IT's Hot

The year 2007 saw quite a few emerging technologies entering the Indian
market, continuing a trend in the changing telecom market in the country, though
much awaited technologies like WiMax are still under speculation. But, with
vendors testing the technology on trials and a couple of operators starting
commercial runs, it has made its presence felt. Here are some top technologies
of the year 2007, which made a significant impact or at least made their
presence felt. However, these technologies, though proven elsewhere, are still
evolving in India. As covering the entire spectrum of technologies available in
India is a Herculean task, we tried to focus on some of the technologies that
have attempted to change the telecom scene. These include MVNO, IPTV, EVDO,
MediaFLO, and WCDMA.

Though considered emerging technologies, they are yet to reach the boardrooms
of Indian mobile operators. Hampered by a number of issues, operators are still
optimistic about its success. WiMax and IPTV have already reached consumers as
operators looked at early rollouts.

MVNO

As of now, there are close to ten major mobile phone operators in India,
each of these have a subscriber base that runs into a million and more.
Considering the market dynamics, high entry cost barriers and low ARPUs, it is
tough for any new player to enter the market, unless he takes the MVNO (Mobile
Virtual Network Operator) way.

Simply put, MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) is a company that provides
mobile phone services without any spectrum. It buys services and spectrum from
an existing player and resells them to the customer. While it might not have a
back-end, like towers and servers, it does have a very strong front-end, facing
the customer like billing and customer care. It is more of a services game as
the success of the MVNO is largely dependent on how well it is able to retain
its customers and the innovative services it can offer. Thus, the company needs
to offer a number of value-added services to differentiate itself from the
incumbent mobile operator. With India having the lowest mobile tariffs in the
world, MVNO would not have the margin to play a price game and would rather
concentrate on services itself.

According to a report published by Blycroft, there were roughly 230 active
MVNOs as of June 2006. The MVNOs contained within their MVNO market study vary
from consumer-driven MVNOs to enterprise and data-focused operations. Countries
including Algeria, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, the UK, Finland, Belgium,
Australia, and the US have the maximum number of MVNOs. Other countries such as
Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, the Baltics, and Austria are just beginning to
launch the MVNO business models. Where there are many MVNOs in a single country,
it is difficult for new entrants, as the overall marketplace is highly
saturated.

Once the MNVOs start their operations in India, it is most likely that they
would target prepaid users which will resolve the issue of low cost and, thus,
would make it easier to foray into the market. However, in the beginning, the
regulatory bodies in India were not much in favor of MVNOs, but industry experts
say that the Department of Communications (DOT) has been actively considering
encouraging it. The move comes as a means of encouraging competition and
maintaining a balance of tariffs.

According to sources, it is learnt that Reliance Communications is much in
favor of MVNOs entry in India, since it may opt for this as a route for its GSM
entry into the telecom circles. For the already established mobile operators, it
will be an advantage and they can start their own additional MVNOs. It will be
easy for operators to establish it since they have the service knowledge, their
brand image, and supplier relationships.

In India, the much discussed entry of MVNOs will take some more time as the
Indian telecom regulator, TRAI, is still sitting on the suggestions of the
industry. The industry sees a lot of scope, but nothing seems to be moving in
the right direction.

IPTV

IPTV, the new form of watching television on protocol, was much in news this
year with the state-owned MTNL and Reliance Communications making their foray
into providing IPTV services. Reliance Communications will start its operations
by March 2008 with cities like Delhi and Mumbai, while MTNL has already made a
footprint in the market.

Industry insiders presume that the Asia Pacific region will revolutionize
IPTV and will witness a new era of success. According to reports, IPTV
subscriptions are expected to reach 53 mn by 2009 with service revenues touching
$38 bn. When compared to CAS and DTH, IPTV brings in two-way interaction in the
sphere of TV viewing. While IPTV and DTH offer video-on-demand (VOD), CAS does
not have this feature. Also, an IPTV service gives complete control to viewers
with the ability to rewind, fast forward, and store programs (PVR/DVR). IPTV may
prove to be a boon to service providers whose ARPUs from traditional voice
services are shrinking since it provides a greater edge. It also provides them a
platform to be creative and, thus, experiment with the content for which the
demand is appeased.

Reliance Communications and Microsoft have announced a strategic partnership
to deliver a highly connected, personalized TV experience to consumers in India
through Reliance's Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service, which will be
powered by Microsoft's Mediaroom IPTV software platform. Reliance Communications
shall have the exclusive deployment right for the platform in India.

The IPTV service will allow Reliance to deliver an entirely new and
personalized TV experiences for Indian consumers, with several advanced features
such as VoD, digital video recording (DVR), instant channel changing, and
personal media sharing. IPTV subscribers will be able to watch popular standard
definition (SD) content as well as high-definition (HD) content-for the first
time in India-at the click of a button, from the comfort of their homes, and
enjoy a connected entertainment experience that will soon allow them to watch
their favorite shows on their TV sets or PCs. The service will be launched by
the end of March 2008.

