While the debate on which of the two technologies-3G or WiMax-is better
suited to meet enterprise needs remains inconclusive, equipment manufacturers
are preparing faster 'go-to-market' strategies with a slew of gadgets enabled
for wireless broadband access (WBA) based on WiMax technology. The manufacturers
believe that though the auction for WiMax spectrum is stuck in delays,
availability of these gadgets will keep enterprises and consumers on a watch out
for the technology.
WiMax Forum, a body comprising 522 operators, and component and equipment
companies as members, is soon expected to add an Indian certification lab to its
existing network this year. This will help solve concerns of the device-hungry
Indian market, which can look forward to connected laptops, USB dongles,
ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs), mobile handsets, and mobile Internet devices (MIDs).
Getting Tech-Ready
The WiMax Forum and industry body, Assocham, are optimistic and expect the
Indian market to support about 19 mn WiMax connections by 2012, representing
about 20% of the global WiMax user base in 2.5/2.3 GHz bands. This expectation
currently appears over ambitious as the broadband market fears that the delay in
spectrum allocation will push WiMax penetration beyond 2010. But the Forum is
confident that if the technology is available off-the-shelf, operators will have
the capability to kick-off full-fledged services within three months of the
spectrum being allocated.
The fact that operators like Bharti Airtel, BSNL, Tata and Reliance have
already started to offer their WiMax services on 3.3 GHz, is an indication that
the industry is looking at WiMax as a reliable solution to increase broadband
penetration in the country. Some mobile operators have been using it for their
backhaul connectivity, however, the use has been limited as spectrum is not
available with operators to offer widespread services. The industry is betting
big on the BWA spectrum to introduce these services at a full-fledged level.
Once BWA spectrum is allocated, these players will be able to offer WiMax
services on 2.3 and 2.5 GHz spectrum. Players like Motorola, Soma Networks, and
Nokia Siemens are investing heavily on mobile WiMax.
According to VOICE&DATA estimates, in the financial year gone by, the WiMax
equipment market experienced an incredible growth of about 239% as against a
growth rate of a minuscule 8% in FY 2007-08. The country still has a huge rural
area that needs to get broadband coverage. The operators are now heading towards
rural destinations. In the times ahead, the country is expected to receive heavy
investments in mobile WiMax space. Also, the market is likely to witness a
thrust on mobile WiMax, especially for providing services like m-care,
m-commerce, m-learning and m-governance.
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Our decision on WiMax will be evaluated as a function of availability and application. We would wait for complete 3G rollout to happen; only then will we plan any investment Arun Gupta, |
Before investing in a technology, any company would like to ensure that the gadgets it is buying are interoperable and meet the standard specifications Atul Luthra, head, IT, PVR |
We are seeing WiMax embedded notebook and other gadgets flooding the Indian market. Many more will follow CS |
The flexibility of service ensures that each enterprise customer derives optimal bandwidth to meet both his business needs as well budgetary requirements Sudhir Kadam, Soma Networks |
President of WiMax Forum (India Chapter) CS Rao says that India is being
considered as a key market for WiMax technology, with major players such as
Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, Huawei, and Samsung planning to invest heavily on the
technology.
“We are seeing WiMax embedded notebook and other gadgets flooding the Indian
market. Many more will follow,” Rao says.
Raining Gadgets
The WiMax Forum is committed to bring as many products in the market as it
can. In June this year, the Forum certified ten new devices. This includes its
first netbook, and notebook computer. The Forum has also been working towards
encouraging WiMax service providers to extend their services to larger numbers.
Till February this year, at least 430 mn people were covered.
The range of devices can vary from notebooks, PCs, handsets, smartphones,
consumer electronics, to even gaming devices, cameras, camcorders, music players
and more. Manufacturers are working on a broad range of devices such as user
Internet tablets, PCs ultra portable computers, and mobile phones that will be
WiMax enabled.
Intel is taking the lead with the first-ever combined WiMax/Wi-Fi module
chips for laptops. Manufacturers like Acer, ASUS, Lenovo, and Toshiba seem to be
on board as well to use these chips. Others like Dell, Panasonic, Samsung, and
Sony also plan to support the WiMax/Wi-Fi chips in their new laptops that will
hit the market later this year. The idea is to build awareness around the new
technology and to get enough varieties of devices into the market that are WiMax
ready.
