I first pointed out last year that RCom was seriously considering to switching to GSM Wireless network when CDMA Operators talks with Qualcomm were deadlocked [supervised by then IT Minsister, Mr. Maran] However, Mr. Ambani himself has denied in the past two conference calls, that CDMA will be turned off . Surprisingly, mosts analysts [with/without interaction with the company] have been releasing reports making strong financial case for RCom and Tata Indicom to switch-over to GSM and completely switch-off CDMA networks.
Another strong case for RCom to consider complete switching to GSM is, the ARPU is sustaining very well and even increasing as time goes by for GSM operators[Bharti Airtel]. The lowering of voice tariffs has seen an increase in MOU, however the same is not true in case of CDMA, especially RCom because of the free On-Net calls as well as positioning the phone as poor man’s device. This clear divergence is hurting the CDMA companies and hence their desperation to eat the GSM pie.
With spectrum being a scarce resource, CDMA incumbents GSM dreams may not be a smooth take-off. In such a scenario I would say RCom and Tata Indicom will continue to run on dual networks with higher CAPEX.
i am a reliance cdma coustumer and want to switchover to their gsm service, how can it be possible?
i am using reliance network since 2004 , i want to switch over from cdma to gsm service, how can it be possible?