“As consumers today are becoming more sophisticated, they are demanding more
compelling and personalized entertainment to suit their individual needs and
preferences,” said Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Communications, at the
official launch of IPTV. “Until now, TV has been a broadcast,
'one-size-fits-all' experience. Backed by powerful Microsoft Mediaroom software,
IPTV promises to offer our subscribers more choice, control, and convenience,
and at the end of the day, a unique and more satisfying user experience. We're
excited to partner with Microsoft to unlock the potential of television and
offer Indian subscribers the very best TV and connected entertainment
experiences,” he added.

The Asia Pacific region has a lot to boast about IPTV since reports say that
the demand is expected to grow significantly in the region. According to Frost
and Sullivan, IPTV subscribers in the Asia Pacific region are expected to reach
27.4 mn by 2013 with China and India being the high growth markets.

In India, currently, MTNL has its own IPTV services and Reliance
Communications would be ready with its services by March 2008. The global market
has players like AT&T and Verizon launching the service in the US, and a number
of service providers, including BT and Swisscom, have launched IPTV services
across Europe. In the Asia Pacific region, Hong Kong is already a mature market,
with PCCW as the world's largest IPTV provider. IPTV has been deployed in China,
Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

The IPTV service will also target an area with a great degree of ambiguity as
far as TV content and advertising goes in India. There is, at present, no clear
indication of how much of the content and advertising is really reaching the
target audience and for what returns.

CDMA2000 1xEV-DO

Technologically, EVDO has already shown its superiority. When the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) announced its plans for third
generation wireless technologies, CDMA technologies emerged as key technologies
exciting vendors that are already associated with the initiatives.

Spectrum efficiency is seen as one of the main benchmarks for any deployment
in India, where all operators face spectrum crunch. CDMA is known for spectral
efficiency as it enables wireless networks to manage more subscribers
simultaneously. Besides spectrum efficiency, operators are also looking for
speed, which is a regular demand of any customer. EVDO matches this, too, by
providing higher data transfer speed required by the ITU's definition of 3G.

Compared to any wired broadband, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, which is a direct
evolution of the CDMA2000 third-generation wireless standards, enables
high-speed wireless connectivity to operators. Though Indian operators are yet
to experience 3G services, they will be comfortable deploying 3G networks as and
when the government is ready with the policy. In fact, a number of handset
vendors have already introduced 3G-ready phones in the country.

Using CDMA2000 1xEV-DO services, consumers can send and receive email with
large file attachments, receive and send high-resolution pictures and video,
download video and music content, play interactive games, or stay wirelessly
connected to their office PCs using the same mobile device. Since it offers
wider applications, the customer demand is growing in India. Alcatel-Lucent is
one of the major suppliers to CDMA operators including Verizon Wireless and
Sprint Nextel.

Huawei and Nortel are also in discussion with Indian operators. Airvana, in
alliance with Nortel, is offering the EVDO infrastructure to Verizon Wireless
and Sprint Nextel, two leading operators in North America.

Ericsson, which is betting big on 3G, has already done several trials in
China and has commercial deployment in South America. Ericsson officials are
optimistic about the spectral efficiency of 3G technologies available in India.
They feel that Indian operators, who can achieve economies of scale, will be the
main beneficiaries in this business.

Besides the US market, the EVDO revolution has already picked up well in
other countries as well. For instance, AirWalk deployed EVDO Rev, a network in
the Middle East, one of the emerging telecom markets in the world. ZTE bagged
orders from operators in countries such as Sudan and Morocco for deploying CDMA
EVDO networks, which is leading the convergence of wireless and personal
electronics, addressing a new generation of multi-purpose wireless devices.

Qualcomm, which is bullish about the scope in Indian markets, is already
ready with its strategy in India. Qualcomm has forged a path of continuous
innovation that has kept EV-DO at the forefront of wireless network performance
and functionality, while ensuring a compelling migration path to protect
operators' investments. Currently, operators have three options for expanding
system capabilities.

EV-DO Rel 0 is a high-performance, cost effective, wide area wireless
broadband solution. It offers high data rates, high capacity and lower costs for
wireless operators, enabling them to offer compelling, differentiated data
services to consumers and business professionals. It provides a peak forward
link data rate of 2.4 Mbps and a peak reverse link data rate of 153 Kbps.

This leading-edge wireless technology adds higher data rates and higher
system capacity, as well as improved QoS support for low-latency packet
applications. It is a fully backward compatible standard and remains
interoperable with deployed EV-DO networks and devices around the world. On the
forward link, the peak data rate increases to 3.1 Mbps while the reverse link
speed increases to a peak rate of 1.8 Mbps.

