India has been primarily a switching country as far as the telecommunications infrastructure is concerned. However, with the fast spread of the telephone network and the introduction of data communications in the country, telcos like BSNL, VSNL and MTNL, slowly started paying more attention to the core transmission layer of the network. The optical transmission equipment market took off with that and now, with the advent of multiple private operators, is at a stage where it is likely to multiply in terms of both units’ shipment volume and value.

The market was still dominated by the big buyer BSNL, with purchases of over 4000 STM1, STM4 and STM16 SDH terminals, during 2000-01. The other significant buyers were MTNL, VSNL, Indian Railways, etc. The private operators, both cellular service providers and basic service licensees, contributed a negligible percent to the entire market.

While ITI dominated the SDH industry with a market share of 60 percent, it was its JV offspring Fibcom, which garnered the largest customer base in the country. Fibcom, sold more than 1,800 terminals and hence commanded the second largest market share at 33 percent Fibcom impressively gained an authoritative grip over the private telecom sector space with over 25 customers. The challenge came from the companies like HFCL, Siemens, Lucent, Alcatel, etc. However, the customer bases that these players addressed were only about half a dozen.

Significantly, the first DWDM order announcement came from Tata Powers, which was bagged by Sycamore and is likely to be implemented this year. This year is likely to be much more active, as companies like Reliance, VSNL, Bharti Telesonic, MTNL and BSNL are likely to taste their first DWDM network transmission. The Indian optical transmission market is finally, ready to transcend beyond light to various colors of light.