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The year 2007 saw quite a few emerging technologies entering the Indian market, continuing a trend in the changing telecom market in the country, though much awaited technologies like WiMax are still under speculation. But, with vendors testing the technology on trials and a couple of operators starting commercial runs, it has made its presence felt. Here are some top technologies of the year 2007, which made a significant impact or at least made their presence felt. However, these technologies, though proven elsewhere, are still evolving in India. As covering the entire spectrum of technologies available in India is a Herculean task, we tried to focus on some of the technologies that have attempted to change the telecom scene. These include MVNO, IPTV, EVDO, MediaFLO, and WCDMA.

Though considered emerging technologies, they are yet to reach the boardrooms of Indian mobile operators. Hampered by a number of issues, operators are still optimistic about its success. WiMax and IPTV have already reached consumers as operators looked at early rollouts.

MVNO
As of now, there are close to ten major mobile phone operators in India, each of these have a subscriber base that runs into a million and more. Considering the market dynamics, high entry cost barriers and low ARPUs, it is tough for any new player to enter the market, unless he takes the MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) way.

Simply put, MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) is a company that provides mobile phone services without any spectrum. It buys services and spectrum from an existing player and resells them to the customer. While it might not have a back-end, like towers and servers, it does have a very strong front-end, facing the customer like billing and customer care. It is more of a services game as the success of the MVNO is largely dependent on how well it is able to retain its customers and the innovative services it can offer. Thus, the company needs to offer a number of value-added services to differentiate itself from the incumbent mobile operator. With India having the lowest mobile tariffs in the world, MVNO would not have the margin to play a price game and would rather concentrate on services itself.

According to a report published by Blycroft, there were roughly 230 active MVNOs as of June 2006. The MVNOs contained within their MVNO market study vary from consumer-driven MVNOs to enterprise and data-focused operations. Countries including Algeria, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, the UK, Finland, Belgium, Australia, and the US have the maximum number of MVNOs. Other countries such as Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, the Baltics, and Austria are just beginning to launch the MVNO business models. Where there are many MVNOs in a single country, it is difficult for new entrants, as the overall marketplace is highly saturated.

Once the MNVOs start their operations in India, it is most likely that they would target prepaid users which will resolve the issue of low cost and, thus, would make it easier to foray into the market. However, in the beginning, the regulatory bodies in India were not much in favor of MVNOs, but industry experts say that the Department of Communications (DOT) has been actively considering encouraging it. The move comes as a means of encouraging competition and maintaining a balance of tariffs.

According to sources, it is learnt that Reliance Communications is much in favor of MVNOs entry in India, since it may opt for this as a route for its GSM entry into the telecom circles. For the already established mobile operators, it will be an advantage and they can start their own additional MVNOs. It will be easy for operators to establish it since they have the service knowledge, their brand image, and supplier relationships.

In India, the much discussed entry of MVNOs will take some more time as the Indian telecom regulator, TRAI, is still sitting on the suggestions of the industry. The industry sees a lot of scope, but nothing seems to be moving in the right direction.

IPTV
IPTV, the new form of watching television on protocol, was much in news this year with the state-owned MTNL and Reliance Communications making their foray into providing IPTV services. Reliance Communications will start its operations by March 2008 with cities like Delhi and Mumbai, while MTNL has already made a footprint in the market.

Industry insiders presume that the Asia Pacific region will revolutionize IPTV and will witness a new era of success. According to reports, IPTV subscriptions are expected to reach 53 mn by 2009 with service revenues touching $38 bn. When compared to CAS and DTH, IPTV brings in two-way interaction in the sphere of TV viewing. While IPTV and DTH offer video-on-demand (VOD), CAS does not have this feature. Also, an IPTV service gives complete control to viewers with the ability to rewind, fast forward, and store programs (PVR/DVR). IPTV may prove to be a boon to service providers whose ARPUs from traditional voice services are shrinking since it provides a greater edge. It also provides them a platform to be creative and, thus, experiment with the content for which the demand is appeased.

Reliance Communications and Microsoft have announced a strategic partnership to deliver a highly connected, personalized TV experience to consumers in India through Reliance's Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service, which will be powered by Microsoft's Mediaroom IPTV software platform. Reliance Communications shall have the exclusive deployment right for the platform in India.

The IPTV service will allow Reliance to deliver an entirely new and personalized TV experiences for Indian consumers, with several advanced features such as VoD, digital video recording (DVR), instant channel changing, and personal media sharing. IPTV subscribers will be able to watch popular standard definition (SD) content as well as high-definition (HD) content-for the first time in India-at the click of a button, from the comfort of their homes, and enjoy a connected entertainment experience that will soon allow them to watch their favorite shows on their TV sets or PCs. The service will be launched by the end of March 2008.

“As consumers today are becoming more sophisticated, they are demanding more compelling and personalized entertainment to suit their individual needs and preferences,” said Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Communications, at the official launch of IPTV. “Until now, TV has been a broadcast, 'one-size-fits-all' experience. Backed by powerful Microsoft Mediaroom software, IPTV promises to offer our subscribers more choice, control, and convenience, and at the end of the day, a unique and more satisfying user experience. We're excited to partner with Microsoft to unlock the potential of television and offer Indian subscribers the very best TV and connected entertainment experiences,” he added.

The Asia Pacific region has a lot to boast about IPTV since reports say that the demand is expected to grow significantly in the region. According to Frost and Sullivan, IPTV subscribers in the Asia Pacific region are expected to reach 27.4 mn by 2013 with China and India being the high growth markets.

In India, currently, MTNL has its own IPTV services and Reliance Communications would be ready with its services by March 2008. The global market has players like AT&T and Verizon launching the service in the US, and a number of service providers, including BT and Swisscom, have launched IPTV services across Europe. In the Asia Pacific region, Hong Kong is already a mature market, with PCCW as the world's largest IPTV provider. IPTV has been deployed in China, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

The IPTV service will also target an area with a great degree of ambiguity as far as TV content and advertising goes in India. There is, at present, no clear indication of how much of the content and advertising is really reaching the target audience and for what returns.