To WiMax or Not?

It is beyond suspicion that WiMax is the most wanted technology waiting to be
deployed across India. Tipped as the last mile solution, vendors as well as
service providers are conducting pilot trials across the country. Finally, WiMax
is ready to arrive with BSNL, India's largest telecom service provider,
deploying what it claims to be India's first certified WiMax network in the
next few weeks. WiMax equipment vendor Aperto will be deploying its base
stations at the same time in Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad,
Pune and four rural districts in Haryana.

While the world talks about the potential that WiMax offers to a country like
India, not many have talked about the potential that it offers to solution
providers. Through this article, DQ Channel gives an insight on how channel
partners or the solution provider community can leverage on this big
opportunity.

Opportunity or not?

While every new technology carries along it with tremendous potential, on
the same line it also has it pitfalls. We asked network integrators one simple
question whether WiMax presents an opportunity for this community or not? The
answer was yes. But the answer was also followed by many questions. Yes it true.
Most solutions providers are aware of this opportunity but are not sure about
how to go ahead with it.

CHECKLIST FOR SPs

Here is a small checklist of the know-how a solution provider should have before getting into WiMax deployment Basic understanding of wireless data communication Wireless Field testing, including the full network and all the equipments Installing radio access networks (RANs) Connecting the RANs to the service provider's backend infrastructure

Solution providers are currently facing a situation in which revenue from
traditional sources are either declining or reaching a saturation point.
Therefore for ensuring their success, a quick return on investment and the
ability to drive profitable service across a diverse customer base are critical.
“The solution providers have no other choice but to embrace this new
technology, thereby giving them more reason to be in this business and be
profitable,” said Harsh Vij, CEO, SD Computers, who has already mastered the
art of deploying WiMax technology.

According to Vij, WiMax is an emerging technology, a technology which
promises to profitably deliver high-throughput, broadband-based services like
VoIP, high-speed Internet access and video, to business and residential users
who previously could not be economically served. “So there is no option, nor
is there an intent, of remaining aloof from such a promising and potentially
viable technology. We have already started deploying this technology and hope to
enhance its usage day-by-day,” said Vij reasoning his presence in this
segment.

WiMax has the potential to provide India with widespread broadband access to
Internet services which can usher in economic growth, better education and
healthcare and improved affordable entertain­ment services. A recent report
from Motorola stated that, there are only about two million broadband
subscribers in India, which is less than two percent penetration, as against the
Indian broadband target of about nine million broadband subscribers by 2009 and
20 million broadband subscribers by end of 2010.

This target seems achievable only if the operators invest on the wireless
broadband access. Wireless will be the main medium of delivery given that we
have very limited copper assets that are actually in good condition and hence
capable of being upgraded to deliver WiMax type broadband services. Moreover,
such assets are confined to top cities thus proving no option but to use cost
effective wireless technologies such as IEE 802.16e WiMax for rapid and
widespread reach of such broadband services.

The above opportunity is significant and so are the associated challenges,
given the low penetration levels of broadband in our country today. Motorola, as
a WiMax equipment vendor, believes there is a definitive and important role that
each stakeholder of this industry, ie policy makers, regulators, operators,
channel partners, vendors and application developers, need to play to make the
broadband vision a reality.

WiMax vendors generally are MNCs. Their focus is more on the technology side.
So naturally they would like to spend more time on developing technology rather
than in deploying the technology. Thus, the role of channel partners becomes
very important. Raj Yadav, Regional Sales Director-South Asia, Aperto
Networks, listed out three possible categories of channel partners in WiMax
business:

• For services (operations, installation commissioning, maintenance)
• For distribution and reselling
• Value-added partners, who will add solutions to existing solutions like
  VoIP partners, BSS and OSS partners and partners for RF planning and
  optimization services.

Apps that drive WiMax

For solution providers to take up WiMax the first thing that needs to be taken
care of is an understanding of the applications that will drive WiMax. Until
recently, the 2G networks delivered fantastic performance to the voice user.
What is expected in the next generation mobile networks is the ability to
deliver on-demand pervasive broadband, ie hyper connectivity.

