Global majors like Compaq and IBM have announced to launch
PCs and notebooks equipped with the Bluetooth technology by the first quarter of
2001. This may mark the beginning of a new paradigm in intra-office connectivity–personal
area networking without cables.
Bluetooth promises potentially unlimited applications: a
market as huge as the number of devices that use cables for communication. IDC
estimates that by 2004, there will be around 450 million devices worldwide
enabled with the Bluetooth technology. A Frost and Sullivan study says that
Bluetooth will be far more successful than other short-term wireless
connectivity options such as HomeRF, DECT and 802.11. The study predicts global
Bluetooth chipset revenues of $2.3 billion in 2006 with chipset shipments at 956
million that year.
Corporates intending to deploy Bluetooth-based networks can
enjoy several benefits. Bluetooth creates its own wireless channel in the local
area required to establish communication between devices, sparing the existing
network for bandwidth. Communication among various Bluetooth devices is through
a wireless link having a bandwidth of 720 kbps. This is significant because the
bandwidth currently available in India is only 33—56 kbps. The connection
technology lies on the computer or the peripherals, so there is no need to set
up miles of cables connecting all the devices in an organization. No wires also
means less fixed equipment, so a company can set up shop with a minimal capital
expenditure.
What’s in it for India
India has much to benefit from the technology. PK Tripathi,
CEO and MD, Edutech Informatics India, says, "Adoption of Bluetooth could
help India transform into a wireless society much faster than other countries.
In India, the communication infrastructure has not developed to the extent it
has in other developed nations. This lack of point-to-point connectivity can be
suitably replaced by adopting Bluetooth." Companies from across the world
would be looking at India as an outsouring destination for the interoperability
solutions for Bluetooth. Adds Tripathi, "Interoperability is all about
establishing a wireless link between mobile devices through a short-range radio
link, as this is the part of the technology which allows the devices to
communicate between each other."
Pradeep Arora, GM, marketing, DCM Technologies, says the
factors favoring India in the Bluetooth scene are the resources available, the
shortened time to market and scope for customization and integration of the
technology. Aman Kansal of Yablue, a startup developing technology that can help
cheap deployment of the technology, says applications relevant to India would
include cheap access mechanisms to provide connectivity in public places and
commercial applications like fast payments at shopping complexes through
Bluetooth devices. Even applications available globally like car kits and remote
controls for home appliances would soon be available in India. Swaroop Dogra,
project manager, Amdocs, a Cyprus-based telecom billing and customer care
company, says, "The development effort will have to come mainly from
hardware device manufacturers."
Tacking problems
The technology implementation may not be impeded by issues
like bureaucratic delays and low bandwidth. As Dogra says, "The problems
might arise from the normal risks associated with implementing a new technology
in a crowded market. Bluetooth has a small target community and the technology
use might catch up fast for this group, which, however, does not form a
significant percentage of the population. There are competing products coming
from wireless LAN initiatives and the winner cannot be identified at this
stage."
But the security part of Bluetooth is not comforting,
transforming its "easy to connect" strength into a weakness. You could
be using your cellular for browsing the Net, while a person nearby may be using
the same instrument to make his call. Fortunately, since Bluetooth is a
short-range connectivity device–it has a radius of 10m–security will not be
a concern at the level of corporate networks. Current specifications do not
guarantee that two Bluetooth-enabled devices are compatible. Bluetooth-enabled
devices are currently available as clip-on devices and PC cards. An instance is
when the headset, which came with the cellular, is lost. An easy replacement is
difficult to find since the headset and phone would be manufactured in pairs
with the same authentication information. Every product has to be certified as a
bluetooth compliant device by an authority, which would cost money. And
presently, only eight devices can be networked to form a small network called as
Piconet. For device networks bigger than this, the technology would have to be
improved.
There are at least 15-20 companies in Bangalore and a
slightly less number of them in Hyderabad and Chennai which are offering
Bluetooth solutions. There is also an informal Bluetooth user group in Bangalore
with branches in Hyderabad and Chennai which exchanges inputs on the
developments on Bluetooth. 3Com, DCM Technologies, Hughes Software Systems and
IT&T are a few major companies involved in the Bluetooth scene in India.
Bluetooth-enabled devices would be popular among high-end segments of the
medical and hospitality industry in India. Consumer electronics will be slow
paced even if costs fall. And as Bluetooth-enabled devices are being launched,
the market will take another two-three years before it takes off.
BIJESH KAMATH
in New Delhi