Broadband Wireless Auction (BWA) Results

[me_saket 73]

thr is somethig wrong. :Equivocado:

Infotel paid RS12500 Cr for pan indian,

Which is being purchased by mukesh at just RS4800 cr.

So, it's better, that u don't participate in auction and get spectum with 1/3 rd price and 5% company shares??? :Confuso:

[amitnsonu 72]

thr is somethig wrong. :Equivocado:

Infotel paid RS12500 Cr for pan indian,

Which is being purchased by mukesh at just RS4800 cr.

So, it's better, that u don't participate in auction and get spectum with 1/3 rd price and 5% company shares??? :Confuso:

Not like this :

The deal is RIL will pay 4800+12500 Cr in Total

[Arun 795]

thr is somethig wrong. :Equivocado:

Infotel paid RS12500 Cr for pan indian,

Which is being purchased by mukesh at just RS4800 cr.

So, it's better, that u don't participate in auction and get spectum with 1/3 rd price and 5% company shares??? :Confuso:

That is the price for 95% of Infotel, it doesn't mean Reliance is paying only Rs.4800 crore for the license fee. Once Infotel becomes a subsidiary of Reliance any payment done for the license is the same as Reliance paying it.

[Greatest 55]

^^ well said.... and absolutely correct...

[vvinayakpai 26]

I am a little confused about this latest technology coming to the forefront.

I understand that as of now Voice over IP for local calls is banned. If the BWA spectrum is used by the winners in the auction to move towards LTE technology, and assuming that voice over IP for local calls is legalised, then will I be able to use the same handset I am using today (the mobile) or do I have to buy a new instrument? Also, does the LTE technology offer mobility, maybe something like national roaming etc?

[kesav 127]

VoIP is banned in India only for the non-UASL license holders(UASL -- telecom operators having license to provide cellular telephony).

Our cellular operators have not provided VoIP for to protect their income from celluar operations.

Infotel might have got only ISP Category A license but they've right to convert it to UASL by paying the difference.

Once done...there's no issue in providing VoIP.

Edited June 15, 2010 by kesav

[vvinayakpai 26]

SO dies it mean that all the BWA spectrum winners have to make an upfront payment of Rs. 1651 crores and get their non UASL license converted to UASL????? Is it so simple??????????

[kesav 127]

It's very simple like that.

But there is a small policy issue.

Current UASL methodology has initial start-up 2G spectrum bundled with it.

Due to which many UASL licenses are pending before DoT since 2G spectrum is unavailable currently.

If TRAI recommends to DoT in a such way that they can issue UASL licenses to operators who wish to have only licenses and not 2G spectrum, then that policy issue will also be solved.

If any of BWA winners has ISP A license and if they wish to provide cellular telephony they can covert it to UASL license.

But if they wish to provide only mobile broadband/IPTV then it's not necessary for them to covert it.

[commonman 228]

Here is the ranking of the operators based on total revenue(3G & 4G) yielded by them to Govt.

All figures are in Cr INR.

1) Airtel --> 3314.36(4G) + 12295.46(3G) = 15609.82

2) Infotel --> 12847.77(4G)

3) Vodafone --> 11617.86(3G)

4) Aircel --> 3438.01(4G) + 6499.46(3G) = 9937.47

5) Reliance --> 8585.04(3G)

6) TATA --> 5864.29(3G)

7) Idea --> 5768.59(3G)

8) Qualcomm --> 4912.54(4G)

9) Tikona --> 1058.2(4G)

10) Stel --> 337.67(3G)

11) Augere --> 124.66(4G)

--------------------------------------------------------

Total --> 76663.91

BSNL --> 8313.8(4G) + 10186.58(3G) = 18500.38

MTNL --> 4533.97(4G) + 6564(3G) = 11097.97

---------------------------------------------------------

Grandtotal --> 106,262.26

If you include BSNL and MTNL in the ranking then BSNL will take pole position (numero uno) and MTNL will take position 5(behind BSNL, Airtel, Infotel and Vodafone).

Auctions look like curse on PSUs since they don't have either choice on technology or circles.

now add Infotel and Reliance together (Anil wants money and Mukesh wants telecom - so its more or less inevitable),

12847.77 + 8585.04 = 21432.81 thats almost 3000 Cr. more than BSNL.

[kesav 127]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alcatel-Lucent hangs up on WiMax tech

In another blow to the prospects of WiMax technology in India, Alcatel-Lucent has decided to shift the focus of its research and development unit in Chennai to developing solutions for broadband services based on Long-Term Evolution (LTE).

