WiMax: To WiMax or Not To?

It is beyond suspicion that WiMax is the most wanted technology
waiting to be deployed across India. Tipped as the last mile solution, vendors
as well as service providers are conducting pilot trials across the country.
Finally, WiMax is ready to arrive with BSNL, India's largest telecom service
provider, deploying what it claims to be India's first certified WiMax network
in the next few weeks. WiMax equipment vendor Aperto will be deploying its base
stations at the same time in Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad,
Pune and four rural districts in Haryana.

While the world talks about the potential that WiMax offers to a
country like India, not many have talked about the potential that it offers to
solution providers. Here's how the solution provider community can leverage on
this big opportunity.

Using the Opportunity?

While every new technology carries along with it tremendous potential, on
the same line it also has its pitfalls. We asked network integrators one simple
question: Does WiMax present an opportunity for this community? The answer was,
"Yes". But the answer was also followed by many questions. Most
solutions providers are aware of this opportunity but are not sure how to go
ahead with it.

Solution providers are currently facing a situation in which
revenue from traditional sources are either declining or reaching a saturation
point. Therefore, for ensuring their success, a quick return on investment and
the ability to drive profitable service across a diverse customer base are
critical. "The solution providers have no other choice but to embrace this
new technology, thereby giving them more reason to be in this business and be
profitable," says Harsh Vij, CEO, SD Computers, who has already mastered
the art of deploying WiMax technology.

According to Vij, WiMax is an emerging technology, a technology
which promises to profitably deliver high-throughput, broadband-based services
like VoIP, high-speed Internet access and video, to business and residential
users who previously could not be economically served. "So there is no
option, nor is there an intent, of remaining aloof from such a promising and
potentially viable technology. We have already started deploying this technology
and hope to enhance its usage day-by-day," adds Vij.

WiMax has the potential to provide India with widespread
broadband access to Internet services which can usher in economic growth, better
education and healthcare and improved, affordable entertainment services. A
recent report from Motorola stated that there are only about 2 mn broadband
subscribers in India, which is less than 2% penetration. This against the Indian
broadband target of about 9 mn broadband subscribers by 2009 and 20 mn broadband
subscribers by end of 2010.

This target is achievable only if operators invest on wireless
broadband access. Wireless will be the main medium of delivery given that we
have very limited copper assets that are actually in good condition, capable of
being upgraded to deliver WiMax type broadband services. Moreover, such assets
are confined to top cities thus proving no option but to use cost effective
wireless technologies such as IEE 802.16e WiMax for rapid and widespread reach
of such broadband services.

The above opportunity is significant and so are the associated
challenges, given the low penetration levels of broadband in our country today.
Motorola, as a WiMax equipment vendor, believes there is a definitive and
important role that each stakeholder of this industry, needs to play to make the
broadband vision a reality.

WiMax vendors generally are MNCs. Their focus is more on the
technology side. So, naturally, they would like to spend more time on developing
technology rather than in deploying the technology.

Apps that Drive WiMax

For solution providers to take up WiMax the first thing that needs to be
taken care of is an understanding of the applications that will drive WiMax.
Until recently, the 2G networks delivered fantastic performance to the voice
user. What is expected in the next generation mobile networks is the ability to
deliver on-demand pervasive broadband, ie hyper connectivity.

"We believe video is going to be the next big wave and it
will change the way networks are deployed. 3G networks get exhausted if only six
percent of subscribers view video, so you need a technology which meets
on-demand pervasive broadband requirements," stated Mallikarjun Rao,
director, WiMax, Nortel. "We see WiMax as the first 4G mobile broadband
access technology to go commercial, transforming the network landscape. WiMax,
with its inherent technology advantages of OFDM (orthogonal frequency division
multiplexing) and MIMO (multiple input multiple output), and its strong
ecosystem has potential to meet the hyper connectivity challenges," he
adds.

Main applications driving WiMax, as of now, are all sorts of 'corporate
connectivity'. These include corporate VPN connections, Internet lease lines,
and international lease circuits among others. There is huge requirement for
corporate data connectivity. These applications will continue to drive the
market till mid 2008. From 2009 onwards, residential usage will start driving
the market.

