‘India will have 27.5 million WiMax users by 2012’

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.

R o n R e s n i c k Chairman, Global WiMax Forum

In India, at the right time!

DID they see the future? If that answer is in the affirmative, it surely explains why a lot of Indians have found their way back to India. With the sub-prime crisis and its aftermath hitting the US like never before, getting back to India seems like a pretty good idea. And, if their counterparts in the US say things like, "You are lucky to be in India", the decision to come back is merely reinforced. Sectors such as real estate and financial services have seen a number of people coming back home. Here are three such individuals who took the decision and are sounding happy.
    When Jinesh Sonawala moved to Stanford University from Mumbai, he knew he was getting into the zone of multitude of opportunities. Three degrees from Stanford and Berkeley landed him prime opportunities in Silicon Valley in the 1990's, the heyday of technology. He put together product marketing strategies at Apple Computer that enabled his team to build the first double sided colour laser printer and also the first digital camera. That was in 1992. He then worked for a small company incubated by Sequoia Capital, called C-Cube, where he handled inter-national partnerships travelling widely in Europe, Japan, and China. C-Cube was sold six years later for $2.1 billion. Today, Sonawala is the chief marketing officer at the Mumbaibased Akruti City. He has been in India for two years and he sold his house in the US before calling it a day there. At Akruti, Sonawala is leading teams that are bringing to market India's first robotic car park, the largest biotech park in India, and townships with an American flair.
    Ajoy Veer Kapoor, the founder of Saffron Asset Advisors, came back to India towards the end of 2005. Earlier that year, in February 2005, the Indian government allowed the flow of FDI in the real estate sector. That was the trigger for Ajoy who saw a huge opportunity in the business. He knew it was the time to be in India. Prior to getting back, his last assignment was Global Head-Strategy & Implementation (Corporate Real Estate) at HSBC, UK. The responsibility involved strategic management and project implementation of 75 million square feet across 79 countries. "I take a long view of 30 years on the real estate industry," says Ajoy.
    Finally, there is Sourav Goswami, managing director of Walton Street Capital a real estate focused private equity fund. His frequent trips to India, on account of family and business reasons, instilled a desire to return someday. Sourav, who studied at Harvard University and Columbia Business School, wrote his thesis on investment flows in India. He had the opportunity of working with Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs in their real estate groups. The perspectives and experiences of looking at global real estate markets for the last 14 years have come in handy during his current stint in India. Says Sourav, "India is a very high touch relationship driven market. With the right diligence and analysis one can do well in India." Though his accent is clearly American, he has gone all out and made lasting local friendships within and outside the country. So, what do these people bring to the table? "The skill sets of the hired expats or the NRIs are particularly useful when it comes to specialised areas like luxury apartments" says Vishal Chibber HR Head Kelly Services.
    prashant.mahesh@timesgroup.com