Reliance Communication To Enter Gsm Services

[Sadikk 301]

Actually CDMA providers converting to GSM is big threat to Qualcomm,

And cellcos like RM and other playing right cards, as qualcomm have to decrease thier hefty royalties.

And RM conversion to GSM will be solid set back for them, I think is NOKIA somewhere supporting these cellcos to convert, never know nokia might bearing some % of thier network conversion expense.

As its a big war of technology and monopoly.

[prathod 3]

Actually CDMA providers converting to GSM is big threat to Qualcomm,

And cellcos like RM and other playing right cards, as qualcomm have to decrease thier hefty royalties.

And RM conversion to GSM will be solid set back for them, I think is NOKIA somewhere supporting these cellcos to convert, never know nokia might bearing some % of thier network conversion expense.

As its a big war of technology and monopoly.

I also feel the same,its a war of technology and monopoly and surely nokia must be playing some role in cdma providers moving to gsm.

[jasmine786 0]

ahahhahhaaahhahaa....welcome to the world of GSM, Reliance

cant u help me plz

[jusmail 0]

Looping wide: Anil Ambani readies Rs 8,000cr GSM move

DNAindia.com - Mithun Roy

Wednesday, November 15, 2006 21:46 IST

Mumbai

The blur over the GSM business of Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications is getting clearer.

The company, sources said, plans to have GSM operations in 23 circles soon. It currently has GSM operations in 8 circles, mainly in eastern India.

RCOM has earmarked Rs 2,000 crore for Mumbai and Delhi circles, and Rs 6,000 crore for the rest of the country.

It is learnt to have worked out an operational model for its GSM foray. Key officials would soon be called to give the final nod, following which the training process would start, sometime in December.

Sources said the marketing campaign for expansion of its GSM footprint will begin early next year.

Reliance Communications has set a target of 8 crore new GSM connections across the 23 circles by the end of 2007.

India’s mobile subscriber base is around 13 crore with over 66 lakh subscribers added just in October. Of this pie, GSM accounted for 9.6 crore and CDMA 3.3 crore.

A company spokesperson said Reliance Communications had already applied to the government for allocation of spectrum for 23 circles. “We did that in February for seven circles and in June for another eight circles. We are already providing GSM services in the remaining 8 circles,” he said.

The spokesperson said the company remains keen on a pan-India GSM footprint.

India’s mobile user base is expected to triple to 385 million by March 2010 and mobile service revenues as a percentage of GDP will rise from 0.95% in FY06 to around 2.19% by FY10.

Analysts said Reliance Communication knows that GSM margins are better compared with CDMA and getting the required spectrum is a hurdle to growth in CDMA space.

But the expansion of GSM service would entirely depend on the availability and allocation of spectrum by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). In June this year, the company moved DoT for allocation of 4.4 MHz.

According to a research report, Reliance Communications is well-poised to benefit from the growing mobile penetration in the country. The rules of the mobile services game have changed significantly since December 2005 by the introduction of lifetime validity plans, which make up around 15% of the gross additions in the industry. Most operators are aggressively expanding coverage, which is helping mobile adoption.

Reliance Communications covers 3,881 census towns and 245,728 villages in India as of June 2006, translating to population coverage of 54%. The company intends to expand coverage aggressively and cover around 75% of the population by March 2008.

Bharti Airtel covers 4,357 census towns and 155,076 non-census towns and villages as of September 2006, covering 50% of the population. The company is likely to expand coverage to all the 5,200 census towns by March 2007. Additionally, it intends to cover around 70% of the population by March 2008.

[Arun 795]

ZTE bags US$700 million Reliance Communications contract

Business Standard / Mumbai - November 28, 2006

Reliance Communications has awarded a $700 million equipment contract to Chinese telecommunications vendor ZTE Corporation under its proposed GSM foray.

Under the contract, the Chinese company will supply GSM equipment, including base transceiver stations (BTS), receivers, soft switches and other equipment, to the Indian company.

The award is the beginning of the company’s GSM plans and Reliance would start getting the equipment after the allocation of spectrum by the ministry of communications and IT, sources close to the development said.

Other companies, such as Huwaei, Alcatel and Motorola, are also believed to be in the fray. This would be only a part of the contract, as the company is planning to float tenders for its extended foray into the GSM segment.

A Reliance Communications spokesperson could not be contacted for confirmation.

ZTE is also believed to have provided technology and equipment to Reliance for conducting beta tests on GSM lines. Reliance is believed to have initiated beta tests in certain circles, even as it is awaiting spectrum allocation to commence full-fledged operations.

ZTE Corporation will provide the technology for conducting trials on either Tata Teleservices’ or Reliance Communication’s mobile network.

ZTE had earlier signed a joint venture deal with India’s MCorpGlobal after the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) had rejected its applications to hike investment in the Indian subsidiary.

ZTE had sought to import telecom equipment for wholesale trading in India. MCorpGlobal is a BK Modi group company.

