Market Movements
According to a VOICE&DATA survey, the WiMax deployment is poised for a swift growth in this financial year. FY 2007-08 was the year of pilot projects in WiMax, while 2008-09 could see the mass deployment in both enterprise, as well as retail segment. Furthermore, nearly all-major service providers are expected to come out with large network deployments this year.

As it is very difficult to attain broadband penetration through the deployment of copper and cable in a huge country like India, wireless is going to be the key for attaining broadband penetration.

Additionally, VoIP support on wireless broadband technologies like WiMax could be used to deliver low-cost voice services with mobility, using the same network infrastructure.

The Indian government has set a target of 20 mn broadband connections nationwide by 2010; however, the country has only been able to cross the 3.8 mn mark. In order to achieve this apparently unrealistic broadband target, wireless technology is going to be the key.

Globally, broadband adoption is happening at a rapid manner and wireless is the ideal choice. In most deployments, support for WiMax is increasing, however, it is still in its early days in India.

Operators are also realizing the urge to provide real broadband access on the move and, thus, are using WiMax networks to do the same in developed markets such as South Korea, since 2007. Furthermore, mobile TV, mobile advertisement, and femto cells are the other exciting trends to cost effectively route the huge rise in data traffic on the operator's network.

According to industry experts, the Indian market comprises categories such as urban low speed domestic market, which is basically reigned by leased line DSL solutions because of the availability of fairly good copper lines. On the other hand, there is a high-speed urban enterprise and the rural market that tends to have wireless infrastructure such as MMDS, WiMax, and other experimental wireless technologies like DECT.

All segments of the Indian communications equipment market, including wireless, wireline, and broadband, will see tremendous investments in the coming years. Industry experts also believe that the on-going certification and more 2.5 G WiMax licenses to be issued worldwide would bring WiMax to a large-scale commercialization climax next year

While technologies such as WiMax fixed/nomadic are suitable for emerging countries where copper wire is still absent, WiMax mobile is more suitable for developed countries.

The maturity of WiMax infrastructure equipment and availability of end-user devices have encouraged the emergence of mobile WiMax in several geographies worldwide during the last financial year.

With the security aspect of wireless technology still to get matured, there is a strong prospect of further growth in the adoption of wireless and mobility solutions across different platforms and Industry segments.

Generally, developed countries have broadband infrastructure based on fiber. This is because of the high speed DTA transfer demanded by users and the already available high quality wireline infrastructure.

Developing countries, on the other hand, tend to rely more on wireless solutions, which, incidentally, give them an edge to migrate directly to cutting-edge wireless technologies like WiMax.

Mobile WiMax is also being seen as having great potential to connect the unconnected. The technology has a vivid potential of supporting a number of applications such as e-commerce, tele-medicine, distance education, e-governance, and delivery of localized content to the rural market.

Industry Outlook
Strategically, there are a lot of steps that need to be taken by the government, vendors, and service providers, to build a strong foundation for making broadband in India.

The first and most important thing that needs to be analyzed is the availability of spectrum. As the deployment of copper and cable would not be able to serve more than 15% of the Indian population, wireless technology is the only way out to achieve our dream of broadband penetration.

Operators are also ready to gearing the guards, provided regulatory issues are sorted out and low-cost end user CPEs and suitable service offerings are available from vendors.

WiMax equipment such as base towers and CPEs are still expensive as compared to the prevalent WiFi hardware.

Initiating the process, the WiMax forum announced its first certified product during the first quarter of 2008, thereby providing a boost to the entire WiMax ecosystem.

Service providers such as BSNL and Tata communications have already come out with their RFPs for setting up huge WiMax networks for both rural and urban areas. The actual implementation could be seen this year.

While Tata communications is looking at an investment of $500-600 mn by 2010 to target thirty cities in the next three years, to roll out broadband using WiMax technologies, Bharti Airtel is also operating fixed WiMax networks across nineteen cities.

Idea Cellular is also looking at WiMax as a potential medium and completed its trials using WiMax. However, due to spectrum limitation the bend of the industry has not yet been clear.

TRAI has also recommended the effective utilization of the local loop owned by the incumbent operators and the deployment of wireless broadband technologies to boost broadband penetration in India. It has also invited the spectrum for wireless broadband technologies such as 3G and WiMax to be allocated to service providers on a priority basis to fuel broadband growth.

A majority of big operators have already undertaken 3G trials (WCDMA/HSPA and CDMA EVDO) and await the policy from the government to roll out full-fledged 3G networks.

IP backbone and WiMax backhaul will be widely used in new built networks as complimentary to optical and microwave transmission.

Reduction of excise duty on all telecom equipment from 16-8% also acts as critical in making India a global hub for international manufacturing.

Network design and deployment techniques for WiMax, which is significantly different from those required for the regular PTMP systems like MMDS, are also posing concerns to the industry.

Because of cutthroat competition in the telecommunications industry, there has been a lot of pressure on profits. Market differentiation and cost reduction could be the key areas to increase customer value.

Furthermore, a unified core network for these access technologies can provide a seamless, high performance service delivery system with lower costs and added value for subscribers.

It is expected that in FY 2008-09 the price difference between WiMax and DSL will reduce as a result bringing about a drastic change for WiMax in terms of acceptance.

Service providers also need to look at all avenues for cost reduction, including infrastructure implementation costs, because of heavy competition in the end user deliverables. This calls for revisiting pricing for some service deliverables. However, increase in business volumes would amply compensate for any reduction in margins.

It is also expected that faster introduction of WiMax will make it possible to grow beyond mobile voice services in an affordable and broad-based manner.

The growth drivers for WiMax include the increasing need of high-speed data connectivity in the enterprise and domestic sectors, emerging applications such as IPTV and MMS that drive the bandwidth requirement, and non-availability of quality cable network (includes both copper and fiber).

No doubt, WiMax as a technology has a potential to upload and download at a much faster speed as compared to broadband services. With its help, numerous applications can be used including “last mile” broadband connections, hotspots, and high-speed connectivity for businesses and customers; further, huge investments might also not be required.

Considering the Indian requirements, it could act as a good option to provide data services to masses, not to forget the limitations of infrastructure and time. It offers the reliability of delivery, quality of service, and concurrently handles multiple applications.

An increasing number of embedded WiMax laptops and positive government policies could become important factors in deploying WiMax networks. Besides, affordable broadband connectivity and increased awareness of broadband capabilities can also drive the broadband incursion in India.

However, spectrum is going to be a grave impediment for the deployment of WiMax in India and the regulators need to understand the urgency of providing the same.

Jatinder Singh
jatinders@cybermedia.co.in