Videocon Picks Cdma For Telecom Rollout

[Arun 795]

October 09, 2007 01:23 IST

Business Standard

The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and the Tatas have competition on hand. Consumer electronics to power giant Videocon, which has applied for a unified access service licence, will be using the code division multiple access and not the global system for mobile technology to roll out its mobile services.

Confirming the development, Chairman Venugopal Dhoot said, "We will use the CDMA technology for mobile services in the country."

Videocon has also said that it was in talks with a US telecom major to partner for the services. However, it declined to comment on the possible talks with US telecom major Verizon as a partner.

Dhoot said, "We cannot divulge the name of the partner."

The move by Videocon might be a strategic one as most of the 300 other applicants have shown interest in running the GSM service. As a result, the shortage for spectrum will be restricted to GSM and not among CDMA players.

At the moment, there are only two players in the CDMA space, with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited having only limited operations in some circles. The government has around 20 MHz of spectrum, which it hopes to vacate from the defence services.

However, experts in the business say that the key reason for most companies opting for GSM is better valuation.

Industry experts say globally the move is shifting towards GSM rather than for the proprietary technology from Qualcomm in the CDMA space.

In India, even CDMA players, such as Reliance, have publicly made their choice for GSM and applied for pan-India licence.

According to a telecom analyst, "Most investors are ready to pay a premium for GSM companies and of course there are more telecom players in the GSM space."

Dhoot of course faces competition from over 20-30 big to small companies, which have put in applications for a pan-India UAS licence. These include realty developers such as Unitech, DLF, Parasvnath, and Omaxe among others; companies ranging from steel majors such as Ispat group, telecom firm such as HFCL.

[kshah 452]

I think any one who wants to penetrate rural market with cheaper call rates, will go for CDMA. As its efficient technology.

[city02 63]

CDMA is more 'spectrally' efficient than GSM and requires fewer towers for dense urban areas

but for sparse rural areas, GSM has lower capex than what CDMA requires

[FEVIN-RAJ 61]

V-con will not be a competator for RCOm and TATA...

[Honest 836]

V-con will not be a competator for RCOm and TATA...

@Fevin

Why ? My dear friend Videocon is not a small group. I think Reliance and TATA both will have a close competition with Videocon in the near future.

Regards.

[rajeshkatiyar 3]

Friends

We should admit that CDMA is a dying technology thanks

to Qualacom

We are thankful to Videocon for infusing a new life

in CDMA scene. I believe this will bring more open atmosphere

and frequent changing of sets will be possible

[FEVIN-RAJ 61]

Reliance having a fiber optic network around 120000 kilometers all over india

any new come operator have to chose VSNL, Bharati Or reliance for pan india connectivity

These companies had already spend many Crores for this infrastructures

they will start geting returns from this capital investments soon

[KumaarShah 143]

IMHO, It will be difficult for Videocon to compete with RCL/Tata on pricing.

[kshah 452]

Friends

We should admit that CDMA is a dying technology thanks

to Qualacom

We are thankful to Videocon for infusing a new life

in CDMA scene. I believe this will bring more open atmosphere

and frequent changing of sets will be possible

CDMA will die if it does not take actions for handsets and prices of handset as most operators are not interested in handling handset hessles. But at the same time CDMA being more efficient and faster for data, it can survive if country like India uses it. China will focus only on TDSCDMA and GSM because of its investments in TDSCDMA research.

[saketsamir 0]

Friends

We should admit that CDMA is a dying technology thanks

to Qualacom

We are thankful to Videocon for infusing a new life

in CDMA scene. I believe this will bring more open atmosphere

and frequent changing of sets will be possible

CDMA will die if it does not take actions for handsets and prices of handset as most operators are not interested in handling handset hessles. But at the same time CDMA being more efficient and faster for data, it can survive if country like India uses it. China will focus only on TDSCDMA and GSM because of its investments in TDSCDMA research.

I dont think that CDMA is going to die with its own, as the amount of data trasnfer speed which it provide is incrdible. Also now in India, BSNL is setting up new CDMA network using EVDO for higher bandwidth.

[@ksh@T 20]

i am damn sure that videocon will start manufacturing handsets like the classics, or will import from china . .and sell @ lower rates in india if u wanna be successfull cost does matter!..

cheers karki! ;-)

[commonman 228]

i am damn sure that videocon will start manufacturing handsets like the classics, or will import from china . .and sell @ lower rates in india if u wanna be successfull cost does matter!..

cheers karki! ;-)

I also think so. fact that videocon is already an established electronics major, would also help.

[Honest 836]

^^^

And if they started to manufacture handsets and doesn't get enough sales for that than surely they will offer those handsets free with their T.V. Sets.

Regards.

[coolrajiv 1]

^^^

And if they started to manufacture handsets and doesn't get enough sales for that than surely they will offer those handsets free with their T.V. Sets.

Regards.

True

[kesav 127]

Now there's a shift in Videocon's stand.

It embraces GSM.

