THE Global WiMax Forum, while welcoming the country's spectrum auctions plan for services on this wireless technology, has warned that vested interests were trying to delay the process. The WiMax Forum has also said that reserve price for radio frequencies for wireless broadband technologies which includes WiMax cannot be equated to that for 3G spectrum. ET spoke to WiMax Forum's global president and chairman Ron Resnick on the prospects of this technology in India and the challenges that confront it. The WiMax forum comprises more than 530 member companies—144 ecosystem content developers, 162 service providers, 92 silicon component manufacturers and 131 system vendors.
There has been a lot of debate over whether WiMax or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), the 3G technology used by telcos, will be better for India. Besides, there is also debate in India that it would just be a matter of time before HSPA gives way to much faster Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks. Where do you see this battle headed, especially considering that the GSM Association had recently began a global marketing campaign to market HSPA and 3G devices?
I think, this is a sign of desperation from the rival camp. We have a threeyear lead over LTE networks, which are still a long way from going commercial. We are glad that the Indian government can see through these tactics and have decided to go ahead with auctions for both 3G and WiMax radio frequencies simultaneously. You cannot compare the two—one is purely for voice while WiMax is data-centric platform. The demands by some groups to have a common base price for both 3G and WiMax is yet another attempt to delay the process.
We do not see WiMax and cellularbased technologies such as HSPA and LTE (the long-term evolution of 3G) as competing platforms but consider them complimentary to each other. India needs WiMax as it has to offer connectivity to its 800 million people who live in rural areas. The GSM Association's move to unveil a global campaign to highlight HSPA support in devices including laptops is an acknowledgment that we are doing well and having an impact on the market. They are reacting because we are changing the business model—WiMax is an open Internet business model with innovative new devices and applications being added by the day. With many low-cost embedded devices being developed, we are moving to a retail distribution model.
Where do you see WiMax in India?
The WiMax forum forecasts that the market for this technology in India will be $13 billion by 2012. Our projection takes into account that the country will have
27.5 million WiMax users,
which includes 19 million
subscribers by 2102. We see rollouts of WiMax in India having a
tremendous impact on the
nation's economy. India, with a
population of over 1.2 billion, has only a little over four million broadband users compared to about 300 million mobile users. Widespread access to broadband will greatly increase economic productivity by laying the groundwork for important initiatives such as long distance learning, tele-medicine and e-government.
Do you have any specific plans for India?
We are in the process of setting up an WiMax applications lab at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. This will be the third such lab in India—we already have labs in the US and Taiwan. The third lab will add more diversity to the group of developers already in the WiMax fold. IIT Delhi has a functioning WiMax test bed and serves as an ideal location to host this lab.
How do you see India's recently-unveiled WiMax policy? Is the WiMax forum happy with it? Also, do you see Indian operators using their existing infrastructure to drive WiMax and lower their capex?
The DoT's move to auction WiMax spectrum in the 2.3 and 2.5 GHz bands is a welcome move. As we see it, there will be a minimum of about four players where each player will get a minimum of 20 MHz of radio frequency. We think that the price of WiMax radio frequencies should be a lot lower than that of 3G spectrums since both are very different — it's like comparing apples to oranges. Yes, Indian operators with their existing towers and other related infrastructure will use the same for WiMax and this will result in significantly lower deployment costs. As the Indian telecoms sector operates in a volume driven market, the country is not only positioned to spur one of the world's largest broadband wireless markets, but also support an ancillary ecosystem that will generate further employment, enhance development in semi urban and rural areas and lead towards true sustainability.
There has been a lot of debate over whether WiMax or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), the 3G technology used by telcos, will be better for India. Besides, there is also debate in India that it would just be a matter of time before HSPA gives way to much faster Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks. Where do you see this battle headed, especially considering that the GSM Association had recently began a global marketing campaign to market HSPA and 3G devices?
I think, this is a sign of desperation from the rival camp. We have a threeyear lead over LTE networks, which are still a long way from going commercial. We are glad that the Indian government can see through these tactics and have decided to go ahead with auctions for both 3G and WiMax radio frequencies simultaneously. You cannot compare the two—one is purely for voice while WiMax is data-centric platform. The demands by some groups to have a common base price for both 3G and WiMax is yet another attempt to delay the process.
We do not see WiMax and cellularbased technologies such as HSPA and LTE (the long-term evolution of 3G) as competing platforms but consider them complimentary to each other. India needs WiMax as it has to offer connectivity to its 800 million people who live in rural areas. The GSM Association's move to unveil a global campaign to highlight HSPA support in devices including laptops is an acknowledgment that we are doing well and having an impact on the market. They are reacting because we are changing the business model—WiMax is an open Internet business model with innovative new devices and applications being added by the day. With many low-cost embedded devices being developed, we are moving to a retail distribution model.
Where do you see WiMax in India?
The WiMax forum forecasts that the market for this technology in India will be $13 billion by 2012. Our projection takes into account that the country will have
27.5 million WiMax users,
which includes 19 million
subscribers by 2102. We see rollouts of WiMax in India having a
tremendous impact on the
nation's economy. India, with a
population of over 1.2 billion, has only a little over four million broadband users compared to about 300 million mobile users. Widespread access to broadband will greatly increase economic productivity by laying the groundwork for important initiatives such as long distance learning, tele-medicine and e-government.
Do you have any specific plans for India?
We are in the process of setting up an WiMax applications lab at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. This will be the third such lab in India—we already have labs in the US and Taiwan. The third lab will add more diversity to the group of developers already in the WiMax fold. IIT Delhi has a functioning WiMax test bed and serves as an ideal location to host this lab.
How do you see India's recently-unveiled WiMax policy? Is the WiMax forum happy with it? Also, do you see Indian operators using their existing infrastructure to drive WiMax and lower their capex?
The DoT's move to auction WiMax spectrum in the 2.3 and 2.5 GHz bands is a welcome move. As we see it, there will be a minimum of about four players where each player will get a minimum of 20 MHz of radio frequency. We think that the price of WiMax radio frequencies should be a lot lower than that of 3G spectrums since both are very different — it's like comparing apples to oranges. Yes, Indian operators with their existing towers and other related infrastructure will use the same for WiMax and this will result in significantly lower deployment costs. As the Indian telecoms sector operates in a volume driven market, the country is not only positioned to spur one of the world's largest broadband wireless markets, but also support an ancillary ecosystem that will generate further employment, enhance development in semi urban and rural areas and lead towards true sustainability.
R o n R e s n i c k Chairman, Global WiMax Forum
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