The R&D centre, a joint venture with Government owned C-DoT, was set up in 2005 to develop solutions for WiMax. Alcatel-Lucent owns 51 per cent stake in the R&D centre and C-DoT owns the balance.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Vivek Mohan, President of Alcatel Lucent's global services business and Managing Director of Alcatel Lucent India, said, We are betting big on LTE technology and we are already doing related work at our R&D centre in Chennai. We are training our researchers at the centre. There is not much difference between WiMax and LTE when it comes to developing products and solutions, so the shift is not taking too much of an effort.

The recently concluded auction for broadband wireless access spectrum has thrown up a situation wherein there could be a greater number of operators betting on LTE technology, rather than WiMax.

Reliance Industries-backed Infotel, the only operator to get a pan-India licence, has announced that it is betting on LTE. The US-based chip maker Qualcomm, which has won spectrum in Mumbai and Delhi, is also rolling out an LTE-based network. On the other hand, operators such as Tata Communications, which has a WiMax network and was expected to fight harder during the auction, did not win any spectrum.

LTE is considered to be a fourth-generation (4G) technology that allows users to access data at speeds of 10 Mbps. With Reliance Industries declaring publicly that they will use LTE, it seems that the industry momentum is turning in that direction, said Mr Kunal Bajaj, Director of Analysys Mason India.

Mr Prashant Singhal, Telecom Industry Leader, Ernst & Young, reckons that India could be in a position to drive change towards LTE in the global telecom eco-system. Though the eco-system for TD LTE is at least two years away, winners are widely expected to use India as a test market which could provide it sufficient scale and, hence, lower device costs for further deployment in global markets.

Some equipment vendors, including Ericsson and Nokia Siemens, had long given up on WiMax. But technology majors Samsung, Intel and Huawei still support WiMax.

source:: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/06/19/stories/2010061953480400.htm

Edited June 21, 2010 by kesav

[ravi_patent 28]

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2010/06/21/stories/2010062150020100.htm

After the hugely successful 3G auction where the exchequer earned in excess of Rs 67,000 crore, the broadband wireless access (BWA) auction has brought in more cheer to the Finance Ministry. The earnings from BWA and 3G auctions combined, at Rs 1,06,000 crore, is more than three times what the government had initially budgeted from the sale of spectrum. This will help ease the large fiscal deficit of the government.

First, let us understand what BWA spectrum is being used for globally. Globally, spectrum in the 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 3.3GHz is being used for WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). WiMax is a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL. Till now, there have been over 400 planned and commercial WiMAX networks across 118 countries.

Companies are deploying WiMax to provide nomadic broadband or at-home broadband connectivity across whole cities or countries. Additionally, given the relatively low cost to deploy a WiMax network (in comparison with GSM, DSL or fibre-optic), it is being used to provide rural connectivity or connectivity in areas where DSL or fibre-optic is economically unviable. WiMax is also an alternative to provide backhaul for cellular (GSM or CDMA) networks.

In a sample study of 17 markets in which WiMax licences were sold via auctions, it has been found that the median and average price per MHz per population for WiMax spectrum was $0.013 and $0.031, respectively. The cost of WiMax spectrum is affected by several factors, including population characteristics, buying power of potential customers, broadband and mobile penetration, spectrum allocation, and the competitive landscape.

In India, with 20 MHz spectrum available in the 2.3 & 2.5 GHz band, operators are likely to adopt nomadic WiMax (802.16e). In the longer term, operators have an option to upgrade to TD-LTE at relatively lower cost as both the technologies are based on the OFDMA standard. The spectrum is likely to be used for both fixed residential and enterprise broadband access in urban areas and to provide connectivity to common services centres, education institutes and health centres in rural areas.

The pan-India BWA spectrum is valued at Rs 12,848 crore, over seven times the reserve price of Rs 1,750 crore. Over and above the spectrum cost, operators will need to spend an additional $500 million to $1 billion over the next three-four years to deploy the network.

The ratio of clearing price to the reserve price was 7.3x, higher compared with 4.8x in the case of pan-India 3G spectrum. Multiple reasons have contributed to this high ratio. In some circles, such as Tamil Nadu and Punjab, the bid for BWA spectrum has exceeded the 3G bids. In BWA, 20MHz of TDD spectrum has been auctioned against 2x5MHz in 3G, clearly allowing operators to launch much more data-intensive services, target many more subscribers with the similar level of network deployment as compared with 3G, ceteris paribus. Further, there were 11 bidders for two slots of BWA spectrum against nine bidders competing for three slots in the case of 3G.

Other factors such as alternate uses of the spectrum like deployment of TD-LTE, deployment of voice, etc, could have also contributed to the high bidding intensity leading to high bid prices. Though the eco-system for TD LTE is at least two years away, winners are widely expected to use India as a large test market which could provide it sufficient scale and hence lower device costs for further deployment in global markets. For a change, India could be in a position to drive change in the global telecom eco-system.