	“WiMax vendors generally focus on technology and like to spend more time on developing the technology rather than in deploying it. Thus the role of channel partners becomes very important” Raj Yadav Regional Sales Director-South Asia, Aperto Networks
	“Solution providers have no choice but to embrace this new technology thereby giving them more reason to be in this business and be profitable” Harsh ViJ MD, SD Computers
	“We see WiMax as the first 4G mobile broadband access technology to go commercial, transforming the network landscape” Mallikarjun Rao Director-WiMax, Nortel

“We believe video is going to be the next big wave and it will change the
way networks are deployed, 3G networks get exhausted if only six percent of
subscribers view video, so you need a technology which meets on-demand pervasive
broadband requirements,” stated Mallikarjun Rao, Director-WiMax, Nortel. “We
see WiMax as the first 4G mobile broadband access technology to go commercial,
transforming the network landscape. WiMax with its inherent technology
advantages of OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) and MIMO
(multiple input multiple output) and its strong ecosystem has potential to meet
the hyper connectivity challenges,” he added.

Main applications driving WiMax, as of now, are all sorts of 'corporate
connectivity'. These include corporate VPN connections, Internet lease lines,
and international lease circuits among others. There is a huge requirement for
corporate data connectivity. These applications will continue to drive the
market by mid 2008. From 2009 onwards, residential usage will start driving the
market.

Dr Lil Mohan, MD-Emerging Markets, WiMax Program Office, Intel summed
applications driving WiMax in three points: Internet connectivity (web browsing,
e-mail, etc), voice over IP and media and entertainment (audio, video clips,
etc.)

“The first two are targeted equally at both corporations and consumers,
while the third is targeted more towards the consumer,” he added.

...and its beneficiary?

According to Yadav of Aperto Networks, everyone in the chain will benefit from
this very promising opportunity. “Vendors like us will benefit in terms of
more business. System integrators, network integrators and resellers in turn
will generate more business and get good margins. Operators can expect to get a
loyal base of customers because of reliable technology.”

For example, Aperto, as a WiMax vendor, is exploring the opportunity of
tying-up with contract manufacturers, new distributors, resellers, and large SIs
who have the capability of doing pan-India business.

Currently, the biggest market is of 3.4-3.6GHz which is known as 3.5GHz band,
with 400 allocations across the globe. The second biggest market, with 120 odd
allocations, is of the 2.5-2.7GHz band. And third biggest market is of 5.8GHz
band. This band is soon going to be made free like the 2.4GHz band. To be
precise, there are a lot of opportunities in the 5.8GHz band for the distributor
and reseller community. In India, these categories of bands will be deployed
depending upon the requirement.

	“The convenience and the mobility which a WiMax solution can offer will have a large fan following in days to come. I feel it's a matter of two years when WiMax will be at the center of any business communication” Rajarshi Ghosh MD, Epitom Networks
	“Indian service providers and consumers have shown in the past that they are fast to adopt new technologies and applications, there have been many such examples from the past starting from SMS success story to GPRS/EDGE/mobile Internet technology and applications” Prashant Agnihotri Director-Product Management, Radio Networks, Nokia India

Tips to join the revolution

The government has clear guidelines on the type of companies that can build
networks and deliver broadband wireless access (BWA) services with the
associated criteria they need to fulfill. Such operators would partner with
vendors and system integrators for rolling out these networks and undertaking
network deployment and integration activities on a turnkey basis or as per the
requirements of the specific operator.

WiMax-based wireless broadband network rollouts have many commonalities with
those associated with building cellular networks or microwave-based point to
multi-point networks. Solution providers and system integrators with prior
experience in delivering life-cycle services involved with these wireless
networks (like RF planning, network deployment, integration and optimization)
would be the natural choice for the service providers to deploy their WiMax
networks.

