Bandwidth crunch to hit 4G services in India

NEW DELHI, INDIA: As the department of telecommunications (DoT) is batting to get

spectrum vacated from the ministry of defence, the telecom industry sees bandwidth crunch, a hurdle for 4G services in the country.

CS Rao, chairman of the WiMax Forum, has said that India has an ubiquitous infrastructure of 4G though it lacks higher penetration. “Spectrum is the biggest constraint today,

and we need to have 300 MHz of bandwidth,” he said.

In addition, Rao said the country needs multiple carriers to deliver 4G services. The key imperative for telecos is to deliver services and applications at an affordable price points, said the WiMax Forum.

Rao said, "with non-availability of spectrum, networks are apparently dumb. The forum believes that India needs 5 gigabit of download at a price of Rs 500 a month, which itself is a challenge."

Rao said that in order to overcome this painpoints, industry should work out a roadmap. “With multiple model approach, we need a service delivery platform with highest level of scalability," he added.

WiMax Forum also said that devices are becoming smarter which eventually facilitate broadband penetration in the country.

Vivek Chhabra, head of the Mobile Cellular Business Unit at Marvell, said that “Web for billions” is the key aspect. The consumption of content will go higher in India once the desired spectrum and broadband, with sub $100 devices are made available."