However, operators might have weighed in a couple of factors, which could have affected the bid prices negatively. The lack of an adequate and mature eco-system for hand-held based WiMax devices is the main one. As a result, the target market for WiMax is constrained to the PC/laptop population, at least initially (as compared with relatively medium to high-end subscribers in 3G with much higher scale).

As anticipated, post the end of the 3G auctions, operators who successfully bid in multiple circles have been less aggressive in the BWA auctions. Quite like in 3G, the price of BWA spectrum has gone way beyond what most analysts had predicted. As a result, operators are likely to price services high to ensure returns. However, that could result in slower adoption of services among the masses. Therefore, operators will have to finely tread this thin line. That could be critical for BWA to take off in a big way in India.

What BWA spectrum will do is enable India to move to the next level of broadband growth. Operators will be in a position to provide high-speed mobile data. The spectrum provides the ability to deliver quality knowledge content, e-governance, e-commerce and telemedicine services at affordable costs to people across the country. The digital dividend through broadband growth will help transform India into a global hub for telecom, media and Internet services.

[kesav 127]

Eight firms pay Rs 38,543 cr in spectrum fees

No clarity yet on the rollout of BWA and 3G services

Eight successful bidders in the broadband wireless access (BWA) auction paid their spectrum fees to the department of telecom (DoT) on Monday. Together they paid Rs 38,543 crore.

There was uncertainty over the payment by one of the eight bidders, BSNL. There were reports that it had not paid its fee of Rs 8,313 crore but a senior official of DoT clarified to Financial Chronicle that the company’s chairman & managing director told him the payment would be made late in the evening.

Through the BWA and 3G auctions, the government has earned Rs 106,336 crore.

The stage is now set for the winning bidders to prepare for rolling out both BWA and 3G services but there was no clarity yet on exactly when. Earlier expectations were that the rollout would begin by the end of this calendar year.

The winning BWA bidders are Infotel, Bharti Airtel, Aircel, MTNL, Qualcomm, Tikona Digital, Augere Mauritius and BSNL. The DoT official confirmed in the afternoon that all but BSNL had paid up and that BSNL would do so late in the evening. The company’s chairman & managing director, Kuldeep Goyal, did not take telephone calls from this newspaper.

It was not clear how Infotel mustered its fee amount of over Rs 12,847 crore. Neither Reliance, which announced it was buying Infotel, nor the latter was willing to comment on how the fee was funded.

An MTNL official said his company borrowed its entire fee amount of Rs 4,534 crore from ICICI Bank, Central Bank and Axis Bank. The company had earlier taken a loan of Rs 2,500 crore from Axis Bank to pay its 3G spectrum fee.

According to an earlier government notification, among the other companies Bharti Airtel was to pay Rs 3,314 crore, Qualcomm Rs 4,912 crore, Aircel Rs 3,438 crore, Tikona Digital Rs 1,058 crore and BSNL Rs 8,313 crore.

Prakash Bajpai, chief executive officer and managing director of Tikona Digital, said his company raised the fee amount through equity and debt. He hoped the allocation of spectrum would be made quickly so that the rollout of services would also be quick. He said the rollout would take six to eight months after the spectrum allocation.

BWA could be used also for 4G services in the long term. But right away operators will be able to offer high-speed wireless data services. If the government allows VoIP (voice over internet protocol, or internet telephony) for domestic calls, they can offer voice services as well. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, there are nine million broadband customers in India. BWA services would be a tempting proposition for many of them.

Romal Shetty, telecom director at KPMG Research, said, “Rolling out BWA services will complement the government’s broadband strategy to expand the market. The rollout will not need huge investments. This means a quicker and cheaper rollout. The operators could use low tariff to begin with. The market is a volume business and pricing will be one of the key factors for the success of BWA.”

Once internet telephony was allowed for domestic calls, BWA operators would witness a huge surge in their business, he said.

source:: http://www.mydigitalfc.com/telecommunication/eight-firms-pay-rs-38543-cr-spectrum-fees-440

[kesav 127]

BSNL seeking more time for BWA payment

DoT thinking to penalize operator on per day basis

New Delhi, India: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is in talks with Department of Telecom for some more time to make payment for BWA spectrum, after its request for exemption from the payment was rejected by Department of Telecom.

An official source from BSNL in a brief interaction with CIOL said that the time line for payment will be decided by the end of this week.

Today was the last date for making BWA payment from which government was to get total revenue of Rs 38,543.31 crore to the exchequer. Due to BSNL skipping payment of Rs 8,313.8 crores, government could only garner Rs 30,229.51 crore from BWA auction winners.

On the other hand DoT is not pleased with this move of BSNL of skipping payment on last date without any formal approval.

"We are thinking to take action on BSNL. It can be monetary fine on per day basis for this delay," said a senior official who did not wanted to be named.