Most WiMax networks are likely to be initially deployed in urban cities
across the country and then quickly spread in rural districts and villages,
leveraging existing cellular network assets and investments to the maximum
extent possible. Service providers would evaluate the quality of resources, past
experience and presence of the solution provider across the country (through
service and project offices) as important criteria during the selection process.

802.16e networks require huge R&D investments by equipment providers so
as to ensure that the product provides performance and conformance to the WiMax
802.16e standards. These investments are required to be made on a continuous
basis to evolve the solution roadmap and provide enhanced features and services.
Vendors with the ability to offer the complete solution including core
equipment, customer premise equipments (CPEs) and handsets as well as content
and applications all under the same roof would enjoy a differentiated market
position as compared to others. Additionally, operators would consider long-term
commitments to WiMax standards and their evolution, past financial health and
track record, global and local presence and wins of the vendor as important
criteria during the selection process.

Practically every WiMax network that will be deployed by service providers
will need solution providers to do the actual installation and basic access
provisioning. In addition, depending on the service provider-or even the
customer (eg a state government), solution providers will need to help deploy
the various value-added services that the customer wants to enable.

According to Yadav of Aperto, the basic minimum requirement for a partner to
become a WiMax integrator includes: one RF engineer, one network engineer, a
sales team with an understanding of connectivity and the various aspects of
technology.

“The more the team, the better addressability of the market is possible.
Sometimes partners do have a good sales team but they are not well versed with
the technology, so in such cases we conduct the training sessions on our own,”
he added.

Kolkata-based Epitom Networks is one of the few solution providers to have
explored the WiMax opportunity at an early stage. Taking about his experience
with WiMax, Rajarshi Ghosh, MD, Epitom said, “The convenience and the mobility
which a WiMax solution can offer will have a large fan following in days to
come. I feel it's a matter of two years when WiMax will be at the center of
any business communication.”

Epitom has deployed one WiMax solution (both data and voice) in Chennai where
it has established point-to-point connectivity between a Ferro-alloy plant and
four of its offices at different locations. “We have our own dedicated
technical teams for WiMax who are constantly undergoing studies and trainings on
the subject. This is a comparatively new domain and broader one. Being a new
technology it is constantly evolving and we are trying our best to keep the team
updated about the latest developments in the subject,” he added.

Maturity level of Indian SPs

There are different views on the level of maturity solution providers have for
getting into WiMax business. WiMax deployment is similar to deploying a cellular
network (albeit a lot simpler). Service providers need to plan the network
deployment carefully-so that the service has both adequate coverage and
adequate capacity. Existing cellular providers have an advantage since they can
re-use a good part of their back-haul. Once the basic access network is
deployed, various value-added services can be layered on top, and this provides
huge opportunities for various solution providers.

According to Yadav, solution providers are not really matured enough to
understand WiMax technology, because they don't try to understand business
requirements. “In the name of growth they just want more and more business.
There have been cases where partners with just three to five engineers have
shown interest in doing business across India, which is not good. They don't
understand the practicalities of this business and end up frustrated,”
explained Yadav.

Some kind of homework from the partners end is what is required to begin
with. Secondly, it is important for them to invest in terms of time, team and
money. “There are partners who don't provide laptops to their engineers,
which is a pre-requisite for such a business. Management should have a vision
and interest for this business, and then there will be no stopping the partner,”
informed Yadav.

Dr Mohan of Intel agreed to the above feedback. “As is the case with every
new technology, there is a ramping period. At the moment there are a few fully
qualified WiMax network solution providers in India, but this number is growing
quickly. Those who are already there are fully capable of deploying WiMax
networks from the ground up,” informed Dr Mohan.

However, in the past, the Indian cellular story has demonstrated in an
exemplary manner how, despite a slow start and many ups and downs, the segment
in just 11 years scaled to being the fourth largest subscriber base in the
world, with presently the fastest rate of growth compared to any other country.

The above success would not have been possible without a keen understanding
of the technology and the business acumen of service providers and the industry
at large to be able to run pan-India services profitably, despite having lowest
levels of per subscriber revenues globally.

