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Friday, 25 January 2008 |
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SOMA to equip a BSNL Indian mobile network with service area population of 200 million…
Theoretically dwarfing the potential customer base of Sprint Nextel’s embryonic mobile WiMAX network in the
USA,
India’s state-owned and largest telecommunications company Bharat Sanchar Nigam, Ltd (BSNL) aims to deploy the industry’s largest mobile WiMAX network across three of
India’s fastest-growing telecom circles: Gujarat, Maharashtra and
Goa, and Andhra Pradesh. The 802.16e-2005-based network, to be supplied by SOMA Networks over the next three years, will provide broadband data and voice services to a service area reaching over 200mn people. At the close of 2007 Sprint Nextel had a total of 53.8mn subscribers on its books.
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India has an immense need for connectivity across a varied and wide-ranging demographic population”, observes Kuldeep Goyal, chairman and managing director of BSNL. “After testing, we found SOMA Networks’ solution qualified to meet the requirements of our Vision 2010 mandate.” Vision 2010 is the Indian government initiative aimed at making broadband services ubiquitous and turning
India into a global information technology force.
Here’s what the Ovum consultancy makes of the development, in the form of a posting for its ‘EuroView Daily Comment’ service authored by senior analyst Julien Grivolas. “This announcement is probably the second most significant one for the Mobile WiMAX camp, after Sprint Nextel's project, as the Indian market is often rightly referred to as the most significant business opportunity for WiMAX,” judges Grivolas. “In the same vein as mobile WiMAX deployments announced in neighbouring
Pakistan, this project confirms our view that the potential for WiMAX is mainly in emerging countries where wired infrastructure is poor or even non-existent, and where fixed broadband penetration is consequently very low. In such markets, wireless solutions represent the only economic alternative to deliver broadband services to the mass market. This explains why we forecast that 46% of WiMAX users in 2011 will be located in Asia-Pacific region. Deployments of mobile WiMAX services in mature markets where competition from both mobile broadband (EV-DO/HSPA) and fixed broadband (DSL/cable and in a lesser extent fibre) is much more challenging.”
John Williamson |