As per the result declared by Department of Telecom, RIL-Infotel has to pay Rs 12,847.71 crore, BSNL Rs 8,313.8, Qualcomm Rs 4912.54 crore, MTNL Rs 4533.97 crore, Aircel Rs 3,438.01, Bharti Airtel 3,314.36 crore, Tikona Digital Rs 1058.20crore and Augere(Mauritius) had to pay Rs 124.66 crore.

MTNL raise debt from three banks to pay the price of spectrum.

“We have raised debt from ICICI bank, Central Bank and Yes bank for payment,” confirmed Anita Soni, director (Finance), MTNL to CIOL.

source :: http://www.ciol.com/News/News/News-Reports/BSNL-seeking-more-time-for-BWA-payment/137982/0/

[kesav 127]

BSNL seeks 5 days for BWA payment

NEW DELHI: State-run BSNL has sought up to five days extension from the department of telecom to pay Rs 8,313.8 crore for Broadband Wireless Access

(BWA) spectrum, citing nonavailability of funds. All other operators who got BWA spectrum, including MTNL, have already paid for it.

“We have asked for a ‘few more days’ to pay the broadband spectrum fee, as we are in the process of arranging funds. Although we have the required funds, these funds are not liquid at the moment and are all tied up,” said BSNL CMD Kuldeep Goyal.

Asked what he meant by a “few more days” , Mr Goyal said it could be one to five days. Tuesday was the last date for making BWA payments.

source :: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/BSNL-seeks-5-days-for-BWA-payment/articleshow/6084604.cms

[kesav 127]

BSNL pays spectrum fees of Rs 8,314cr

NEW DELHI: State run BSNL today paid Rs 8,313.8 crore for Broadband Wireless Access spectrum, two days after the deadline expired, prompting the

government to slap a penalty of Rs 30 crore on the PSU.

With this, the government has got the full Rs 38,543.31 crore from the sale of BWA spectrum.

A senior Department of Telecom official said BSNL made the payment on Thursday. BSNL made the payment without any penalty.

Dot Official said the issue of paying the penalty would be dealt with later, with DoT planning to raise a demand of Rs 30 crore.

Earlier, BSNL had sought to 5 days' time for making the BWA spectrum payment due to unavailability of funds.

All the other operators who got BWA spectrum, including MTNL, had already paid their dues by June 22, the due date.

"We have asked for a 'few more days' to pay the broadband spectrum fee, as we are in the process of arranging funds. Although we have the required funds, these funds are not liquid at the moment and are all tied up," BSNL CMD Kuldeep Goyal had said.

BSNL had to match the winning pan-India bid, except for the Delhi and Mumbai circles, which are reserved for MTNL, under the broadband auction that concluded recently.

State telcos were given both 3G (third generation) and BWA spectrum more than a year ago without participating in the process of auction and were asked to match the winning bids later.

source :: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/BSNL-pays-spectrum-fees-of-Rs-8314cr/articleshow/6087314.cms

[kesav 127]

Companies to get BWA spectrum ‘immediately’

NEW DELHI: The government will ‘immediately’ give broadband spectrum to the six companies that bagged these airwaves in the recently concluded

auctions, but the launch of these services will depend on rollout plans of individual companies, a top telecom department official said on Friday.

The Centre is committed to handing over the 3G spectrum to all seven companies — Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Airtel, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications, S Tel, Tata Teleservices — by September 1, said telecom secretary PJ Thomas. Telcos are expected to roll out high-end data services on mobiles within three to six months of being awarded 3G airwaves. The government also said that India will hold its next round of third generation spectrum auctions only after December 2012.

The combined revenues for the Centre from the 3G auction and the sale of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum is Rs 1.1 lakh crore. Earlier, the government expected to get Rs 35,000 crore only.

Global banking major NM Rothschild, which conducted both 3G and broadband auctions, has got a commission of Rs 30.5 crore from the government. This is because, prior to the auction, the government had agreed to pay Rothschild 0.115% of the difference of the final bid amount and the reserve price as its fee for conducting the bidding process.

Infotel Broadband, the only firm that bagged BWA spectrum in all circles, was acquired by Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance. The department of telecom (DoT) officials clarified that this deal was not in violation of any laws. “Spectrum cannot be sold, but change of ownership is permitted,” said JS Deepak, joint secretary, DoT. Officials also dismissed criticism from operators as well as analysts that the faulty auction process had led to companies placing high and irrational bids. Other companies that won BWA spectrum are Bharti Airtel, Qualcomm, Tikona Digital Networks, Aircel and Augere (Mauritius).

source:: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/infotech/internet/Companies-to-get-BWA-spectrum-immediately/articleshow/6092727.cms

This is another nail in the coffin of 3G in India.

