More players are fighting for broadband spectrum as there is a huge opportunity on the enterprise end: Motorola

As India gears up of the 3G/BWA spectrum auction, the US based equipment maker, Motorola is betting big on WiMax and is in talks with the all players in the BWA fray for deployment of WiMax.

“We are in talks with all bidders, and we are already conducting trials of our WiMax products with two of those,” says Subhendu Mohanty, country head, network business, Motorola India.

He says the fight for the spectrum will be really aggressive as there are eleven players in the game. “We see so many players in the broadband spectrum space as the price for the spectrum is less, also license conditions are more relaxed. There is a huge opportunity on the enterprise end waiting for broadband connectivity.”

While the momentum is building around WiMax and TD-LTE-are expected to work on the BWA spectrum as DoT has decided not to specify the technology to be used on the bands-the vendor says it will be premature to say which will be the right way to go.

“At this point it is really difficult to say which one is the right path to tread toward 4G technology. It is yet to be seen if TD-LTE needs to be more baked,” Mohanty says.

The vendor believes, it is not going to be very difficult to capture the current opportunity as it has already made significant investments in 4G. “What works in our favor is the fact that we have a unique platform that supports both WiMax and LTE and helps migrate to either easily,” Mohanty says. Motorola claims that the product it has is mature and non-commercial in India, though it has found acceptance by China Mobile that is going to Shanghai soon.

“Interestingly, we see a huge opportunity from some of the players who may choose to leapfrog from 2G to LTE. There are players like Uninor and MTS who did not bid for either. Basically all will depend on their strategy. They have recently spent billions on 2G networks. By the time auctions for the LTE happens, the technology will become ready for take-off and more optimized for voice,” Mohanty says.

Price will play a crucial role too. The equipment manufacturer promises to be highly competitive. “We are fully prepared for the demand for the WiMax products. The vendor business is largely volumes driven. At present, I will not be able to comment about the shipments as the demand may vary as per the operator strategy,” he concluded.

heenaj@cybermedia.co.in