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Next-generation communication technologies and feature-rich communication devices have engulfed the communication industry. Increased complexities in communication devices and functionalities means an increased demand for elaborate test and measurement to maintain the standards required for ensuring quality. With India already crossing the 250 mn mobile subscribers mark, and its readiness to target the 500 mn mark by 2010, service providers and other stakeholders have already expanded their infrastructure and operations.

International vendors are setting up shops in the country, and with attractive policies including SEZs, India can attract many more manufacturing companies for setting up their GSM and CDMA handset manufacturing units. Carriers have been continuously investing in tools for network deployment and upgradation. All these bustling activities in the telecom space warrant tests and measurements in order to meet the required standards to ensure quality for the end-user. No wonder the test and measurement segment is on a northward growth curve in India.

Growth Magic
During FY 2007-08, the T&M industry in India clocked revenues of Rs 586.91 crore, a 26.33% increase from Rs 464.55 crore in the previous fiscal. The growth magic in this space has continued for India in the last couple of years, thanks to quality-conscious industry segments including telecom and consumer-electronics like TV. In addition to the above sectors, India's proven strength in semiconductor design is also a main driver for T&M growth.

Agilent has topped the ranking this year as well, registering a 26% growth to reach Rs 197.82 crore in FY 2007-08. Its market share stands at 33.7%. The increasing subscriber base in India has fueled this growth. Other sectors that contributed to its revenue include semiconductors and consumer electronics like TV. A key order the company bagged this year was from Alcatel-Lucent to which it provided test and measurement services for an IPTV ecosystem.

Spirent Communications clocked revenues of Rs 73 crore in FY 2007-08 from Rs 55 crore in FY 2006-07, achieving a growth rate of 32.72%. The company occupied the second place in the top order with a market share of 12.43%. Worldwide, the company recorded sales of about $468 mn in 2006-07. With respect to IP-based testing, the company claims to have got the majority market share last year and a year before that. The company's business dealings with chipset manufacturers, equipment manufacturers, and service providers primarily contributed to its revenue.

JDSU has registered revenues of Rs 70.2 crore, registering a 30% growth in FY 2007-08. It occupied the third place, getting a market share of 11.96% this year. Rhode&Schwarz India earned revenues of Rs 52.2 crore in FY 2007-08, an increase of 16% from the Rs 45 crore clocked during the previous fiscal. It exhibits that the company is on an upward growth curve. Telecom R&D, production, and broadcasting were the primary contributors for its growth during the year. The company has some new launches during this financial year including RF conformance test system, TS8970, which has been selected by the WiMax Forum as a reference solution for the certifications of WiMax end-products being built to the specification of 802.16e.

Tektronix registered revenues of Rs 46.33 crore in FY 2007-08, a 13% increase from the Rs 41 crore in the previous fiscal. Aishwarya Telecom has grown 70% to Rs 35 crore during FY 2007-08. Main sectors that contributed to its revenue are optical testers, data testers, and mobile testers. Major orders include a Rs 14 crore order from BSNL, a Rs 8 crore order from defense labs, a Rs 5 crore order from Reliance, and a Rs 2 crore order from Indian Railways.

During FY 2007-08, National Instruments (NI) grew about 55.55% to record Rs 28 crore as compared to Rs 18 crore in FY 2006-07. With National Instruments expanding its vision of virtual instrumentation beyond the traditional areas of prototype and test, the company will have more growth opportunities to maintain its growth momentum. Anritsu India has clocked revenues of Rs 15.26 crore during FY 2007-08, a 9% increase from Rs 14 crore in the previous fiscal.

Fluke Networks grew by 40% to Rs 14 crore during FY 2007-08 as compared to Rs 10 crore in the previous fiscal. The company also exudes confidence in achieving more than 40% growth in the next three years. PDR Videotronics has clocked Rs 5.10 crore during FY 2007-08, a 100% increase from Rs 2.55 crore in the previous fiscal.

Trends
Ultra low-cost handset manufacturing targeting emerging markets, along with ultra-integrated, high-complexity, software-based handsets for the high-end market, is gaining momentum not only nationally but also internationally. In addition, the growth of wireless communication standards adds to the cost of manufacturing at both ends of the spectrum.

The multiplicity of wireless standards can affect the customer in dramatic ways. As new standards are adopted, manufacturers are forced to replace their original instrumentation investment with something that can match the new standards. T&M companies are challenged to give customers the solutions that allow them to reconfigure their instrumentation systems while maximizing the reuse of their existing instrumentation components.

At the international level, markets are almost saturated because of the near 100% tele-density. Therefore, only when a new, advanced technology is introduced, companies buy testers for new products.

In the beginning, most designs were done in developed economies, and manufacturing was resourced to lower-cost destinations. However, as the talent and knowledge of engineers is evolving, high-value jobs are gradually following manufacturing, test engineering, prototyping, and even ODMs. While almost everything is moving toward Ethernet, massive deployments in the field are likely to be seen.

As per the global trend, players forecast that a majority of network capital expenditure will offer data services, wireline, or wireless. Now, a lot of money and effort is going toward validating the product before deployment. Checking its capacity, performance, QoS, policy management, latency, and IPv4/IPv6 will help service providers offer more value to customers. This means, validation testing during pre-deployment is an absolute necessity.

Apart from this, the demand for broadband testers is also growing. At a time when the mobile growth story is exhibiting an exciting phase year after year, broadband is not too far behind. Though the broadband segment has not been enjoying the same growth as the mobile phone, it is the next big thing, thanks to newer communication technologies including DSL, WLAN, WiMax, and 3G. As a result, India does not have to worry about achieving the target of approximately 20 mn broadband subscribers by the end of 2010. There will be large-scale deployment of broadband network infrastructure in India in the next few years.

Being an emerging market for telecom services, India will become a manufacturing powerhouse in the near future, dramatically changing the way companies design, prototype, and deploy products around the world. With over 7 mn mobile subscribers being added each month, and the country becoming one of the major destinations for mobile handset manufacturing, the demand for mobile testers is increasing substantially.

For technologies like 2G, 3G, and WiMax, most chip-set designers, protocol stack developers, and telecom manufacturers are increasing their RF test capabilities in India. It is expected that some of the major telecom houses as well as the Department of Telecommunication will open test houses in the near future to cater to the needs of conformance testing on the telecom products being developed in India. This has already happened in other telecom ripe countries like China, Taiwan, Japan, the US, and European countries.