4G spectrum to be alloted to companies nearly 2 months ahead of 3G spectrum.

It's totally waste of money and time for any operators to invest in 3G when competitors are already launching 4G.

[pasumark 51]

Companies to get BWA spectrum ‘immediately’

This is another nail in the coffin of 3G in India.

4G spectrum to be alloted to companies nearly 2 months ahead of 3G spectrum.

It's totally waste of money and time for any operators to invest in 3G when competitors are already launching 4G.

3G can be used in your handset.

Can 4G which is going to be offered also used in handsets?

[amitnsonu 72]

Companies to get BWA spectrum 'immediately'

This is another nail in the coffin of 3G in India.

4G spectrum to be alloted to companies nearly 2 months ahead of 3G spectrum.

It's totally waste of money and time for any operators to invest in 3G when competitors are already launching 4G.

3G can be used in your handset.

Can 4G which is going to be offered also used in handsets?

yes only for data, and 4g handsets are costly than 3g handsets. 4g is basically for computer users.

[kesav 127]

ofcourse...

Currently 4G handsets are very less (Like HTC EVO, Samsung Epic and so on...) compared to 3G handsets.

We can be rest assured that by the time pvt. operators launch 4G in India, the market will be flooded with 4G handsets.

[Arun 795]

LTE may score over WiMAX in broadband race

Mumbai / New Delhi July 06, 2010, 0:43 IST

Business Standard

With major players like Mukesh Ambani-owned Infotel Broadband, Aircel and Qualcomm putting their weight behind TD-LTE, WiMAX may lose out in the race to make broadband-starved India a power to reckon with.

Both Long Term Evolution Time Division Duplex (TD-LTE) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) are broadband wireless access (BWA) technologies. In the recently-concluded BWA auction (which allows operators to use either TD-LTE or WiMAX in the 2.3 GHz spectrum), Infotel Broadband — in which Reliance Industries bought 95 per cent stake — was the only pan-India winner. Aircel won in eight circles, while Tikona Digital got the spectrum in five circles.

Sundip Das, CEO of Maxis Communications which owns majority stake in Aircel, is categorical. He says: “We will go for LTE, as it is a robust technology being used by a lot of operators.”

A Reliance Industries spokesperson declined to comment on the choice of the technology. However, people close to the development say while RIL is exploring both technologies, it is veering in favour of TD-LTE as a long-term technology. In a recent presentation to analysts, RIL pointed out the advantages of TD-LTE, talking about commitments made by over 110 networks in 48 countries which have committed to LTE. It says by end-2010, 22 networks will be launched commercially across the world.

“The entire BWA industry in India will coalesce around the TD-LTE platform. One compelling trigger is RIL's expressed intent to partake TD-LTE as a technology platform. Given that RIL, with its pan-India licence will exert a bias on the evolution of BWA industry as a whole, it is natural that RIL's competitor will have to contend RIL's strategy,” says Alok Shende, principal analyst, Ascentius Consulting. Telecom analyst Mahesh Uppal concurs with this line of thought: “It's probably a death blow to WiMAX. With Reliance likely to choose LTE, it has determined the way technology will evolve in India, as there is no support for WiMAX at that scale.”

RIL's strategy is to offer wireless broadband not only as a standalone service but also offer BWA service as a white label service to 3G subscribers through roaming agreements with the 3G players, adds Shende. “Given that such a strategy will open up wider swathe of opportunities and revenue upside for RIL, it will become equally incumbent on RIL's competitor to not miss on such opportunities and that in turn will compel them to adopt TD-LTE.

On the other hand, should RIL's competitors adopt WiMAX, they stand the risk of being left behind as a technology island, with significantly high cost to their users,” he explains.

Qualcomm executives, on their part, say they are talking to partner with 3G operators so that they can use their 20 Mhz spectrum in LTE to provide high quality data services, instead of becoming an independent service operator. Qualcomm believes LTE can be overlayed on existing 2G and 3G networks and seamless services can be offered without the call or data getting cut while you move from one to the other network.

Incidentally, state-run telecom majors BSNL and MTNL were allotted spectrum earlier. Qualcomm and Bharti Airtel won four circles each, while major service providers like Vodafone Essar, Reliance Communications and Tata Communications exited the auction well before time due to high prices and limited number of slots. Idea Cellular did not win the bid in any circle.

WiMAX supporters, meanwhile, argue that TD-LTE is not the right choice of technology. C S Rao, chairman, WiMAX Forum India, says “Operators have no choice but to adopt WiMAX if they are interested in promoting broadband over the next two years, since they will not have any TD-LTE devices till such time”. “WiMAX has been there for four years now. TD-LTE is yet to start anywhere in the world, leave alone FD LTE (which is a 4G rather than a 3.5G or 3.9G technology like TD-LTE). Why is India being used as guinea pig for unproven technology for which there is no single network, no single chip, and no single device? This is a big concern for the nation,” argues Rao.

