Top five technology trends in India

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Here are the top five technology trends in India.

LTE/VoLTE

In 2014, operators are expected to launch LTE services in the country in a big way. Operators will launch services on a pan India basis providing increased bandwidth to users both on fixed as well as mobile front.

LTE holds great promise for high-speed data communication due to its asymmetric use of spectrum. Earlier, operators had struggled to provide efficient data services on voice-optimized network technologies. With LTE the problem is the reverse!

Though operators are betting a lot on VoLTE (Voice over LTE) the technology has not been proven for a large scale deployment. Even multi-vendor Inter Operability Testing (IOT) for VoLTE is in the early stages and it will take some time to mature enough to move seamlessly between devices and IP bearers. VoLTE has to be also tested to see whether it is scalable and provides telco grade service.

However, these challenges may not be a deterrent to LTE adoption in data dominated markets. Operators are deploying Circuit Switched Fall Back (CSFB) voice solutions to make and receive voice calls and access voice mails while retaining the experience of ultra-fast data services on 4G smartphones.

M2M

Machine to Machine (M2M) communications enables "things" that are used in many industries - including consumer electronics, utilities, agriculture and construction - to connect and exchange information with information technology infrastructure. Major growth areas identified by M2M include connected cars, fleet management, smart meters, consumer electronics, game consoles, wearable electronics, tele-health and security solutions.

These solutions help in delivering asset optimization and efficient operations, providing more flexible solutions, consuming less fuel and minimizing downtime.

Initially, we can foresee M2M offer vertical solutions in India, such as remote monitoring for connected health devices; diagnostics and maintenance; smart metering; and fleet management. But over the years this is sure to touch the lives of all of us through smart homes and offices, smart cities and ultimately - a smart planet.

Customer Experience Management (CEM)

In the broadband world, operators need to focus on providing better customer service as the thrust is on driving loyalty, efficiency and revenue streams. Operators have to deploy customer experience management (CEM) tools to provide enhanced user experience across a host of devices.

Customer Experience Management helps in better utilization of spectrum and also providing better experience to subscribers. CEM can proactively solve problems and speed up request and complaint resolution time in customer care, thus boosting operational efficiency. The CEM platform maintains and stores real-time experience metrics for every subscriber enabling operators to proactively cater to customer needs.

Mobility, Mobile Apps, HTML5

The amalgamation of IP-centric technologies, abundance of bandwidth, explosion of data, proliferation of smart mobile devices and a growing hunger for actionable information anywhere and anytime, has resulted in the creation of the mobile enterprise. Enterprise CIOs are looking at mobile solutions for increasing employee productivity.

A large number of enterprises have opted for mobility across functions like sales order management, HR and Customer Service to provide faster decision making and increased employee productivity. HTML5 as an enabler of the mobile web will accelerate adoption of Mobility by providing device and platform independence.

Cellular traffic offload on Wi-Fi

With 3G and 4G spectrum at a premium, operators have no option but to rely on Wi-Fi for not only providing ubiquitous coverage but also for making mobile broadband more affordable in the country.

The seamless coverage requires inter-operability between these networks, leading to increase in coverage area and also improved QoS (quality of service). So 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi have to go hand in hand complimenting one another's network strength. For Wi-Fi to succeed in India, the operators need to promote creation of more hotspots in the country. All developed countries despite good cell coverage also have good number of Wi-Fi hotspots, making this a global trend which is fast catching up in India.