing phones

3G capable, in India the cost factor would play a major role.

Expressing his view on the major concerns regarding 3G adoption, Shirish

Patwardhan of KPIT Cummins Infosystem says, “Our business does not demand large

bandwidth requirement for our moving workforce. The applications too do not

demand it so far. But with 3G available, my interviewing process could become

greatly simplified. So we can move to 3G services, but currently there does not

seem a great need for it. So there is no big concern, it is simply that we have

not found any compelling reason to embrace it.”

Developing committed infrastructure at all locations and having all

information secured and validated as per legal norms is another major concern.

“When we point out the convergence of devices and applications, the impact is on

all business entities which will use or opt for 3G platform for providing

secured access to define all the segments and entities to coverage”, says Suresh

A Shanmugam, CIO, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services.

The handset quality is a big concern, especially the lack of hand off between

2G and 3G. In addition, prices of handsets are fairly high, even portability

problems are high.

“The major concern regarding 3G adoption is too many different frequencies.

This is not good. Too many frequencies drive down the scale and increase the

cost of terminals. As an industry we have to be very careful not to have

additional frequencies but narrow down the number of different frequencies

around the world, says Sudesh Agarwal of Landmark Group.

Growth Constraints



In this era of convergence, 3G not only helps in real time operations, but

also brings several other features that can transform the entire telecom

industry. But the most important question here is what factors are hampering the

growth and dampening the interest of enterprises in 3G. The enterprises feel

that 3G adoption will take longer and that the awareness level regarding it is

low.

“There are various reasons but the first and foremost is that 3G is more

about mobility and mobility as an application is not used by many organizations.

Many of them do not even need it, they are probably happy with e-mail and voice.

Secondly, the 3G itself is taking a lot of time to be rolled out and operators

are betting more on WiMax,” says Shirish Gariba of Elbee Express.

After lots of hullabaloo, the auction for the much awaited 3G spectrum will

get further delayed. This is the second time that 3G auctions have been pushed

back. The delay is due to the finance ministry's decisions to double the floor

price of pan-India 3G spectrum. The reserve price may be increased from Rs 2,020

crore to 4,040 crore.

Echoing a similar voice, Arun Gupta of Shoppers Stop says, “The delays from

the time the announcements were made to the execution contribute to the waning

interest in 3G. This move of government bodies will adversely effect the roll

out of 3G and the interest of consumer in this emerging wireless technology.”

3G Benefits for Enterprises



3G technology offers unprecedented quality of voice as well as a wide range

of data services. This includes video calling, Internet connectivity, mobile

e-mail, multi media services such as sharing of digital photos and movies via

wireless, real time multi-player gaming, location based services and low-latency

push to talk and push to video messaging services.

The enterprise applications which needed larger bandwidth will now work

better and faster with 3G services. It can potentially eat into the voice

services in mobile segment due to VoIP usage over mobile. 3G does open up many

opportunities, however the availability and reliability of this service is yet

to be tested. So, before this is ensured, it will not be possible to deploy

critical applications on this. But once proven, there is a very wide scope of

deployment of enterprise applications.

3G enables bandwidth significantly higher than what has been the current

experience of users. This has opened up many collaboration opportunities and

applications which are currently constrained by lower bandwidth and available

through 2.5G and CDMA networks.

3G is a purely need-based reaction rather than the application which is a

necessity for everyone. It is not crucial to rapidly develop both sides of usage

and upgrade networks within the defined cost option. In a developed enterprise,

technologies like 3G will have to live alongside several mobility applications.

The application is a little bit costlier and consumers from enterprises

increasingly want to be able to roam with such facility seamlessly across

different networks.

3G would also provide an opportunity for the enterprise to achieve a

significant growth in e-Commerce. From business perspective it offers unlimited

shelf space and a new channel to reach out to the customers where it is not

bound by the operational timings or geographical boundaries.

With the DoT gearing up for simultaneous release of 3G and WiMax spectrum, it

is expected that two emerging wireless technologies will battle it out for

supremacy. While 3G scores for voice, WiMax may lead to increased broadband

penetration. 3G and WiMax is still a matter a debate for the enterprises and it

will continue until and unless 3G becomes available within the major cities and

becomes a reality.

Arpita Prem



arpitap@cybermedia.co.in