Rao also notes that while a TD-LTE base transceiver station (BTS) costs around $70,000 and devices around $250 currently, a WiMAX BTS is priced just around $10,000, while devices are around $40. And, earlier this month, the WiMAX Forum announced that the first 2.3 GHz products gained WiMAX Forum Certified status, which ensures a faster time-to-market and advantages such as global roaming capabilities.

The number of client devices for LTE are few, agree analysts who do not see the implementation of LTE technology taking place till 2012. What we are seeing in Europe, Sweden and Norway are only prototypes. LTE uses technology like MIMO, which is said to **** battery life and hence it will be a couple of years before LTE dongles can be embedded in mobile devices.

WiMAX is also backed by major players like Intel (which would ideally want WiMAX dongles and PCMCIA cards in every desktop, netbook and other mobile device), Alvarion, Beceem, Motorola, Samsung and ZTE. Globally, the WiMAX Forum has tracked more than 50 commercial deployments in this spectrum band and 593 total WiMAX deployments in 149 countries as of June 30. Rao adds: “There are around 75 different models of embedded devices for the WiMAX ecosystem with support from vendors like HP, Dell, Asus, Lenovo, Acer and and Toshiba.”

A Strategy Analytics report, meanwhile, predicts that India's WiMAX subscriber base will reach 14 million by 2013 and grow annually at nearly 130 per cent. The study projects initial investment in WiMAX ventures will top $500 million in India. All Indian operators have tested and trialed WiMAX and they understand the potential of WiMAX for broadband services growth in India.

But WiMAX has its weak points too. Most pilots by most players like Bharti, Reliance Communications and BSNL have taken place in the 3.3 GHz band (which is known as fixed WiMAX), while the spectrum being dished out is in the 2.3 GHz band. LTE, on the other hand, is being supported by players like Qualcomm (which has said it will bid for TD-LTE), Ericcson and Nokia Siemens Networks.

This month, for instance, Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson conducted test trials of TD-LTE in India on the 2.3 Mhz spectrum. “The objective of the LTE trial is to showcase the potency of the network capability to industry players such as mobile operators, application developers, content providers and game developers, to help them create breakthrough products and services for the Indian market,” the company said in a release.

The growth of broadband, meanwhile, is very important for the country. As Caroline Gabriel, research director at Rethink Technology Research, notes that “the World Bank has identified a strong correlation between broadband adoption rate and GDP, with a 10 per cent rise in the former resulting in a 1.4 per cent rise in the latter, on average, in developing economies”.

This impact is higher than for non-broadband mobile services. Conversely, for every percentage point of broadband coverage — at prices that spur real adoption — that does not materialise in 2010 to 2012, India’s growth could be held back, with implications for its social structure and its global position, she notes.

India has just around 9.5 million broadband subscribers and has always been miles away from its targets. Experts caution the growth of broadband cannot afford to be caught between two warring technologies.

[ravi_patent 28]

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/07/08/stories/2010070853030700.htm

Broadband wireless auction winners allotted spectrum

The Government on Wednesday released broadband spectrum to those operators who had won broadband wireless access (BWA) auction.

Only Qualcomm and Augere have not yet been given the permission to start using the spectrum as they are foreign players and have to fulfil the regulations under the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.

Qualcomm will also have to acquire an Internet service provider's licence and divest at least 26 per cent stake to an Indian entity before it can claim its spectrum. But others including Reliance Industries-owned Infotel have got at least a two-month head-start over 3G players.

Telecom companies that won 3G spectrum during the recently-concluded auction will get air waves only by September. 3G spectrum will be given by September after BSNL finalises vendors for the Defence optical fibre cable network.

The gap in allocation is because BWA spectrum is already available with the DoT while 3G air waves will be released by the Defence after BSNL issues the purchase order to suppliers for the optical fibre network.

This gap in allocation means that Indian operators such as Reliance Industries-owned Infotel, Aircel, Bharti Airtel and Tikona can start rolling out their broadband network immediately.

Industry sources said that Reliance could start services by Diwali. Market watchers, however, said that the two-month lead may not result in any major advantage to the new broadband players such as Infotel as they will to start building a network from scratch which takes time.

Also technologies such as LTE, which is proposed to be deployed by most of the BWA winners, is still not commercially available.

On the other hand, 3G technologies are already available and most operators including Vodafone have said that they will launch services by the end of this year.

The Government has received more than Rs 1.06 lakh crore from the sale of spectrum. DoT said that the high cost of spectrum will not have any impact on tariffs.

The Government is now looking to replicate the auction model for selling other public resources and for awarding contracts by various departments.