The CDMA major is gearing up to offer GSM services in the country, starting with Delhi and Mumbai, with an initial investment of Rs 2,000 crore.

The Anil Ambani group company is planning a tender of 75 million GSM lines, which is slated to be one of the biggest contracts in the country.

On a sheer size, the tender is much bigger than that of the state-owned telecom behemoth, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), which had recently floated a 45 million GSM line tender.

Reliance is awaiting allocation of 1,800 mhz radio frequency, with the department of telecommunications mulling opening it for commercial use.

The spectrum — 1,800 mhz — is currently in possession of the defence forces and is one of the most efficient frequency, as both CDMA and GSM operations can be conducted on this.

[amtrag 20]

There's contrary news on ET:

China's ZTE bags $700 mn order from Reliance

AGENCIES[ TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2006 10:40:25 AM]

BEIJING: China telecom equipment provider ZTE Corp has signed deals to supply $700 million in telecommunications hardware to Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, Chinese media reported on Tuesday.

Combined, the deals are believed to be the largest overseas order ever for a Chinese telecommunications firm, the Beijing News reported.

They include equipment for more than 4,300 base stations and 2.5 million handsets, the paper said. ZTE is China's largest listed telecommunications equipment company.

Click here for the link

As per ET, ZTE has signed deals with RIL and not Reliance Communications...

Edited November 29, 2006 by amtrag

[linuxguy 0]

awesome this means that Reliance was 100% serious about its GSM plans and not just a gimmicking to scare Qualcomm!

[abhay 0]

RELIANCE INDUSTRIES (RIL)

China's ZTE bags $700 mn order from Reliance << Economic Times

RCL

ZTE bags $700 million Rel Comm contract << Business Standard

ZTE wins USD 700 mln GSM contract from Reliance - report << Telecom Paper (subscription), Netherlands

ZTE receives a USD 700 mn equipment contract from Rel Comm << Myiris.com

China's ZTE bags $700M order from India's Reliance << EE Times

now who has actually given the order

Edited November 29, 2006 by abhay

[anujit 0]

So is the end of its CDMA plans?

I cant see the value of investing probably over $1 billion in a system that competes with something you've already created (investing several billion $ I'm sure)!!!!

[linuxguy 0]

anujit there is no need to "compete". they can coexist!

[abhay 0]

World's biggest telecom tender from RCL

Reliance Communications (RCL) is said to have invited bids for 90-100 million cellular lines in the world’s biggest telecom tender valued at nearly $7-8 billion.

The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) company and India’s second-largest wireless phone operator is said to have issued Request for Proposal (RFP) for nearly 70-75 million GSM lines and 20-25 million lines for WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access), a GSM 3G technology that increases data transmission rates.

The tender is bigger than that floated by Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) for 45.5 million GSM lines. This implies that RCL is looking at creating capacity for roping in 90-100 million users over the next 4-5 years. Ericsson had emerged as the lowest bidder at $107 per line for the BSNL tender. However, the Delhi High Court has stayed the tender after Motorola filed a petition.

The RCL tender may be valued at a lower end as the telco is likely to use its existing CDMA passive infrastructure for 30 million GSM lines. This reduces the cost to less than half. For the remaining new lines, the cost may be $100-110 per line, unless RCL is able to negotiate a better price.

At this price, it will be the biggest ever tender for equipment floated by any telecom operator in the world. It will demonstrate once again that the Indian market is the hottest and the most lucrative not just for service providers but also for equipment makers. The development also shows that RCL is serious about its GSM plans.

Early this year, it created a stir by applying for GSM licences in 21 circles covering almost the entire country. Major GSM equipment providers like Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola are believed to be interested in the tender. Globally, Swedish gear maker Ericsson and Finnish giant Nokia are the top two WCDMA equipment vendors.

The move is part of RCL’s increased focus on GSM, which is used by over 70% of telecom subscribers and is more cost effective than CDMA. RCL’s plans, however, depend on the availability and allocation of spectrum by DoT. RCL officials were not available for comment.

“The RFP was issued around three weeks ago. The contract is likely to be split between at least 3-4 vendors. No player can cater alone to the requirements,” said industry officials. The winners will be announced 4-5 months later. “After awarding the contract, it’ll take around 5-6 months for vendors to supply the first batch of equipment,” sources added.

RCL has CDMA capacity for 30 million subscribers and has already roped in about 24 million subscribers. It is now adding nearly a million users per month and at this rate, it will require more lines by the middle of next year.

Prices for telecom gear have nosedived over the past few years as vendors compete for space in the world’s fastest growing telecom market. In 2001, BSNL’s GSM tender was awarded at around $150 per line, a whopping $43 more than the bid made by Ericsson this time.

RCL is the only private operator in India having a presence in GSM as well as CDMA. It has eight circles in India with 3.2 million GSM subscribers (services being offered by Reliance Telecom) and has 24 million CDMA subscribers in 21 circles. RCL provides both GSM and CDMA services in six of these circles — Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Assam and North East.

