Deploying WiMax in India will result in more people being able to access the information that they want, anywhere, and anytime. For example, a businessman in rural India may well find that new markets are open to him because he can access the Internet where he is and finds new customers and suppliers. In India, the ease and speed with which a mobile WiMax infrastructure can be built, combined with the expected low cost of mobile WiMax end-user devices, will mean that finally operators have a way to provide cost-effective broadband connectivity to the mass market.

Broadband penetration in a market like the US is reaching saturation. So, the focus on those markets are mobility based broadband access, increased value added services, keeping running costs low, use of IMS for seamless service provisioning, etc. However, in the US, two major operators-Sprint and Clearwire-are committed to WiMax deployment.

Technology at the Fore
Apart from Alvarion, Aperto, Airspan and Telsima, players like Alcatel-Lucent, Nortel, Nokia, Siemens, Ericsson, and ZTE are testing the waters in the country.

Airspan Networks has introduced an economical 'get started' WiMax system in the 3.5 and 5.8 Ghz frequency bands that will allow an operator or enterprise to deploy a base station and WiMax customer premise devices for the best price offered by any vendor in the WiMax industry. This system provides connectivity at up to 10 Mbps in a small, compact package, which can be delivered and installed within several weeks of order. Wi-Fi connectivity is also included in the system.

The development of WiMax Wave2 in 2006-07 is also very important. Wave2 includes MIMO technology that allows WiMax to significantly increase its overall system performance and throughput.

Motion, which uses Alvarion's market leading BreezeMAX base stations, is Alvarion's complete WiMax 802.16e-2005 solution portfolio for mobile WiMax networks. It is commercially available today.

Alvarion is ready with mobile equipment in 2.3, 2.5 and 3.5 Ghz and they hope that spectrum will be allocated by WPC in India very soon. During the second quarter of the year, Alvarion will be launching mobile WiMax for the 3.3 Ghz band.

Telsima has successfully conducted trials with major tier-1 operators in India, and commercial deployments with operators with more than 400 sectors in each account.

The C-Dot Alcatel-Lucent Research Center (CARC) has completed India's first live WiMax IEEE 802.16e-2005 (also called Rev-e) field trial using Aircel's licensed spectrum. Trials were conducted using the 2.5 Ghz band and demonstrated applications in moving conditions such as video streaming, high-speed file downloads, VoIP, and Web browsing.

Currently, Nortel is testing its WiMax solutions with a number of carriers around the world. Its mobile WiMax solution is built on a foundation of OFDM-MIMO, a combination of innovative transmission and antenna technologies that maximize spectrum to deliver lightning-fast speeds and high bandwidth essential for high-quality mobile video and TV.

Main Gains
Aperto Networks, developer of advanced WiMax base stations, and VSNL have announced recently that VSNL has completed deployment of Aperto's PacketWAVE multi-service broadband wireless systems in over 65 cities across the country. This is part of an initial deployment phase with the goal of growing the network to cover over 200 cities within 12 months. Aperto has recently won a major order from Bharti too. Other main clients of Aperto include BSNL and Aircel.

Alvarion's customers in India include Aircel Business Solutions, subsidiary of leading Indian cellular service provider Aircel, which is planning to use Alvarion's WiMax equipment to build WiMax networks across fifty cities in northern and eastern India. In addition, India's leading private telecom carrier is also using Alvarion's fixed WiMax system for 3.3 Ghz to build WiMax network across India. With deployments currently in eight cities, this operator is using WiMax to augment its current broadband, fixed and cellular network infrastructure to quickly offer affordable broadband data services to SMEs and customers in new markets, and has plans to expand this network to more cities throughout India. Other main client of Alvarion is Bharti.

Telsima, which is creating its own space in India, has bagged major order from Reliance and VSNL. Airspan is closely working with Tulip. MRO-Tek has done business to the tune of Rs 70 lakh.

Regulatory Bottlenecks
The anticipated growth in broadband will depend on too many factors and the main hurdle on its way is regulatory issues pertaining to spectrum allocation. Recently, senior executives from Intel, participants from Sprint Nextel, COAI, and AUSPI came together to discuss the challenges that WiMAX is facing in India.

According to their recommendations, the most suitable bands for broadband wireless access is 2.3-2.4 Ghz (for mobile BWA such as WiMax), 2.5-2.69 Ghz (for mobile BWA such as WiMax), 3.3-3.6 Ghz (for fixed/nomadic BWA such as WiMax) and 700 MHz (for future). They have also asked for 2.5-2.69 Ghz band to be made available expeditiously on a 'technology neutral' basis. Operators should be allowed the opportunity to choose the most appropriate technology, method of operation (fixed, nomadic, mobile), etc to suit their business needs.

Ideally, Indian service providers should be able to deploy a technology, which can maximize utilization of the spectrum. Spectral efficiency of the technology needs to be considered while assigning the spectrum. WiMax is spectrally more efficient compared to other competing technologies. The minimum quantum of spectrum recommended per operator for BWA considering efficient network deployment and business viability is 30 MHz.

India provides a huge opportunity for broadband growth. However, the future of broadband is highly dependent on where the government wants to steer it. It has placed the responsibility of driving broadband heavily on BSNL in rural areas through WiMax. However, spectrum is a serious obstacle for massive adoption of WiMax in the country, according to research firm Gartner, which remains positive on the future of broadband in India. Also, the unbundling of local loop would only give the much-required push in increasing broadband penetration.

Baburajan K
baburajank@cybermedia.co.in

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