DoT has been asked to give a detailed presentation to departments at the Centre and at the State-level.

[kesav 127]

60 MHz in 2.5 GHz spectrum available with Devas.

NEW DELHI: The law ministry has told the department of space, or DoS, that it could annul a contract under which 60 MHz of airwaves was leased to a

private company five years ago. The DoS had asked the government’s legal arm for its views on an obscure deal between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Devas Multimedia, in which the firm paid Rs 600 crore for the airwaves.

The company, owned by former ISRO official MG Chandrasekhar, sold a stake to a group of foreign investors, including Deutsche Telekom and private equity firm Columbia Capital, after the frequency spectrum was allotted.

The law ministry has described the contract as ‘illegal’, and said the government should take back the spectrum citing ‘national interest’, a top government official who has seen the written opinion, told ET.

The law ministry’s views were sought after Cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar wrote to DoS, asking if the deal could be scrapped.

The Devas management declined comment and said they would present their version of the story to ET soon. Space agency ISRO did not reply to detailed emails sent by ET on Friday and Monday. An ISRO official said its chairman was travelling and others were not authorised to respond.

Though Devas did not give an official comment, a director, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it had followed all ‘requisite procedures’ and the issue was now between the departments of space and telecom. A telecom ministry official told ET that the Space Commission, the apex decision-making authority at the space department was looking into the issue.

3G auctions

This deal, hitherto virtually unknown, attracted the attention of several ministries during the recent auctions for third generation (3G) and broadband wireless airwaves, which raised over Rs 1.06 lakh crore.

Before the auction, several operators had pointed out that India was auctioning broadband spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band while in most countries this service was offered in the 2.5 GHz band. The 2.5 GHz band is considered to be superior and there are over 125 WiMAX operators globally who offer broadband services in this frequency band.

Companies such as chip maker Intel and some telcos had demanded that India too auction broadband spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band, but the telecom department washed its hands of the issue saying the bulk of these airwaves were with the space department.

“This shifted the focus to ISRO and although the company had signed a deal with Devas in 2005, it was found that the latter had not yet begun to use these airwaves. It was the industry which approached the prime minister’s office, which is in-charge of the space department, stating that ex-ISRO officials cannot be given airwaves that were leased to the space agency,” explained an official with direct knowledge of the development.

Another government official looking into the case pointed out that the telecom department had leased out these airwaves to ISRO and the space agency did not have the “authority to sell or lease it to third parties”.

The government got Rs 38,617 crore through BWA auctions where 60 MHz were on offer, including the slot reserved for state-owned telcos BSNL and MTNL. Industry analysts say the Centre could have increased its revenues by an additional 50% if the broadband auctions had offered airwaves in the 2.5 GHz band.

The chain of events led to the Cabinet secretary seeking details of the five-year-old deal from the space ministry. The space ministry in turn approached the law and telecom ministries seeking their opinion as to whether the deal between ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix and Devas could be annulled.

Devas was founded in 2004 by MG Chandrasekhar, an ISRO veteran and its erstwhile scientific secretary. In mid-2008, the company sold 17% stake to Deutsche Telekom AG for about Rs 318 crore. According to news reports, Columbia Capital and Telcom Ventures have bought a 49% stake in Devas, but ET could not independently verify these deals.

The law ministry has also added that spectrum in 2.5 GHz band was a scarce resource and could not be in the hands of private bodies. “This is a national resource that is required by government agencies for emergency services — the defence forces also require these airwaves. Besides, satellite services can also be offered in this band,” he said. This official also added that while Devas planned to use these frequencies to offer broadband services, especially satellite-based internet services, the law ministry’s opinion was that “this spectrum could not be used for entertainment services”.

A former CEO of a mobile operator had a different account of the events. This executive pointed out that Devas had begun negotiations with ISRO in 2002 at a time when wireless broadband technologies such as WiMAX and upcoming LTE were virtually unknown. He said that ISRO had approached all private telcos, but it was only Devas Multimedia that was willing to risk attempting to offer services on this platform.

“The MoU between ISRO and Devas was signed at a public event in 2005. One cannot compare the value of the spectrum today to that in 2002. Besides, since then, Devas has invested about $300 million in setting up the platform to offer services on these frequencies. At that time, nobody could predict the futuristic technologies that would be offered in these bands. Besides, the government approved the deal between ISRO and Devas — multiple approvals were received. Devas’ stake sales were also cleared by FIPB. A company cannot be penalised today because the value of assets it has leased has shot up dramatically,” the executive said. This executive also said that Devas had only about 20-30 MHz of spectrum and not 60 MHz as was being quoted in the reports of some government ministries.

