GSM, not CDMA, ringing In Growth For Reliance Comunications, TATA Tele

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Mobile operators that migrated to the dual technology in 2008 are adding more subscribers on their GSM network than on their CDMA system.

According to the data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the CDMA subscriber base of operators including Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices and HFCL Infotel Ltd have gone up only marginally ever since they launched GSM services.

Tata Teleservices, for example, had added 38.1 million GSM subscribers by September 2010 since they launched services in June 2009. During this period the CDMA user base of the operator by just about 3 million from 38 million in June 2009 to 40.9 million by September.

Similarly, RCom got 41.2 million GSM subscribers since its launch in December 2008, even as its CDMA subscriber base increased by just about 6.5 million from 48.6 million to 55.2 million. Going by the current rate of growth the two operators will soon have more GSM subscribers on their network than CDMA even though they had launched the latter network more than seven years ago.

While both the players have been maintaining that their move to enter GSM space did not mean that they were going slow on expanding CDMA business, the trends in subscriber addition indicate a different story.

Industry sources said that the two operators may be following a strategy whereby they are loading up voice subscribers on their GSM network, while leaving their CDMA spectrum for high speed data services. Both RCom and Tata Tele have launched 3G-enabled data cards on their CDMA network.

This is the first time TRAI has revealed the GSM subscriber base of the two operators.

Till now the operators were reporting combined subscriber base including both GSM and CDMA users.

Industry analysts said that the subscriber numbers were not surprising and in line with the overall preference for GSM in the Indian market.

Business Line

[Greatest 55]

Yeh toh hona hi tha... I and a couple of rimwebians had forcasted previously, that in the future CDMA will be used mainly for DATA and GSM will be for voice...

[rajeshkatiyar 3]

Yeh toh hona hi tha... I and a couple of rimwebians had forcasted previously, that in the future CDMA will be used mainly for DATA and GSM will be for voice...

It is very painful to see the meritorious CDMA student starving . It is all plan of Nokia and sponsered by Reliance.I think MDBA'S LTE will be a last blow

to CDMA . So please my beloved friends do not purchase expensive CDMA sets

[Karthik R 246]

I would be one pissed off customer if one fine morning Tata Indicom shifts all its voice users to its GSM wing, TD. If it happens then friends, I will shift to MTS who seems to be serious and focused on the CDMA.

[ashish_1985 13]

I & my family members have in total 6 reliance CDMA connections,ever since this GSM service started,in my office locality CDMA network has become worst & in my another office at lower parel where next to my building there is reliance office but no network at all when u enter the building...i have allready said bye bye to reliance.

[kshah 452]

Reliance cdma net work has deteriorated because of many reasons like lower transmission power due to congested air space, no new addition in cdma infrastructure, lake of spectrum availability and above all management indifference towards complicated cdma.

[atulkathuria 0]

Today I met someone who is currently working in Tyotya but earlier he was working with RCOM. I asked from him, why RCOM network is so bad and why RCOM officials do not react or resolve things fast. He smiled and gave me information that as RCOM was my previous employer so it is not good to say anything about them but the main problem in RCOM is the corruption.

officers are more or less corrupt and just try to make money instead of doing their job perfectly. RCOM GSM is failure only because of corruption level in RCOM. He also confirmed me that RCOM is having one of the best technology but officers do not implement because officers delay to resolve the network issues.

I do not know it is truth or false but it seems truth as Anil ambani do not have time to see day to day affairs in RCOM.

[KAPILKDEV 68]

Tata giving nothing to their CDMA customers but giving all to their GSM customers. So customers are migrating to other networks. All my friends who had tata indicom connection are discarded their number. I will migrate my tata indicom number to MTS when MNP implemented in Kerala.

[me_saket 73]

situation here is that

Tata indicom network getting dettoriated, and tata docomo is overloded,

So no good service from either indicom nor docomo.

[KumaarShah 143]

I had predicted some time back that CDMA in India will die a slow death and possibly both Tata and RCOM will sell off their CDMA business sometime in the future. At that time many had scoffed at my views, hopefully my stand will get vindicated over time. I still hold the same views, going by the current goings-on in the CDMA industry. Network issues like sharing towers for both CDMA and GSM from the same tower may also be a reason for signal fluctuations. RGSM as we all know is on 1800Mhz and hence requires much more power, and, which to my lay-man's knowledge, is being extracted from CDMA leaving it poor in signals.

I also second rajeshkatiyars' view not to buy expensive CDMA handsets. Between 5 to10k is ok but anything above that is risky.

Corruption in RCOM? I doubt that, it can be lethargy and indifference because RCOM is very well known for that.

[dkaile 1,051]

people seem to be forgetting that between these 2 operators they still have 100 million cdma customers; if evdo is implemented properly cdma can regain lost ground; LTE handsets will not be be available for less than 10-15K levels; though I am greatly excited about LTE (which is a 4G technology and not 3G)... lolz, pehle yahaan par 3G to theek se implement ho jaane do... I was greatly excited to see the 37.5MBps download speeds under test conditions with my own eyes with capability to go upto 80MBps (yes, u read it right - 80MBps)

Qualcomm & Reliance Industries Demo LTE-TDD In India

Qualcomm, through one of its Indian subsidiaries Wireless Broadband Business Services Pvt Ltd, which won BWA spectrum in the auctions held earlier this year, yesterday demonstrated LTE TDD at 2.3 GHz in Gurgaon, India. The demo, done with Ericsson, live streamed multiple high definition video feeds to a mobile van in Gurgaon, using Qualcomm chip-set based USB dongles.

Qualcomm has won 20 MHz of spectrum in Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala and Haryana, at a price of Rs. 4912.54 crore in total. Among these circles, it has paid Rs. 2292.95 crore. Qualcomm is looking to exit this venture now. Interestingly, Kanwalinder Singh, President (India and South Asia) at Qualcomm told Business Line that Tulip Telecom and Global Holdings may also exit the venture.

Qualcomm had brought in the two companies into the venture since it needed an Indian partner: foreign entites are allowed to own a maximum of 26% in telecom ventures in India. In our opinion, Tulip and Global Holdings' exit will probably depend on whether the buyer in Indian or foreign: an Indian entity is likely to want to own the entire business, while foreign entity will need Indian partners. In any case, if Qualcomm never wanted to compete in this space, all it wanted to do was buy and sell, then the government should look at introducing a penalty to prevent this kind of trading.

Additionally, Reliance Industries also showcased LTE-TDD technology at the Reliance Corporate Park, in Navi Mumbai. In the test environment, the company says it got healthy balanced peak rates of 80 Mbps in the downlink and 20 Mbps in the uplink for the specified configuration/setup. As with the Gurgaon demo, they demonstrated live streaming of TV content on the move, with a handover between base stations.

Edited December 5, 2010 by dkaile