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