Deployment Strategies>>>>>>

Bharti: The group is at an advanced stage of deployment as it is operational in all the four new basic service circles, taking the total tally to five. On the cellular front, the company has launched GPRS-ready network in eight circles and is present in 15 cellular circles.

The Bharti Group has launched DLD operations in a limited way. In terms of OFC, the company has laid 18,000 km of OFC and plans are to lay an additional 6,000 km in years to come. Recently, the company has also launched ILD services which is also restricted to voice and to its own network. Bharti has an advantage in comparison to Tata and Reliance as it has a submarine cable i2i with a cable landing station in Chennai. The company has also been deploying satellite interactive terminals in number of locations in the country.

Reliance: In its first year of operations, Reliance plans to deploy 5 million wireless line in 110 cities. To start with the company will deploy around 500,000 lines in category A circles, 300,000 in category B circles, and around 100,000 in category C circles. In the first phase, the company plans to deploy around 2,000 BTS (excluding rural BTS based on CorDECT). For rural and semi-urban areas, the company plans to deploy 1,500 CorDECT system throughout the country having capacities varying between 1,000 to 2,000 lines for which deployment has started. The company is in the final stages of finalizing on the wireless infrastructure. On the wireline front, the company has already deployed switches in 10 states and deployment in the remaining eight states will happen in a month’s time.

In terms of OFC, the company has deployed around 30,000 km throughout the country. On the ILD front, the company is planning to deploy international gateways in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Ernakulam.

Tata: The group believes in sharing of infrastructure and operations across business in the areas of backbone, switching, manpower, space, and branding. The company is moving towards it by leasing bandwidth from Gas Authority of India Limited, Bharti Telesonic, and BSNL for the DLD project. The company is moving at a faster pace on the NLD front and is planning to rollout services in high traffic areas like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, and Cochin in couple of months. In the first year, the company is planning to rollout network of over 5,000 km and plans are to go for a 12,000-km network in two-years time. The company is currently implementing ATM network which will allow VSNL to offer high quality, flexible, differentiated voice and data services to the consumer.

On the basic services front, the company is planning to have wireline capacities of around 10,000 to 15,000 line in capital cities and wireless capacities of around 30,000 lines. For Delhi, the company is planning for a wireless capacity of around 70,000 lines. In category B cities, the company is opting for a wireline capacity of 5,000 lines and a wireless capacity of around 10,000 to 15,000 lines. The company has already deployed base stations and switches in few cities.

Comments: Bharti is leading the race, but will have to struggle hard to maintain pace. Tata has taken the lead in ILD but is yet to gear up on other fronts. Reliance plans to deploy all the services in one go and leverage those services for a slew of solutions.