He also alleged that the current ISRO management and some top employees at the space agency were behind the probe into Devas, and were also responsible for the law ministry’s opinion as they wanted to scuttle a deal before Devas launched commercial operations.

There are now 2 possibilities.

1) If the deal is absolutely legal, Devas can start WiMax service

2) If law ministry concludes that the deal as illegal, 60 MHz in 2.5 GHz is available for auction

Great News !!

:clap: :clap:

[me_saket 73]

nothing is illegal,

Let's see whether other opertor's opposition will able to start BB service by devas?

[kesav 127]

Aircel to decide BWA technology in October

Aircel, the fifth largest operator in the country, has said it will take a final call on the broadband wireless access (BWA) technology it wants to adopt in October.

"We haven't yet taken a decision on whether to go with TD-LTE or WiMax technology. We expect the decision to be finalised in October and we will make the announcement accordingly," Gurdeep Singh, chief operating officer, Aircel, said.

He added, "We are already providing WiMax services in 100 cities. However, it is a spot frequency and not a ubiquitous licence."

Aircel had won 2.3 GHz BWA spectrum in eight telecom circles of the country during the recently held auctions. There were eight other companies that had won BWA spectrum namely, Airtel, Tikona, Qualcomm, Reliance Infotel, Augere and Aircel. The price of all India BWA spectrum was Rs 12,837 crore.

While state-owned telcos BSNL and MTNL are already deploying WiMax in various parts of the country, private companies are divided over the technologies - TD-LTE and WiMax.

Reliance Infotel, the only pan-India BWA spectrum winner,is likely to opt for WiMax which is more readily available of the two technologies.

On other hand Qualcomm, which has won spectrum in four circles, will recruit local partners to create a TD-LTE infrastructure. While Tikona and Augere are committed to WiMax.

source :: http://telecomyatra.afaqs.com/news/?sid=2057_Aircel+to+decide+BWA+technology+in+October

[kesav 127]

WiMax, LTE Get Official 4G Nod

Sprint has been boasting of having the nation’s first 4G network for months now, deploying their WiMax technology across the United States to give their customers access to blazing fast Internet speed. MetroPCS is pushing the Samsung Craft in the few markets where its 4G network, built on the LTE standard, is operational. While the term “4G” has been tossed around rather freely by mobile carriers worldwide, it turns out each claim that they provide the best “4G” service has been a little white lie. We’re not denying their capabilities to actually furnish fast wireless broadband service, but at the time of their claims, they technically weren’t providing 4G service.

As it turns out, in order to provide 4G, the International Telecommunication Union has to agree that it’s actually 4G. That affirmation came today when the ITU pronounced both WiMax and LTE fit as “true” fourth-generation technologies, meaning they are capable of download speeds of up to 100mbps and in accordance with IMT-Advanced requirements. A March 2007 report released by the ITU, stated these stipulations as follows:

“The IMT Advanced systems shall be designed to provide best-in-class performance attributes such as peak and sustained data rates and corresponding spectral efficiencies, capacity, latency, overall network complexity and quality-of-service management.

The IMT Advanced system shall support applications that conform to open standards and protocols. This allows applications including, but not limited to, video, full graphical web browsing, e-mail, file uploading and downloading without size limitations (e.g., FTP), streaming video and streaming audio, IP Multicast, Location based services, VPN connections, VoIP, instant messaging and on- line multiplayer gaming.

The IMT Advanced systems shall provide the mobile user with an “always-on” experience while also taking into account and providing features needed to preserve battery life. The connectivity from the mobile terminal to the base station (BS) shall be automatic and transparent to the user as it moves between mobile networks.

The IMT-Advanced systems shall work in dense urban, urban, suburban, rural, outdoor-indoor, pedestrian, and vehicular environments and the relevant channel models shall be applicable. Systems are intended to provide ubiquitous mobile broadband wireless access in a cellular architecture (e.g. macro/micro/pico cells). The system shall support non-line of sight outdoor to indoor scenarios and indoor coverage.”

With such a high standard of quality and capability called for by the ITU, one may think the future is so bright; we might all have to start wearing shades while using our Internet. But, before we anoint these now “true 4G” formats as perfect representatives of their label, we may stop and consider how much companies that had already invested in both WiMax and LTE stood to lose had that label been denied. 3.9G doesn’t sound nearly as sexy in advertisements, and the ITU might have been willing to bend a few requirements to ensure no one has to reconsider the use of such seductive and ultimately expensive terms. Whether or not we’re getting the official “4G” experience is at the mercy of the technical specifications of the ITU, but ultimately it is the responsibility of the providers to dispense it and for the consumers to determine if the experience is a significant enough improvement.

source :: http://www.goingwimax.com/wimax-lte-get-official-4g-nod-11993/

ITU Press Release

Edited October 21, 2010 by kesav