Dr Lil Mohan, MD, Emerging Markets, WiMax Program Office, Intel
summed applications driving WiMax as three: Internet connectivity (web browsing,
e-mail, etc), voice over IP and media and entertainment (audio, video clips,
etc.) "The first two are targeted equally at both corporations and
consumers, while the third is targeted more towards the consumer," he says.

Beneficiaries?

According to Yadav of Aperto Networks, everyone in the chain will benefit
from this very promising opportunity. "Vendors like us will benefit in
terms of more business. System integrators, network integrators and resellers
will generate more business and get good margins. Operators can expect to get a
loyal base of customers because of reliable technology."

Join the Revolution

The government has clear guidelines on the type of companies that can build
networks and deliver broadband wireless access (BWA) services with the
associated criteria they need to fulfill. Such operators would partner with
vendors and system integrators for rolling out these networks and undertake
network deployment and integration activities on a turnkey basis or as per the
requirements of the specific operator.

WiMax-based wireless broadband network rollouts have many
commonalities with those associated with building cellular networks or
microwave-based point to multi-point networks. Solution providers and system
integrators with prior experience in delivering life-cycle services involved
with these wireless networks would be the natural choice for the service
providers to deploy their WiMax networks.

Most WiMax networks are likely to be initially deployed in urban
cities across the country and then quickly spread in rural districts and
villages, leveraging existing cellular network assets and investments to the
maximum extent possible. Service providers would evaluate the quality of
resources, past experience and presence of the solution provider across the
country (through service and project offices) as important criteria during the
selection process.

802.16e networks require huge R&D investments by equipment
providers so as to ensure that the product provides performance and conformance
to the WiMax 802.16e standards. These investments are required to be made on a
continuous basis to evolve the solution roadmap and provide enhanced features
and services. Vendors with the ability to offer the complete solution including
core equipment, customer premise equipments (CPEs) and handsets as well as
content and applications, all under the same roof, would enjoy a differentiated
market position as compared to others. Additionally, operators would consider
long-term commitments to WiMax standards and their evolution, past financial
health and track record, global and local presence and wins of the vendor as
important criteria during the selection process.

Practically, every WiMax network that will be deployed by
service providers will need solution providers to do the actual installation and
basic access provisioning. In addition, depending on the service provider-or
even the customer (eg, a state government), solution providers will need to help
deploy the various value-added services that the customer wants to enable.

According to Yadav of Aperto, the basic minimum requirement for
a partner to become a WiMax integrator includes: one RF engineer, one network
engineer, a sales team with an understanding of connectivity and the various
aspects of technology.

Kolkata-based Epitom Networks is one of the few solution
providers to have explored the WiMax opportunity at an early stage. Taking about
his experience with WiMax, Rajarshi Ghosh, MD, Epitom said, "The
convenience and the mobility which a WiMax solution can offer will have a large
fan following in days to come. I feel it's a matter of two years when WiMax
will be at the center of any business communication."

Mature Enough?

There are different views on the level of maturity solution providers have
for getting into the WiMax business. WiMax deployment is similar to deploying a
cellular network (albeit a lot simpler). Service providers need to plan the
network deployment carefully-so that the service has both adequate coverage
and adequate capacity. Existing cellular providers have an advantage since they
can re-use a good part of their back-haul. Once the basic access network is
deployed, various value-added services can be layered on top, and this provides
huge opportunities for various solution providers.

According to Yadav, solution providers are not really matured
enough to understand WiMax technology, because they don't try to understand
business requirements: "In the name of growth they just want more and more
business. There have been cases where partners with just three to five engineers
have shown interest in doing business across India, which is not good. They don't
understand the practicalities of this business and end up frustrated,".

Some kind of homework from the partners end is what is required
to begin with. Secondly, it is important for them to invest in terms of time,
team and money. "There are partners who don't provide laptops to their
engineers, which is a pre-requisite for such a business. Management should have
a vision and interest for this business, and then there will be no stopping the
partner," Yadav adds.