What India Needs to Learn from Others' WiMax Experience |
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Rao sees good case for WiMax in India. “WiMax promises the user of broadband
speed that is unheard of. I definitely see great interest from the enterprises
to deploy WiMax, as the technology offers ample mobility to the employee.”
Sudhir Kadam, senior vice president, consumer services, Soma Networks says
the enterprises in India are quite bullish about making WiMax a part of their
infrastructure investments because of the RoI it promises in the form of high
user experience, lower costs of communication and collaboration, and
scalability.
For Soma Networks that has partnered with BSNL to offer BWA services in three
circles currently-Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh-Gujarat Industrial
Development Corporation (GIDC) is the first enterprise to benefit from this
service. GIDC will make this service available to industries housed in their
estates, and will also use this service in their own administrative offices.
“We are seeing tremendous success in our private and government enterprise
segments. SESA Goa, India's largest exporter of iron ore in the private sector,
has signed up as the first enterprise customer in Goa for BSNL-Soma's broadband
service,” Kadam informs.
He says, “All the applications that would drive business value will be
adopted by enterprises. Some of the applications which enterprises would use are
CRM solutions, ERP access, stocks, banking and e-commerce, surveillance and
security.”
Vendors are basing their strategies keeping enterprise expectations in mind.
Kadam says, “Our pitch to the enterprise customer is based on
fundamentals-access, applications and affordability. We have an array of custom
designed plans for the enterprise segment ranging from 512 Kbps to 2 Mbps. The
flexibility of service ensures that each enterprise customer derives optimal
bandwidth to meet both his business needs as well budgetary requirements.”
“If we look at the case of an SME, the technology fits its needs well. It
gives its employees the freedom to be out-of-office and still be connected. A
host of devices are available and the enterprise does not need to make huge
investments. An organization needs an indoor CPE, an individual requires a
dongle. And each user has a choice to pick from a wide variety of laptops and
netbooks,” Rao informs, adding that some operators like Tata and Reliance
Communications are already focusing on these organizations.
There are over 400 models of the devices of all types. The manufactures like
ASUS, Acer, Lenovo, Intel have introduced WiMax netbooks and laptops in the
range of $200-1,000. There are about thirty-five certified dongle manufactures,
each having three or four models which are available in the market in a price
range of Rs 1,500-2,000. WiMax chips cost between Rs 2,500-4,000 depending on
the applications they support.
Talking Business
What is crucial is that the availability of WiMax enabled gadgets in India
should be able to attract potential subscribers. Even as the market is now
getting richer with a range of WiMax enabled gadgets, the enterprises do not
want to hasten their investment decision. Although enterprises agree that the
market's preparedness builds up momentum for the technology, but the deployment
has to be planned considering factors other than availability of gadgets.
Arun Gupta, CTO, Shoppers Stop says, “For an enterprise like us, connectivity
is crucial. Our decision on WiMax will be evaluated as a function of
availability and application. We would wait for complete 3G rollout to happen;
only then will we plan any investment.”
Supporters of WiMax believe that it has an edge over 3G or Wi-Fi as far as
technology for enterprises is concerned. Unlike Wi-Fi that covers smaller areas,
like a restaurant or a confined area like a building, WiMax can extend over an
entire city. Also, it enables higher speeds of uploads and downloads.
“WiMax is definitely a good option for enterprises, but we have no plans of
making investments in WiMax as of now. Even if there are gadgets available, what
is yet to be seen is how well can this technology support applications that are
critical for us. Before investing in a technology, any company would like to
ensure that the gadgets it is buying are interoperable and meet the standard
specifications,“ says Atul Luthra, head, IT, PVR.
Enterprises have realized that having a variety of gadgets is not enough. It
is not only 3G that WiMax has to compete with. Other economies such as Russia
are looking at higher versions of technologies like 4G. Samsung and Yota
unveiled 4G netbooks in Russia. The netbook supports advanced WiMax technology.
Enterprises say that though there are no major technical hurdles in deploying
WiMax, except the capacity limits imposed by some broadband services, they do
not want to make a choice without having a clarity on the future of the
technology in India.
Operators in India are awaiting BWA spectrum auction. License fee will
determine the cost of service to the subscriber. Enterprises say that even if
gadgets are low-cost, and the service is not cost-effective, the technology will
fail to kick-off.
Heena Jhingan
heenaj@cybermedia.co.in