NEW DELHI, India-The wireless market in India could be set for an upheaval. As large basic service operators plan to roll out economical CDMA-based wireless local loop (WLL) services across the country, Nokia has unveiled its GSM-based WLL offering in India. The company says leading GSM cellular providers have begun exploring possibilities of deploying GSM 800 MHz WLL solutions.
Government regulations currently allow basic operators to offer limited mobility WLL services on the 800 MHz frequency band, while GSM cellular providers operate at 900/1800 MHz. Leading players like Bharti also hold basic services license in some of the circles. Other emerging basic providers are Tata Teleservices, operational in some circles, and Reliance Infocom, which plans to soon roll out CDMA-based WLL services.
Sanjay Bhasin, director of India strategy for Nokia Networks, told the press that operators would be interested in Nokia’s offering, which is “an open standard enjoying huge economies of scale.” GSM WLL allows significant savings in capital and operational costs, because existing GSM networks can be modified to support the 800 MHz WLL band by simple network upgrades, he added.
GSM cellular operators have challenged in courts the government decision to allow basic operators to offer WLL, and a verdict is expected shortly.
In related news, PT Telkom, Indonesia’s state-owned telecom company, launched its cdma2000 limited mobility service to retail customers this week (see related “Asia-Pacific” news).