“India is equipped with this enormous wealth of experience, keen
understanding of needs of each market segment, a technological pool of talent,
and the ability of every member of the value chain to play their respective
roles in ensuring that it becomes viable to build such networks and deliver
affordable services that stimulate mass adoption. India should feel most
confident of leading the global march from the forefront and demonstrating a
similar success story as we now speak of on cellular, without having to play
catch up from behind,” stressed Tarvinder Singh, Head-Marketing and Product
Management, Networks and Enterprise Business, Motorola India.

From the service providers perspective, Nokia, an active WiMax solution
provider is very positive of the success of WiMax in India. According to
Prashant Agnihotri, Director-Product Management, Radio Networks, Nokia India,
“Indian service providers and consumer have shown in the past that they are
fast to adopt new technologies and applications. There have been many such
examples from the past starting from SMS success story to GPRS/EDGE/ mobile
Internet technology and applications.”

“So we are confident about the success of WiMax technology and its
application. Indian existing service providers are currently facing a lot of
spectrum constraints and WiMax can help them to compliment their existing
offering of SM/EDGE/WCDMA/LTE (IMT-2000 family) technology with WiMax and hence
providing similar or more applications across technology platforms. This however
will require clear spectrum allocation and policy by the regulator keeping
provisions for IMT-2000 technology evolutions (LTE) and WiMax both,” he
justified.

Procedures, equipments and laws

WiMax solution typically compromises of base stations/access points (AP) and
CPEs. The APs are deployed at the base station site using the existing site
infrastructure that may be available with the service providers, while the CPE
needs to be deployed at the customer premise, in the form of outdoor
installation, desktop indoor installation or to be used as PCMCIA cards in the
laptops.

WiMax 802.16e-based APs and CPEs are currently being rolled-out for
commercial pilot systems and are expected to be available through multiple
vendors for volume deployments by the middle of 2007. WiMax forum, driven by
leading telecommunications equipment vendors and service providers, is helping
the industry to promote the adoption of 802.16-compliant equipments amongst BWA
operators while ensuring the interoperability of WiMax equipments from multiple
vendors. The forum is currently taking up wave one certification in the 2.3GHz
and 3.5GHz frequency band, and the wave two certification for these bands, and
2.5GHz is expected to start in the second half of this year.

In order to benefit from WiMax technology advantages and the expected
economies of scale, it is important for service providers to deploy the WiMax
network in the spectrum harmonized with the global deployments. Service
providers have the option of choosing the spectrum from three of the harmonized
bands, which are in 3.5GHz, 2.5GHz and 2.3GHz. Currently, portions of the
spectrum in these bands are with Department of Space, army and other enterprise
units for satellite and private use. The regulatory and licensing bodies in
India are working towards helping service providers to get the necessary
spectrum in these bands realizing the benefits of economies of scale that India
needs for these rollouts to be able to deliver cost effective broadband
services.

There are clearly defined norms and entry criteria given by the government on
which companies are eligible to offer WiMax services. The current understanding
is that, existing cellular and fixed line service providers (USAL) in India can
deploy WiMax solutions for providing triple play or quad play services. Existing
ISPs can currently deploy WiMax solutions for providing broadband data services
only and would need to extend their license to USAL for providing VoIP and video
solution using WiMax. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has
recommended allocation of at least 15MHz of spectrum to each WiMax operator.
More details are likely to be made available once the DoT comes out with its
policy on spectrum and defines the procedure and related details for allocation
of the same to interested operators.

Meanwhile, the ministers and telecom commission are very supportive, but a
lot of things need amendments. “First, a major problem is with getting the
Special Import License. To even move an equipment from point A to B, one needs
to have four extra people. One takes care of moving the equipment, second seeks
permission, third handles local authorities and fourth handles all
documentation. In doing so, the cost of equipment goes up. The government should
minimize the paper work required to smoothen the process. Intimating the
government is a good idea but taking permission for every small little thing is
not feasible,” said Yadav of Aperto.

NELSON JOHNY

With inputs from Subbalakshmi BM in Bangalore and Piyali Guha in Kolkata