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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.
| Checklist For SPs |
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Here is a small checklist of the know-how a solution provider should have before getting into WiMax deployment
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Basic understanding of wireless data communication
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Wireless
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Field testing, including the full network and all the equipments
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Installing radio access networks (RANs)
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Connecting the RANs to the service provider's backend infrastructure
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"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 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.
| Seven Easy Steps to Deploy Wimax |
| 1 Procure the most suitable WiMax equipment for the project at hand (both base stations and CPE from the appropriate vendor(s) |
| 2 Understand the Indian DoT/WPC regulations on wireless network deployment. (There are several strict government regulations on where you can and cannot set-up wireless transmission equipment) |
| 3 Make sure that the equipments you are deploying conform to the standards specified (WiMax Forum and IEEE have various standards that the vendors need to get their equipment certified under, to qualify as standards certified) |
| 4 Carefully do a radio-plan: This is the part where the solution provider plots out where exactly the transmitting equipment will be placed (the base station towers) to get the particular kind of coverage and capacity that the service provider has specified |
| 5 Do a set of field tests after setting up some of the base stations and connecting the wireless access network to the network backend infrastructure |
| 6 Provision the network for commercial use. Gradually load the network with actual users and provision each user with the appropriate service level |
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7 Finally, tune the network for the various expected traffic patterns.
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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.
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