Videocon lines up Rs 6,000 cr for GSM biz

AIMING HIGH

Videocon plans to commence operations in two months through subsidiary Datacom Solutions

Open to renting of spectrum from other players

Eyes 4 crore subscribers in the next 5 years

Datacom Solutions to break even in the next 2 years

Ropes in former Alcatel-Lucent chief Ravi Sharma to head venture.

Consumer durables major Videocon Industries has firmed up its telecom plans and is making an initial investment of Rs 6,000 crore for rolling out GSM services, notwithstanding spectrum and legal issues besieging the sector.

The services will be launched through its subsidiary, Datacom Solutions, by May. In case of a delay in spectrum allocation, the company may opt for taking spectrum on lease.

In another important move, the company has roped in former Alcatel-Lucent president and managing director (India and South Asia) Ravi Sharma to head its telecom operations.

This is the first instance of the head of a global telecom infrastructure major moving over to a service provider. However, this could become a trend as others in a situation of talent crunch will follow suit.

Videocon Chairman and Managing Director Venugopal Dhoot confirmed the development, “We are making an initial investment of Rs 6,000 crore to kick-start the services across all the 23 circles in the country. The investment would be made immediately and we would look at increasing capital expenditure depending on growth.”

The Rs 6,000-crore investment would be made immediately to roll out the services, while the company has completed all technical formalities and is awaiting spectrum allocation.

“We don’t think the spectrum allocation would be delayed as start-up spectrum is available in many circles. Moreover, spectrum is also lying unused that will be offered to new entrants,” Dhoot said.

In the worst case of spectrum allocation being delayed, Datacom Solutions would take spectrum and infrastructure on lease from the existing players.

Datacom would rope in over 4 crore subscribers in the next five years and expected to break even in the next couple of years, he added.

The department of telecommunications (DoT) is planning to allocate spectrum in four circles – Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Orissa and Tamil Nadu (including Chennai) – to new licensees.

The move comes after the wireless planning and co-ordination (WPC) cell of DoT has identified 4.4 MHz spectrum under the 1,800 MHz band lying vacant in these 4 circles. This was expected to benefit nine new entrants, including Datacom Solutions.

Although renting out spectrum is not permitted under the existing telecom policy, DoT is looking at this option to enable new players commence operations.

Datacom Solutions has been awarded Universal Access Service Licence (UASL) that permits commencing telecom operations in all the 23 circles. The company is also leading the queue for spectrum allocation in these circles, except Mumbai and Delhi, where it is in the second position.

Dhoot also said that the company had completed all the technical formalities for the rollout. However, the company has neither engaged any handset manufacturer nor plans to manufacture handsets. Subscribers have been given the freedom to opt for handsets from the market.

Besides engaging Ravi Sharma as chief executive officer of Datacom Solutions, the company has appointed around 200 administrative staff for the rollout.

Alcatel-Lucent has recently rejigged India and South Asian operations by elevating Sharma as advisor to Frederic Rose, the president of Alcatel-Lucent’s Europe, Africa and Asia business. The company had appointed Vivek Mohan in his place.

source :: http://www.business-standard.com/common/ne...16408&tab=r

[vishalkumar 0]

^^^

kesav, so Videocon is not entering CDMA? It will be bad

[HetalDP 947]

it is good why you want People in CDMA Jails be free with GSM

[kshah 452]

CDMA is good only if they have open handsets like GSM. Else its sheer waste of money. Do you know in CDMA, net settings are always in handset not in RUIM. Where as in GSM nothing on handset, every thing on SIM.

[@ksh@T 20]

Videocon to invest Rs 6K cr for mobile telecom foray

NEW DELHI: The Videocon group, which was recently awarded pan-India telecom licences, will invest Rs 6,000 crore for network roll-outs and to launch operations across the country. Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot told ET. “We have set aside Rs 6,000 crore for our telecom foray. We hope to roll-out services over the next couple of months. We have set a target of 40 million customers within the next five years,” Mr Dhoot said.

Videocon has been awarded telecom licences through its subsidiary Datacom. As first reported by ET, Datacom heads the queue for spectrum (radio frequencies) in 19 of the 21 telecom circles. In fact, in the two circles (Delhi and Mumbai), where it does not head the queue, the company is in the second position.

“We have appointed Ravi Sharma, who was earlier heading Alcatel-Lucent’s operations in India as the CEO of Datacom. The company is in the process of hiring 200 top executives to run the mobile operations,” Mr Dhoot added. Mr Sharma, who was in charge of Alcatel-Lucent’s south Asia operations and was recently elevated as advisor to Frederic Rose, Alcatel-Lucent’s Europe, Africa and Asia (EAA) business president, had resigned from the company last week.

Mr Dhoot dismissed market speculation that Datacom was looking at a merger with telecom service provider HFCL. “This rumour has been around for sometime — I want to clarify that this is utterly baseless,” he said.

When asked if Datacom would enter into strategic or financial partnerships with international telecom majors, Mr Dhoot said, “We have got offers from several potential partners. We are evaluating them — there will definitely be one major strategic partner. Over the next three weeks, we shall finalise this strategic player,” he added

[Honest 836]

^^^

Its great to hear that videocon is going for gsm my dear friends. The more competition in gsm, the more benefits the subscribers will get.

Regards.