C-DoT Alcatel: Realizing WiMax

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Across the world there is talk about the ubiquitous Internet that will bridge the digital divide. Telecom service providers and manufacturers are embarking on initiatives aimed at bridging the digital divide. But in an emerging geography like India, the Internet penetration to rural areas needs a lot of ramping up. In the past many initiatives have been embarked on to empower the rural masses, which is evident from Dr Ashok Jhunjhunwala's TeNet that has taken communications to the most remote parts through its CorDECT. After the advent of CDMA, things started looking up in terms of voice based communications to rural areas, but what about data access. Here is where WiMax comes into play.

If we sample some of the studies, like the one from Tonse Telecom and Maravedis, done last year, it could be inferred that by 2012 India would have close to 13 mn WiMax subscribers. No wonder companies and operators are evincing keen interest in tapping the potential. Moreover, India's nascent Internet penetration makes WiMax a pervasive technology that can link up more than six lakh Indian villages.

WiMax sure is a disruptive technology but to what extent it can be commercially feasible is the key question. To make WiMax a success there needs to be a whole lot of technology synergies that will enable seamless broadband Internet connectivity. For this there needs to be a whole lot of R&D to be done to make WiMax a reality at all levels of consumers-from urban to the grassroots. It is towards this end that telecom major, Alacatel, has joined hands with C-DoT for a WiMax Reality Center that will foster WiMax and its successful deployments in India. The center which now becomes a part of the C-DoT-Alcatel Research Center, launched earlier last year in Chennai, will be a meeting point of experts from across India who will build and test pre-integrated customer focused solutions. The center is expected to unfold new broadband access paradigms using WiMax. The launch of the center assumes significance as TRAI has recently favored WiMax frequency allocation and has recommended the same to DoT.

'We want to demonstrate WiMax Rev-e solutions for the Indian market'
-Patric Veron, CEO, C-DoT Alcatel Research Center

Can you talk about the significance of the WiMax reality center?
Any new technology requires proof points and a reality center can demonstrate the capabilities and provide confidence to all stakeholders. While setting up this WiMax Reality Center, we want to clearly notify and assure the market, including our interested prospects, customers and analysts that the Rev-e technology is available. Therefore, the idea is to demonstrate the existence of WiMax Rev-e solutions for the Indian market, in time for operator's deployment plans.

How will this help in bridging the digital divide and positively impact rural broadband Internet access?
Although India is the fastest growing mobile market in the world, rural teledensity is still very low, while two thirds of India is still rural. To sustain the explosive growth witnessed in the past year and to reach the government's ambitious target of 250 mn subscriptions by 2007, rural connectivity is vital. We believe WiMax Rev-e is economically the most optimized technology available in the market for achieving these goals. With its capability to offer high speed internet as well as cheap voice calls for rural areas, WiMax Rev-e is also poised to address the digital divide through various government initiatives such as the e-Governance projects.

For Alcatel, how significant is this center in your overall broadband wireless strategy?
Through this center, we will be able to showcase to our customers the value of broadband wireless access for rural, urban or suburban Indian regions. The C-DOT Alcatel Research Center (CARC) is the first and only one in the entire country to have such a set up dedicated to Rev-e solutions. This center will serve as a key proof point to confirm our leadership in Indian broadband wireless access market.

Can you talk about the infrastructure of this center and what kind of activities it will be doing?
The WiMax reality center set up consists of an end-to-end demonstration encompassing all elements of a WiMax network: Rev-e base station, Home Agent, video and FTP servers and CPEs. Live demos being carried out at the center include applications such as high speed Internet, mobile TV or video streaming, large file transfers as well as voice over IP. The objective of the center is to proof check various application and services developed by regional partners for the Indian market.

How do you see the ubiquitous broadband Internet access panning out in India and the center's role in fostering the same?
Globally, there has been a change in user trends with a greater demand for broadband wireless and customers wanting to access services anywhere and anytime. Therefore, service providers around the world and also in India are pushing for wire free broadband services. CARC and Alcatel-Lucent is working to accelerate broadband wireless penetration in India by bringing in standardized WiMax Rev-e solutions compliant with the WiMax Forum.

Going forward, what is the potential you see for WiMax adoption in India and the center's role?
I think that the Indian operators are convinced of WiMax as a key enabler of their broadband wireless strategy. Therefore, the advent of Rev-e with much better capabilities and low CAPEX/OPEX compared to any existing carrier grade technologies today opens up tremendous opportunities for WiMax Rev-e to address the huge untapped customer base, cost effectively. Going forward, CARC will provide service and maintenance support once the WiMax network goes alive, and obviously continue to develop the technology further so that today's investments turn to tomorrow's assets of our customers.

Shrikanth G
shrikanthg@cybermedia.co.in

The Focus Areas
It is a win-win situation for both Alcatel and C-DoT. C-DoT will now be able to empower its consumers who will leverage the capabilities of the lab to launch WiMax trail and commercial deployments for the Indian market. Meanwhile for Alcatel, the sources say that it is a key milestone as it will be well poised to tap the enormous potential in the offing for wireless broadband access both for urban and rural markets. In an emerging geography like India, technologies like WiMax are expected to compliment existing broadband technologies like DSL and empower cellular operators to offer various value added services.

In an emerging geography like India, technologies like WiMax compliment existing broadband technologies and empower cellular operators to offer value added services

The WiMax reality center is said to be first of its kind in India to focus entirely on IEEE 802.16e (Rev-e) standard, which replaces 802.16d (Rev-d)) and is far more superior. The new standard promises more performance and is agile enough for fixed WiMax deployments. In consonance with that the center will design and develop ready to industrialize products and reference designs. The center is equipped with complete architecture to leverage 802.16e and will unravel its potential in areas like VoIP, high speed broadband Internet and applications like IPTV, video streaming and mobile TV.

Shrikanth G
shrikanthg@cybermedia.co.in