The Economic Times of India reports that Tata Communications (TCL) has signed up 50,000 subscribers for its fixed WiMAX service. Additionally, Maravedis projects 13 million subscribers in India by 2013.
The Economic Times of India reports that Tata Communications (TCL) has signed up 50,000 subscribers for its fixed WiMAX service. TCL, earlier known as VSNL, had received WiMax spectrum in the 3.3 GHz band under its Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence with the Indian government. Other Indian network operators- Bharti Airtel, Aircel, Sify and Reliance Communications - also own spectrum in this band.
Tata Communications Internet Services (TCISL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of TCL, is investing substantially for its WiMAX rollout to ensure that it gets a headstart in the acquisition of subscribers. The company, with a WiMAX capex outlay of $500 million for three years ending FY12, has put in place around 1,400 base stations across 140 cities. This makes it the largest WiMax network in the world, according to TCISL COO Prateek Pashine. TCISL has procured its WiMax equipment from Telsima Corp, a company recently acquired by Harris Stratex Networks. TCISL is obtaining customer premise equipment (CPE) from Taiwan-based networking and communications equipment firm Universal Scientific Industrial (USI).
On the much-delayed spectrum auctions, Mr Pashine said the industry was eagerly looking forward to offering services in the 2.2-to-2.3 Ghz band, which will be auctioned later this year (if you believe the Indian IT Ministry). "The postponement has delayed customer acquisition and rollout of services and revenues associated with that," he said.
For our posts on the often delayed India spectrum auctions, please see: Will it Ever Happen? India May Delay 3G Auction, Raise Prices. The follow up comments imply that the auction will not be held till 2010. That is great cause for concern for the broadband wireless industry in India, in our opinion.
For further details on TCL's WiMAX network, please see: TCL ropes in 50k for WiMax broadband
Separately, market research firms Maravedis and Tonse predict WiMAX Subscribers in India will Exceed 13 Million by 2013. A new report concludes that deployment of 3G and WiMAX will generate a reasonable user base over the next 5 year period, before noticeable LTE deployments begin to make an impact in India. Maravedis, in partnership with leading Indian telecom market research and analysis firm Tonse Telecom, just released the 3rd Edition of “India Wireless Broadband and WiMAX Market Analysis and Forecasts, 2009-2013.”
“Despite delayed spectrum auctions that are impeding a tremendous economic driver, 3G/BWA/WiMAX network activity is already on a roll,” said Sridhar Pai, co-author of the report and Tonse Telecom CEO. “For the severely underserved Indian broadband market, demand for wireless broadband connectivity continues across all sectors: retail, SOHO, SMEs and large enterprises alike,” he continued.
According to the report, the big push will be seen post-spectrum auctions. “However, aided by pre-allocation in the 2.5GHz band, incumbents are already developing massive national rollout plans for both 3G and WiMAX. Expect significant pan-India deployments from other successful auction bidders,” said Maravedis CEO Adlane Fellah.
While the global economy is lying dormant, demand for telecommunications services in India continues to fuel significant growth in the sector. “We estimate that in 2008, approximately 10,000 BWA/WiMAX base station sectors were deployed in total. Currently there are about 300,000 BWA/WiMAX subscribers already using these services,” Pai noted.
“Wireless CAPEX has already reached US$ sub-100 levels per line, thereby confirming the primary transport technology will be wireless,” added Fellah.
Key Findings of the report:
- Internet access is still the big broadband driver in India, with wireless broadband becoming the clear option owing to economics and ease of deployment.
- BWA operators have yet to resolve many service quality issues.
- India is expected to see the world’s lowest end-to-end cost for WiMAX services, with costs driven down faster than in any other market.
- Computer penetration is still very low and the Indian telecom sector operates in a volume-driven market.
- Innovative business models such as public-private partnerships will emerge, together with low cost devices and a vibrant ecosystem.
For more information, please visit: http://www.maravedis-bwa.com/
Source:http://www.wimax.com/commentary/blog/blog-2009/april-2009/tata-ommunications-reports-50k-wimax-subscribers-0428
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