Dr Mohan of Intel agrees: "As is the case with every new
technology, there is a ramping period. At the moment there are a few fully
qualified WiMax network solution providers in India, but this number is growing
quickly. Those who are already there are fully capable of deploying WiMax
networks from the ground up".

However, the Indian cellular story has demonstrated in an
exemplary manner, how, despite a slow start and many ups and downs, it has in
just 11 years, scaled to being the fourth largest subscriber base in the world
with presently the fastest rate of growth compared to any other country.

The above success would not have been possible without a keen
understanding of the technology and the business acumen of service providers and
the industry at large to be able to run pan-India services profitably, despite
having the lowest levels of per subscriber revenues globally.

"India is equipped with this enormous wealth of experience,
keen understanding of needs of each market segment, a technological pool of
talent, and the ability of every member of the value chain to play their
respective roles in ensuring that it becomes viable to build such networks and
deliver affordable services that stimulate mass adoption. India should feel most
confident of leading the global march from the forefront and demonstrating a
similar success story as in cellular, without having to play catch up from
behind," stressed Tarvinder Singh, head, Marketing and Product Management,
Networks and Enterprise Business, Motorola India.

From the service providers perspective, Nokia, an active WiMax
solution provider is very positive of the success of WiMax in India. According
to Prashant Agnihotri, director, Product Management, Radio Networks, Nokia
India, "Indian service providers and consumer have shown in the past that
they are fast to adopt new technologies and applications.

Laws and Procedures

A WiMax solution typically compromises base stations/access points (AP) and
CPEs. The APs are deployed at the base station site using the existing site
infrastructure that may be available with the service providers, while the CPE
needs to be deployed at the customer premise, in the form of outdoor
installation, desktop indoor installation or to be used as PCMCIA cards in the
laptops.

WiMax 802.16e-based APs and CPEs are currently being rolled-out
for commercial pilot systems and are expected to be available through multiple
vendors for volume deployments by the middle of 2007. The WiMax forum, driven by
leading telecommunications equipment vendors and service providers, is helping
the industry to promote the adoption of 802.16-compliant equipments amongst BWA
operators while ensuring the interoperability of WiMax equipments from multiple
vendors. The forum is currently taking up wave one certification in the 2.3GHz
and 3.5GHz frequency band, and the wave two certification for these bands, and
2.5GHz is expected to start in the second half of this year.

In order to benefit from WiMax technology advantages and the
expected economies of scale, it is important for service providers to deploy the
WiMax network in the spectrum harmonized with global deployments. Service
providers have the option of choosing the spectrum from three of the harmonized
bands, which are in 3.5GHz, 2.5GHz and 2.3GHz. Currently, portions of the
spectrum in these bands are with the Department of Space, the Army and other
enterprise units for satellite and private use. The regulatory and licensing
bodies in India are working towards helping service providers to get the
necessary spectrum in these bands realizing the benefits of economies of scale
that India needs for these rollouts to be able to deliver cost effective
broadband services.

There are clearly defined norms and entry criteria given by the
government on which companies are eligible to offer WiMax services. The current
understanding is that existing cellular and fixed line service providers (USAL)
in India can deploy WiMax solutions for providing triple play or quad play
services. Existing ISPs can currently deploy WiMax solutions for providing
broadband data services only and would need to extend their license to USAL for
providing VoIP and video solution using WiMax. The Telecom Regulatory Authority
of India (TRAI) has recommended allocation of at least 15MHz of spectrum to each
WiMax operator. More details are likely to be made available once the DoT comes
out with its policy on spectrum and defines the procedure and related details
for allocation of the same to interested operators.

Meanwhile, the ministers and telecom commission are very
supportive, but a lot of things need amendments. "First, a major problem is
with getting the Special Import License. To even move an equipment from point A
to B, one needs to have four extra people. In doing so, the cost of equipment
goes up. The government should minimize the paper work required to smoothen the
process. Intimating the government is a good idea but taking permission for
every small little thing is not feasible," said Yadav of Aperto.

Nelson Johny

With inputs from Subbalakshmi BM
in Bangalore and Piyali Guha in Kolkata

maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in