"Market Is Where The People Are"

alt="Ian Pope, managing director of Digital Microwave India (Pvt) Ltd"

align="right" hspace="2" vspace="2" width="148" height="172">Digital

Microwave Corporation is the most well-known specialized

microwave company in the telecom business today. It has opened

its Indian subsidiary keeping in view the potential of the

market. In an interview with Voice & Data, Ian Pope,

managing director of Digital Microwave India (Pvt) Ltd, shares

his thoughts on the Indian market and the challenges before him.

width="13" height="13"> How do you see the Indian market?

In the long run, market is where the people

are. India’s market potential is certainly very promising.

width="13" height="13"> How do you compare it with other

countries in the region?

India is a different market from other

countries. But then, all markets are different from each other.

(But) I won’t say India is a difficult market.

width="13" height="13"> What are the positive and/or negative

things in India for Digital Microwave?

India is great on the technology side. It has

an English speaking population. And that makes day-to-day working

easier.

On the negative side, bureaucracy prevails,

even in business. The decision making is slower. Then, the market

has not grown so rapidly. But that, I feel, is temporary and is

due to a general slowdown of business.

width="13" height="13"> Digital Microwave did quite well in the

metro cellular round, when it was hardly known. But then, it

could not repeat the same success story in the circle cellular

round ...

There is one major reason for that. In the

circle round, the operators placed all orders on the turnkey GSM

network supplier. This was due to financing reasons. Many telecom

majors supplied on supplier’s credit. That was the major

problem.

width="13" height="13"> Has the status changed now?

No. But, we have formed strong partnerships

with some equipment companies like Motorola. And we plan to

approach the customers through these companies.

width="13" height="13"> But will you not be competing with these

companies in certain ranges?

Yes. But that is how this business is. We

partner with a company in Malaysia and compete with it in

Indonesia. So, that is nothing new to us.

width="13" height="13"> What will be your role?

We will not only take care of the microwave

part in the network, but also focus on increasing awareness. We

are planning to conduct roadshows and seminars on microwave.

width="13" height="13"> How do you see the basic service market?

The potential is great. However, the priority

for a basic service provider today is to start service as soon as

possible. So, his concern is access network. After that, he will

go for long-distance connectivity and look for microwave.

Financing will still be important.

width="13" height="13"> What about the non-telecom market like

corporate and utilities?

Yes. That is an emerging market. But at this

stage, there has to be a lot of education. How does microwave

compare with other media. What are the advantages and what are

the implementation problems ...

We need the media’s co-operation for that.