RCL’s CDMA subscriber base is nearly eight times its GSM base. By moving into GSM, RCL will increase the size of its potential market, said industry experts. RCL has largely roped in low-end customers by offering low price voice and data services and is now keen to have high-end users on its network like Bharti Airtel. RCL had differences with US-based CDMA chipset giant Qualcomm over royalty payments to the latter.

GSM handset prices are at least $5-10 less than CDMA mobiles. “Globally, GSM enjoys scale and economy, making it more cost-effective than CDMA,” industry experts said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/712306.cms

this shows how serious is AA about his GSM move !! farewell CDMA

Edited December 4, 2006 by abhay

[linuxguy 0]

yaa...but 4-5 months for the tenders and another 5-6 months for the first batch to be delivered to RCL means a good another years wait for Reliance's GSM plans... s**ks big time! I was hoping they would start their services by March 2007 or so...! *sigh* stuck with Hutch for now!

[abhay 0]

you should make that march 2008

[linuxguy 0]

Sheesh... this is stupid yaar.... i hope reliance starts their services soon!!

[anujit 0]

No they can't co-exist. Why would you want to compete against yourself? Why would you want to spend a over a $1 bil on a new system if you didn't think theres something wrong with the existing?

Anil & Co have said the reason they are looking at GSM is because it is CHEAPER! Of course in country like India where operator-phone locking is frowned upon and RUIM doesn't seem like a good enough solution... there are major growth hurdles for CDMA long term.

I personally think they'll sell their CDMA services within the next few years. Quite possibly after acquiring a established GSM player.

[linuxguy 0]

abhay, if Reliance takes over then it will be sad news actually. Why? Well Reliance is going to get HUGE customer base without much effort so we wont actually see any "competition" and the subsequent reduction in prices! So I hope that ADA starts his own network rather than taking over Hutch!

[JHS 0]

:'(

All the while in this thread we have discussed the corporate/govt/policies based issues.

But what about customers like us?

I beleive rim prepaid rates are gonna be hiked from Jan'07.

They have stopped activating smaller denominations recharges/top-ups in few circles.

What will happen to lifetime pre-paid customers in all this cdma to gsm conversion by reliance.

Hope the switching over is not harsh on customers or the tariffs for that matter.

JHS

[Saurav 22]

the best will be if Reliance enables its RUIM to work on GSM as well as CDMA. (Same number on both )

I will then use data with CDMA and voice with GSM

[abhay 0]

ya right GDMA

[rajeshkatiyar 3]

I stll fail to understand why they are dying for GSM

Any new GSM operator will have to work hard to get

new subscribers.Also due to inferior system it is

not possible to run unlimited schemes in GSM.

GSM network will collapse with 440 like schemes

Also how will they lock the sets?

One fourth new SIMS are thrown away within

2 months in GSM

[kshah 452]

I stll fail to understand why they are dying for GSM

Any new GSM operator will have to work hard to get

new subscribers.Also due to inferior system it is

not possible to run unlimited schemes in GSM.

GSM network will collapse with 440 like schemes

Also how will they lock the sets?

One fourth new SIMS are thrown away within

2 months in GSM

GSM equiments are cheaper and operators do not have to subsidize handsets like CDMA. Also their investments on interconnectivity reduces due to wide spread technology, especially for roaming agreements. Globally most CDMA operators are moving towards GSM, lke china unicom, Telstra- australia, Vivo-brazil, Hutchison - Hongkong etc.

Though GSM is not very spectrum efficient, but most mobile users (2/3) globally are happy with it so why operator invest for users?

[supernova 47]

as far as we know reliance tarrifs once they enter gsm they will give sleepless nights to all other gsm operators.. customers like us will reap the advantage

[linuxguy 0]

supernova, if they buy out Hutch then they dont have to do ANYTHING to get more customers! The price reductions may not be that steep!

[abhay 0]

supernova, if they buy out Hutch then they dont have to do ANYTHING to get more customers! The price reductions may not be that steep!

1) then too father of indian GSM (in hindi reliance ka baap ) airtel is still in d way and i dont think they will selloff

2) indian mobile penetration is stilll tooooo low as compared to other countries !! so theres more to go and even if relaince buys out hutch!! prices will go down but as u said not that steeply **

**although i dont think thats possible coz of the 10% rule i mentioned above

Edited December 11, 2006 by abhay

[anujit 0]

I don't know why people keep saying CDMA is cheaper than GSM. Airtel/Hutch et all have got plans priced at the same level as RIM (if not lower).

Certainly CDMA offers advantage while roaming... which is significantly cheaper than GSM. But thats because they carry the connection over their on NLD lines. Still at the end of the day it's cheaper for the consumer.

The only reason why RIM might offer lower tariffs in the GSM market would be to try and get a stronger customer base (while absorbing loses) in the hope that they can charge them more later!