WiMAX to accelerate broadband and rural connectivity

Mumbai

March 27th, 2008

Worried over tardy progress in broadband roll out, telecom service providers
and experts held out WiMAX technology as the best solution for both accelerating
its spread and reaching out to rural areas. "WiMAX technology offers very
cost-effective, high capacity and faster roll out of broad band connectivity
especially to rural areas" said Maharashtra Circle CGM- BSNL Chandra
Prakash addressing a WiMAX ForumIndia workshop in Mumbai recently.

Though 2007 was declared as the year of the broadband, the subscriber base
for it has hovered around just three million as against the projected seven
million now and 20 million by 2010. Several telecom service providers including
Government owned MTNL and BSNL are offering broadband connectivity with
bandwidth of 2mega bits per second (Mbps).

According to telecom experts uncertainty over regulatory and policy issues is
holding up WiMAX spread in India. WiMAX Forum VP Dr. Mohammad Shakouri feared
India might miss the business opportunity provided by this technology despite
both devices and equipment being available for its deployment due to these
regulatory and policy uncertainties like firm allotment of spectrum band for it.
He contrasted this with the global spread of this technology with WiMAX services
likely to reach four billion people soon. By 2012 there would be some 500
million devices that would be WiMAX embedded. The WiMAX Forum has already 530
members globally of whom 170 are telecom operators. Bharat Exhibitions had
organized the workshop and conference for the Forum.

"WiMAX is the answer for rural India's need for broadband
connectivity" according to Anupam Wahi, WiMAX Business Development Head,
Alcatel-Lucent. He contrasted the rapid spread of broadband globally with 470
million subscribers for it while the Indian broadband base continued to hover
around three million even a year after that target was set. With government
intending to bring e-governance, e-learning and e-healthcare to rural areas
through broadband the low subscriber base would jeopardize this laudable aim.

For the telecom service providers wireless broadband provided through WiMAX
would be a revenue generator in an environment of falling average revenue per
user. Wahi suggested a triangular agreement between government, service
providers and wireless broadband operators to connect block headquarters with
villages through WiMAX deployment. The government's SWAN network is in the
process of connecting block headquarters with district and state capital in a
data centric network already. Operators and service providers could share the
revenues through this agreement.

Explaining India's spectrum plans for WiMAX, Telecom Equipment Manufacturers
Association VP Bharat Bhatia suggested use of the 3.3 GHz band that was even now
available for this technology. Though International Telecommunication Union has
identified several spectral bands for WiMAX the global preference is for 2.5GHz
band this was not available at present in India. Bhatia suggested the industry
consider using the 3.3 to 3.6 GHz where 40 MHz was already available for WiMAX
use.

Projecting a WiMAX user population of 20 to 25 million by 2014, Prateek
Pashine, VP of Tata Communications also suggested India moving ahead with use of
3.3 GHz for this technology. Defining the business opportunity in this sector
Pashine said "The Indian market in broad band is bigger than the entire
Latin American subscriber base put together. This technology could give 60 to 70
MHz bandwidth strengthening broadband reach to villages and urban homes with
five to six networks operating in each circle."

According to TCS executive Babla Sharan Internet would be the basic
communication tool of the world soon with 60 percent of the population working
from home, students would be both working and learning and social networking
would transform life style. In such an environment broadband connectivity would
become critical for success.

In an interaction with telecom service providers and equipment makers, Dr.
Shakouri earlier explained the business opportunity in WiMAX deployment and
equipment manufacture. He estimated that the Indian opportunity alone could be
10 billion US dollars. "Device making opportunities are plentiful" he
pointed out as laptops, desktops, traditional CPE and others would be WiMAX
enabled. "I want the Government to spend one billion dollars for the
broadband infrastructure" he said pointing out how countries like Taiwan
and Korea have expanded broadband with WiMAX deployment. "WiMAX is
strategic" to nationwide communications, he claimed.

Several participants mentioned that regulatory and policy uncertainties were
causing hurdles in their plan for WiMAX deployment. Dr. Shakouri admitted that a
unified view was needed on WiMAX for India for rapid expansion of the use of
this promising technology. He also said that there was no conflict between this
technology and the proposed 3G deployment as they were more complementary.