4G war being fought by Bharti, Reliance Industries
12-05-2011
A voice-data brand of LTE being ushered in by December-January
4G broadband wireless access (BWA) is billed to make an entry into India in December-January next, according to reports from Business Standard newspaper. Two large companies, the Reliance-controlled firm Infotel, and India's leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel, will go head-to-head in this area.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries (RIL), which bought 95 per cent equity in Mahendra Nahata's Infotel soon after the company became the only one to obtain a pan-India licence in the government's auction of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum, is quietly getting ready to launch its long-term evolution (LTE) services in January. LTE services offer speeds of 5-15 mbps, faster than 3G networks.
Mittal's Bharti Airtel managed to win BWA licences in four circles -- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kolkata and Punjab. Mittal is believed to be in talks with US telecom company Qualcomm to buy its BWA licences in four other circles, including the lucrative Delhi and Mumbai, apart from Kerala and Haryana. Qualcomm, which paid Rs 49.12 billion for these circles, may seek a premium over this from Bharti, people who claim to be aware of the talks told Business Standard.
People who are closely watching RIL's moves say it is already in negotiations with leading telecom equipment companies Huwaei, Ericsson and Nokia Siemens to buy equipment worth $1-1.5 billion.
"We expect the order to be shared among the equipment makers. Currently, we are demonstrating our expertise to the company" said a senior executive of an equipment maker in the fray. Vendors say the order may take another two to three months to be finalised. According to them, Reliance may begin the services in a symbolic way in January in just a few cities in order to demonstrate what the new technology can do.
The company has also approached many telecom infrastructure companies with plans to lease 60,000 towers in two years for a pan-India rollout. Talks have been on with Mukesh's brother Anil, too, to lease his Reliance Communications' fibre optic backbone.
RIL's telecom venture is developing an array of applications, such as, broadband television, educational courses, and something which will offer solutions to enterprises. Says a person close to the group: "In LTE mobile consumers should have applications on offer which help them in their life and work. That is the key". In the initial stage, its 4G service is likely to come in dongles, to be followed by mobile phones and tablets, among others.
For his part, Mittal says the company already has a network which is LTE-ready, though detractors argue that he still has to put in some more software and equipment in it. To augment its expanse of circles, which will go up to eight if talks with Qualcomm fructify, the company is in talks with other LTE operators - like Aircel and Tikona, which have 3G spectrum in circles where Mittal is not present = for roaming agreements so that its subscribers do not feel the pinch just because the company does not have a pan-India licence.
According to Mittal, he has an edge because his networks straddle the 2G, 3G as well as the 4G space, something his competitors cannot boast of. "You won't have customers only using an LTE device. He will use a device which works on various networks" he said in an earlier interview. He also expects to see more auctions of 4G spectrum in the near future.
To push LTE, Bharti has tied up with China Mobile, Softbank and Qualcomm to create a global LTE initiative, which will create an eco system to popularise the service.
Mittal says he will launch LTE by the end of this year, starting with affordable prices of around Rs 10,000 for a dongle, which will seamlessly connect with the 2G networks.
Qualcomm is among companies which are working on chipsets which will make it possible for mobile phones to move across different networks. If you are using voice, it will use the 2G network; if you want data in a remote area, it will go for 3G; and when you want high speeds in congested commercial districts, it will move to 4G. Bharti is banking on being the first to offer this service. Initially these phones could cost more than Rs 20,000. But most experts expect a fall in price once volumes rise.
There are some obstacles which Reliance has to surmount. Currently, LTE only supports data, but that is changing. LTE will also support voice over telephony and these mobile phones will be commercially available sometime next year, though they will not come cheap. The current policy in India only permits internet telephony between two personal computers, but not between a computer and a phone. Until the policy is changed, voice over telephony won't make major sense for customers.
The challenge is to bundle various generations of services, on the lines of what Mittal is talking about. Reliance can do that if it ties up with any of the existing networks, if trading of spectrum in 2G and 3G is allowed by the government, or if it buys one of the 2G operators in the market.
Mukesh Ambani, though, has his own advantages. He has the cash and can set up networks much cheaper than others because network prices have fallen; he can get a chunk of the infrastructure under lease, reducing overall cost.
