'India to see advancement of LTE meaningfully in 2015'

By Sanjeeb Kumar Sahoo

Claudio Frascoli has worked with the Nokia group since 1998 and he is currently dedicated to the Operator Business Strategies program as Sr. Strategic Marketing Manager. In this capacity, he is responsible for analyzing go-to-market approaches around the world and sharing insights on successful strategies, with specific focus on big data applications and mobile broadband services.

He served in several senior positions with Nokia and NSN, both in marketing and in technology, with responsibility for strategic marketing, product management, and technical support in Europe, Asia and the Americas. He has spent the past 15 years living and working in six different countries, gaining a unique international perspective and a broad understanding of technical solutions, sales, and marketing strategies in the field of mobile communications.



He interacted with Voice&Data about road map & deployment of LTE around the world and in India.

Voice&Data: What is the roadmap and deployment of LTE around the world and in India? How is Nokia’s LTE momentum globally?



Claudio Frascoli: Nokia has gained significant market share across all regions. We have a very strong LTE momentum globally. As of 10th January, we have been selected by 145 customers for LTE radio and 162 in total for LTE. Moreover, Nokia Networks has significant presence in the most advanced markets like Korea, Japan, USA amongst others.

We expect India to see advancement of LTE meaningfully in 2015. LTE offers the significant improvement in data rates and shortest latency times, if deployed with right available spectrum. In 2015, globally LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) will mark the commercial evolution of LTE to even higher user data rates and more network capacity.

Voice&Data: How can Nokia help Indian operators with the right deployment strategy?

Claudio Frascoli : Nokia is working with hundreds of operators worldwide and provides LTE to 8 of the top 10 operators globally. This means we have a wealth of experience to share with our customers on the best deployment strategies. On top of that, we have a very thorough understanding of what strategies have worked and what have not from a commercial standpoint.

Voice&Data: How many deals do you expect to implement in India in the coming year?

Due to our policy, I cannot comment on any number. However, would like to highlight that we expect strong momentum in the Indian market this year.

Voice&Data: What are your suggestions for the Indian operators before they start implementing LTE? Can you share some of your global case studies?

Claudio Frascoli : We regularly discuss about LTE strategies with our customers and we have discussed with them around the world more than 400 times in the past 2 years alone. This gives us unique insight that we can also share with our customers in India as part of our ongoing commitment to help them being successful in the market.



Voice&Data: What are the key Innovations you foresee in LTE in the coming year– how to introduce; optimize and monetize LTE in India?



Claudio Frascoli : When it comes to the introduction and monetization of LTE in India, a critical aspect to evaluate is the availability of LTE terminals at a price point that is appealing for this specific market. That will trigger mass adoption and will help India accelerate its transition to Mobile Broadband.