Strong Within

Many a times every mobile subscriber would have experienced a situation where
he/she would have had to run out of a meeting room or basement to make and
receive calls due to poor network inside. The very fact that phones are no
longer meant to stay connected on the roads, and increasingly being used inside
offices and homes is an indication towards the need of improving the in-premises
wireless infrastructure.

Of all the mobile calls originating and terminating, over 60% are indoor.
Traditionally, in India mobile service providers have been handling the
in-building connectivity, but within an increased emphasis on quality of service
India too is experimenting with a 'neutral host' model where a third party will
pay for the system and then 'lease' the access rights to a carrier or carriers.

Ubico Networks, a carrier neutral in-premise telecom solutions company
providing active infrastructure on a cost sharing model, is in talks with some
of the telecom giants in the country. The company offers end-to-end solution
from acquiring the right of way for in-premise, planning, deploying, and
maintaining the telecom solutions infrastructure and spread its wings to six
metros, including Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. The others that may be in the
race for such a business of providing host services are Quippo and the Bengaluru
based Kavveri Telecom Infrastructure that has recently signed a ten year
contract with an operator, whose name the company refuses to disclose. Kavveri
Telecom plans to invest Rs 100 crore over a period of two years to set up
in-building telecom infrastructure in over 200 buildings.

Another player, GTL infrastructure has wired thirty odd buildings.

A 'neutral host provider' sets up infrastructure for multiple service
providers. It charges rent from the telecom service providers for providing
in-building coverage solution (IBS) which offers plug-and-play service to
operators. The hosts identify high footfall areas, proactively acquire sites and
seek exclusive right of way to the building.

“Enhanced in-premises coverage has become crucial for the service providers
as the indoor mobile traffic has gone up remarkably, it is interesting that many
families have replaced their fixedline phones with mobile phones,” says Udit
Mehrotra, director, Ubico Networks. The idea is to provide ubiquitous mobile
connectivity, he adds.

John Spindler, director, product management, ADC Telecommunications, says,“By
deploying an in-building solution and creating an indoor cellsite, wireless
traffic can be off-loaded from the outdoor macro-network, thereby freeing up
capacity and ensuring indoor and outdoor users are not contending for the same
capacity. In addition, the use of in-building wireless solutions provides
pinpoint coverage and capacity, efficiently delivering service where it's needed
to all users within a facility.”

In-building Potential

Across the globe, the operators are focusing on QoS, hence comes the role of
in-building wireless solutions. Asia Pacific is the largest in-building wireless
market in the world. ABI Research has estimated the total in-building revenue in
Asia Pacific in 2009, at a value greater than $2 bn. However, there are no
specific numbers available regarding the size of the market in India.

The global market for this segment continues to expand, with a CAGR forecast
of approximately 20%. This will continue due to the continuing increase in
wireless usage penetration, the rollout of 3G and 4G networks at higher
frequencies (the higher the frequency, the tougher it is to penetrate a building
from the outside), and the expansion of data applications which require
increasing amounts of bandwidth.

Operators in India are increasing their investment in in-building solutions
as they invest in 3G and 4G technology. Again, while the market has largely been
price driven in the past, operators are increasingly more open to solutions
which-while they may be a bit more costly-offer higher performance to support 3G
and 4G.

At present in India the leading operators do not sound too enthusiastic about
this model. They feel they are competent to handle their within the premises
connectivity. The maddening race to acquire maximum subscribers, is likely to
attract them to this model.

Atul Charturvedi, COO, Idea Cellular says, “The big operators are already
very conscious about the consumer satisfaction, they themselves are proactively
working towards in-building connectivity, and we always share this kind of
infrastructure as well. I do not get help from this kind of a model, but this
can really work for a new entrant in the market who have to compete with the
existing players.”

“For new operators, the first focus will be building their macro network. In that case, buying services from a host is the best option rather than just focusing on the macro network and do nothing about in-building connectivity” Kumar Chakravarthy, head, in-building business, GTL Infrastructure	Data consumes more BTS capacity. Once 3G comes in fully, the data usage is likely to see a fillip. Then IBWS will play an important role Udit Mehrotra, director, Ubico Networks

According to Tata Teleservices' senior VP and head, corporate business
development, Sukanta Dey, “This new concept of plug-and-play facility will help
new telecom service providers to significantly reduce their time to market as
they need to roll out fast and also they will be able to escape the capex on the
in-building signal enhancement initiatives.”

Kumar Chakravarthy, head, in-building business, GTL Infrastructure agrees,
“For the new operators first focus will be building their macro network. In that
case, buying services from a host is the best option rather than just focusing
on the macro network and do nothing about in-building connectivity, “ he says.

Besides there are a large number of enterprises, and such a model makes
sense. “For an enterprise, they certainly would have one system go at once,
rather than one operator doing it time and again. Certainly there are issues of
speed and convenience that argues for carriers partnering amongst themselves,”
says AK Bhargava, PGM, MTNL.

The in-building wireless market definitely seems bullish. Vendors and
integrators have started customizing their products and services around specific
verticals such as healthcare, office/multi-tenant buildings, hospitality,
universities, stadiums, and airports.

Femtocells vs DAS

The femtocell can ensure both coverage and capacity in a small venue, thus
enabling wireline displacement. However, they do not scale well in terms of
covering larger venues, and there are various technical challenges if you
attempt to deploy multiple femtocells in a facility. Femtocells are really not
competing with distributed antenna systems (DAS), as the markets they address
are different.

Quality Concerns

The industry feels in-building solutions will be key to ensuring QoS
requirements are met, particularly for emerging data services.

“And with mobile number portability coming, it will be more difficult to keep
users from 'churning', and in-building solutions can be used as a means of
enhancing service and retaining users,” says Spindler of ADC Telecommunications.

Bhargava says MNP will keep the operators on their toes. Trai's been
emphasizing on consumer satisfaction. In such a scenario, in-building wireless
solutions can help the operators retain their subscribers.

“Data consumes more BTS capacity, once 3G comes in fully, the data usage is
likely to see a fillip, then IBWS will play an important role,” says Mehrotra.

3G will usher in an era of increased data usage. In case of only voice
services, a call drop does not cause a major loss to the customer, but things
will change when people start using their mobiles to access data.

“When a call drops, the subscriber can ring up again, but while downloading
data, the network cracks, the user will have to begin all over again. This is
likely to give bill-shocks to the user and definitely can cause loss of
subscribers to the operator,” Chakarvarthy of GTL infrastructure says.

This market is a function of urbanization. Also the competition is not very
intense as this requires high investment and pace of RoI is slow. Most of the
solution providers are right now proactively acquiring sites and wiring up the
building as proof of concept to sell the idea to the telecom biggies in the
country. India is fast developing and there is a huge market in the tier-1 and
tier-2 cities waiting to be transformed thus there seems to be a rich
opportunity for these hosts.

Heena Jhingan

heenaj@cybermedia.co.in