Disruptive technologies have always bled the Telcos all around the world. At the end of September-2006, India had mere 1.7 Million broadband subscribers and a whopping 120 Million Mobile Phone Subscribers. To correct this imbalance, TRAI has recommended a BWA policy[PDF] according to which any Telco can get an all India WiMax license for Rs142 Crores. Reserve price for PAN-India 3G license is Rs1,050 crores, the actuals to be decided in an auction.
Many have expressed apprehensions that, telcos may bleed bidding for 3G licenses. Mallikarjun Rao, Director, Nortel(India) in an interview to Business World said that,
“On a dollar per megabit ratio, our WiMAX technology is at least three times cheaper than 3G. And 3G is too big for voice and too small for video”
This means both will complement each other. WiMax maybe more suitable for Bandwidth intensive applications but isn’t bandwidth the main reason for Mobile operators to migrate from 2G to 3G ? In Japan, it was found that Music download was the most sought after 3G service and not Video as predicted before deplying the network. This computerworld article clearly explans the differences between the two and predicts that both may converge at 4G. Apart from the hefty 3G license fees, technologies like VoIP may shatter the dreams of Telcos going the 3G way.
All the Mobile operators in India are planning to build an integrated Mobile Messaging Platform, add a voice enabled application for the same and power your mobiles with WiMax Broadband rather than opting for 3G service. Bingo! you can IM, download songs, place a VoIP call all at the same time at a fixed monthly cost of accessing broadband on the move. Sprint Nextel Corporation in the US is going ahead with a WiMax network. Other hurdles like availablity of gears and equipment at lower cost to the telcos may be the risky issue that needs to be mitigated. Most likely, Indian telcos will opt for 3G as well as WiMax where the latter is expected to be a Broadband pure-play. Your Take ?
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