UTstarcom enters India

NEW DELHI: UTstarcom, a wireless and wireline access networks major, has

started its operations in India through an alliance with HFCL. The alliance will

see initiatives in sales, local manufacture and joint venture deployments. HFCL

will manufacture UTstarcom’s products in India and will pitch for bids with

BSNL, MTNL and private operators. Initially, only one product will be

manufactured in the country, the AN-2000 broadband access network.

UTstarcom’s plans for India include promoting its Personal Access System

(PAS), a wireless in local loop with citywide mobility, the AN-2000 and WACOS,

its multi-services IP switch.

The company has already deployed its access system AS-2000 in the Punjab

basic services circle with HFCL Infotel. The project has been executed in

association with ConvergeLabs, who will play a crucial role in rolling out the

network and managing it.

UTstarcom’s products are expected to play a significant role as it enables

migration from wireline to wireless and from wireless to IP protocol.

"Since the networks are all moving towards IP, these products are expected

to be cost-effective as it would enable migration of networks by simply

upgrading the software," says UTstarcom president and CEO Hong Lu.

UTstarcom has a major presence in China. PAS is widely deployed in China with

2.5 million subscriber lines of installed capacity in 70 cities. Subscribers

have grown to more than 700,000. It has also deployed more than 1.5 million

lines of AN-2000 in China and other markets. The company now wants to focus in

the Indian market as it is one of the fastest growing countries in the region.

With 2.5 per cent tele-density, India presents a big potential for the company.