WiMax : Maximizing Momentum

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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.


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, CTO, Shoppers Stop	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 Rao, WiMax Forum	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

The US has thirty-five WiMax enabled notebooks. In Russia, there are over thirty WiMax enabled devices, and a GSM/WiMax dual-mode handset
Taiwan's WiMax equipment makers will generate revenues of above $303-393 mn this year, up from $184 mn in 2008, according to its Ministry of Economic Affairs
The ease of regulatory environment in many foreign countries has helped operators and companies to scale up opportunities in the WiMax space
Although the technology has made little progress in Asian countries such as Indonesia and China, industry experts feel that with the help of government policies, China alone can have over 40% of global WiMax subscribers by 2012
In one of the most awaited WiMax auctions of Europe in 2006-07, France allotted forty-four regional WiMax licenses in 3.5 GHz spectrum to operators and local governments. As per the earlier plan, 3,564 WiMax locations should have gone live by June 2008. However, only 14% of the total sites planned have been built during that period. According to reports, the reason for this was the poor performance of the technology. WiMax failed to meet the desired expectations of operators in the country. Also, the approval of standard for mobile WiMax, was one of the main reasons for slow advancement of the technology in the country

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.