The EV-DO Rev B will be highly integrated with advanced functionality and
will support the operation of up to three simultaneous channels of 1.25 MHz each
for higher-speed data rates and deliver significant space-savings for devices
that are thinner, smaller, and lighter.

But, despite the obvious benefits, the entry of EVDO technologies that saw
phenomenal growth in international markets, has had troubles in India as the
government is yet to come out with the 3G policy, including spectrum usage,
spectrum pricing among other things. The entry of EVDO, the standard for 3G in
CDMA, will depend on the launch of 3G services, a senior official with a leading
vendor said.

At present, there is no consensus on the pricing of spectrum for rolling out
3G services. On the top of this, the government is yet to release the spectrum.
Once the government releases the spectrum, operators will get an enormous
opportunity to offer the much sought after 3G services to its customers in the
country.

However, telecom analysts are still skeptical about the mass deployment of
the 3G network as they feel that 3G might become a technology for operators'
broadband deployments. They may not look for mass deployments. This means 3G may
not be available across the country and it may restrict itself for premium
customers. The main reason for the poor response among operators is the
regulatory issues.

MediaFLO

Qualcomm's efforts to position MediaFLO, which is built around FLO, an
open-standard, air-interface technology designed to increase capacity and
coverage as well as reduce cost for multimedia content delivery to mobile
handsets, are in the process of gaining momentum in India. Qualcomm India
demonstrated the capabilities of MediaFLO technologies at the recently concluded
India Telecom Summit 2007.

The uniqueness of MediaFLO's mobile broadcast technology includes its
capabilities to complement wireless operators' WCDMA/HSDPA and CDMA2000/EV-DO
cellular network data and voice services, delivering content to the same
handsets used on these 3G networks.

Looking at international operators' response to MediaFLO, India will also be
slowly picking up the technology. Comparing mobile multicast technologies,
MediaFLO offers several advantages, including higher-quality video and audio,
faster channel switching time, superior mobile reception, optimized power
consumption, and greater capacity. Other features of MediaFLO in an 8 MHz
channel are support for transmitting up to 30 streaming channels of QVGA-quality
(320x240 pixels), video at up to 25 frames-per-second with a constant quality of
service, 10 stereo audio channels (HE AAC+ parametric stereo) and multiple
Clipcasting downloads per day (short-format video clips), and an average channel
switching time of approximately two seconds.

Recently, MediaFLO and MTV, a Viacom company, forged an alliance. As per the
multi-year agreement, MTV Networks will provide channels branded MTV,
Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central to MediaFLO, the USA's mobile entertainment
service.

Qualcomm and British Sky Broadcasting have completed two joint technical
trial of the MediaFLO System in the UK.

W-CDMA

On account of the lackadaisical attitude of the government, the Wideband
Code-Division Multiple-Access (W-CDMA), one of the main technologies for the
implementation of 3G services, is yet to see the light of the day in India. GSM
operators are ready to implement W-CDMA once the government spells out the
details of the 3G policy.

In international markets, W-CDMA deployments have taken off, and are
experiencing new highs. W-CDMA vendors are optimistic about the potential of the
Indian market. In fact, 3G-ready handsets are already available in India, but
consumers are still in a dilemma.

When the W-CDMA vendors launched their technologies, they looked at
efficiency and consumers' demands for better experience and simplicity. Through
these capabilities, mobile operators benefit from a technology that provides
performance for improved end-user experience for Web access, file download, and
streaming services.

W-CDMA has evolved over the years, handling higher bit rates and improving
downlink speed, and has very well been accepted by international operators.
WCDMA 3GPP Release 5 extends the specification with HSDPA, which is an
enhancement of WCDMA. HSDPA improves the end-user experience by increasing peak
data rates to 14 Mbps in the downlink, reducing delay, and providing 2-3 times
more system capacity. In the second step, the uplink has been enhanced. Wireless
broadband access to the Internet, intranet, and corporate LAN benefits greatly
from 'WCDMA Evolved.'

The primary benefit of HSDPA, which can reduce the time it takes to download
large files by a factor of twenty, is the improved end-user experience. This
means shorter download times through higher bit rates (14 Mbps peak rate) and
reduced roundtrip time over the air interface. HSDPA also provides advantages
for operators by introducing greater system capacity.

HDSPA opens up for enhanced end-user experience when using WCDMA for wireless
broadband applications such as intranet and the Internet access via laptops.
Here, the reduced delay improves the traditional Web access. Downloading of
emails and other heavy files is improved by increased peak data rates.

With the advantages of HSDPA, 'WCDMA Evolved' will further enable operators
to provide end-users with more advanced wireless broadband applications,
offering wide area coverage and mobility.

Whether Indian operators catch up with international technologies or not,
technologies will come and consumers will enjoy them. Indian operators should
look at the convenience of consumers, who want to be the first in the queue to
grab these opportunities.

Ruchi Phadke

ruchip@cybermedia.co.in