Based on a Business Standard report
4G broadband wireless access (BWA) is billed to make an entry into India in December-January next, according to reports from Business Standard newspaper. Two large companies, the Reliance-controlled firm Infotel, and India's leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel, will go head-to-head in this area.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries (RIL), which bought 95 per cent equity in Mahendra Nahata's Infotel soon after the company became the only one to obtain a pan-India licence in the government's auction of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum, is quietly getting ready to launch its long-term evolution (LTE) services in January. LTE services offer speeds of 5-15 mbps, faster than 3G networks.
Mittal's Bharti Airtel managed to win BWA licences in four circles -- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kolkata and Punjab. Mittal is believed to be in talks with US telecom company Qualcomm to buy its BWA licences in four other circles, including the lucrative Delhi and Mumbai, apart from Kerala and Haryana. Qualcomm, which paid Rs 49.12 billion for these circles, may seek a premium over this from Bharti, people who claim to be aware of the talks told Business Standard.
People who are closely watching RIL's moves say it is already in negotiations with leading telecom equipment companies Huwaei, Ericsson and Nokia Siemens to buy equipment worth $1-1.5 billion.
"We expect the order to be shared among the equipment makers. Currently, we are demonstrating our expertise to the company" said a senior executive of an equipment maker in the fray. Vendors say the order may take another two to three months to be finalised. According to them, Reliance may begin the services in a symbolic way in January in just a few cities in order to demonstrate what the new technology can do.
The company has also approached many telecom infrastructure companies with plans to lease 60,000 towers in two years for a pan-India rollout. Talks have been on with Mukesh's brother Anil, too, to lease his Reliance Communications' fibre optic backbone.
RIL's telecom venture is developing an array of applications, such as, broadband television, educational courses, and something which will offer solutions to enterprises. Says a person close to the group: "In LTE mobile consumers should have applications on offer which help them in their life and work. That is the key". In the initial stage, its 4G service is likely to come in dongles, to be followed by mobile phones and tablets, among others.
For his part, Mittal says the company already has a network which is LTE-ready, though detractors argue that he still has to put in some more software and equipment in it. To augment its expanse of circles, which will go up to eight if talks with Qualcomm fructify, the company is in talks with other LTE operators - like Aircel and Tikona, which have 3G spectrum in circles where Mittal is not present = for roaming agreements so that its subscribers do not feel the pinch just because the company does not have a pan-India licence.
According to Mittal, he has an edge because his networks straddle the 2G, 3G as well as the 4G space, something his competitors cannot boast of. "You won't have customers only using an LTE device. He will use a device which works on various networks" he said in an earlier interview. He also expects to see more auctions of 4G spectrum in the near future.
To push LTE, Bharti has tied up with China Mobile, Softbank and Qualcomm to create a global LTE initiative, which will create an eco system to popularise the service.
Mittal says he will launch LTE by the end of this year, starting with affordable prices of around Rs 10,000 for a dongle, which will seamlessly connect with the 2G networks.
Qualcomm is among companies which are working on chipsets which will make it possible for mobile phones to move across different networks. If you are using voice, it will use the 2G network; if you want data in a remote area, it will go for 3G; and when you want high speeds in congested commercial districts, it will move to 4G. Bharti is banking on being the first to offer this service. Initially these phones could cost more than Rs 20,000. But most experts expect a fall in price once volumes rise.
There are some obstacles which Reliance has to surmount. Currently, LTE only supports data, but that is changing. LTE will also support voice over telephony and these mobile phones will be commercially available sometime next year, though they will not come cheap. The current policy in India only permits internet telephony between two personal computers, but not between a computer and a phone. Until the policy is changed, voice over telephony won't make major sense for customers.
The challenge is to bundle various generations of services, on the lines of what Mittal is talking about. Reliance can do that if it ties up with any of the existing networks, if trading of spectrum in 2G and 3G is allowed by the government, or if it buys one of the 2G operators in the market.
Mukesh Ambani, though, has his own advantages. He has the cash and can set up networks much cheaper than others because network prices have fallen; he can get a chunk of the infrastructure under lease, reducing overall cost.
Based on a Business Standard report
