Will WiMAX be the Savior for 1.2b South Asians?
1 February 2008In North America, Western Europe and parts of Asia like South Korea and Japan, discussions on broadband primarily center round questions like - will Comcast offer 50 Mbps this year, will Verizon’s FiOS expand its footprint to my neighborhood or can H2O really deliver 100 Mbps broadband via fiber in sewer pipes?
Au contraire, in one of the largest concentrations of people, South Asia, the widespread lament is the inability to get decent broadband connectivity even in the big cities.
The sub-continent has one of the lowest broadband penetration rates in the world, mainly because of a lack of robust wired infrastructure suitable for broadband connectivity.
Pakistan
Pakistan has some 17 million Internet connections but most of them fall under the agonizingly slow dial-up category effectively shutting the door on digital media.
Indian Scenario
India, a country of 1.12 billion people and a thriving entertainment industry in Bollywood that’s ripe for Internet delivery, had a mere 3.13 million broadband subscribers at the end of 2007.
Broadband Subscriber Growth in India (in million)
Mar-06 Dec-06 Mar-07 Dec-07
1.35 2.05 2.34 3.13*
(*Tentative numbers)
Source: Telecom regulatory Authority of India
As for signs of broadband activity in Nepal, Bangladesh and war-torn Sri Lanka, it’s easier to sight Halley’s Comet than to spot broadband access in these three troubled nations.
But tens of millions of South Asian Internet users crying out for decent broadband connectivity in Pakistan and India could find their salvation in WiMAX.
The recent launch of WiMAX services in Pakistan by Wateen Telecom and the ongoing WiMAX implementation by India’s largest telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and limited deployments by VSNL and Reliance Communications suggests that South Asia could become the biggest showpiece for WiMAX implementation.
Pakistan Rolls Out WiMAX
In December, Wateen Telecom rolled out its WiMAX implementation nationwide in 22 cities of Pakistan.
Motorola has implemented Wateen’s network and also recently won a contract to supply 198,000 end-user WiMAX customer premises equipment devices for both indoor and outdoor use.
“The project is a milestone for both the companies, as well as the nation, as it is expected to herald a broadband revolution in Pakistan, catering to more than one million Internet users,” said Wateen Telecom CEO Tariq Malik.
Wateen did not provide figures but is very bullish on seeing high demand emerging for its WiMAX services during its first year of operation.
Wateen’s service operates from 128 Kbps to 2 Mbps depending on the service plan subscribed to.
Besides Wateen, a local operator in Peshawar called Mytel has also launched commercial operation of WiMax in Pakistan.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority described the launch of WiMAX services as “a new milestone in the Telecom sector of Pakistan.”
India Marches Ahead with WiMax
In neighboring India, telecom operator BSNL is working with Soma Networks on implementing the first stages of a mobile WiMAX deployment that will eventually cover 400 cities and a population of 200 million.
The Tata group-managed VSNL has already launched WiMAX services for businesses and is gearing up to extend it to consumers as well.
Reliance Communications has launched WiMAX for consumers in cities like Bangalore in the south and Pune in the west.
Acknowledging that the growth of broadband Internet access was slower than expected, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recently submitted several recommendations to the government including one that specifically calls for the spectrum for 3G and WiMAX to be made available at the earliest to boost deployment of broadband using these technologies.
The interest shown in WiMAX by key telecom players in the region and the hunger for broadband access by the burgeoning numbers of the middle class in the towns and citizens of Pakistan and India has some analysts bullish on the prospects for WiMAX.
Market researcher Maravedis estimates there will be up to 21 million WiMAX subscribers in India by 2014.
Given the high activity and interest in WiMAX in the region, it was perhaps not surprising that the WiMAX Forum plans to create its first WiMAX Forum Designated Certification Laboratory in India.
The laboratory will be part of WiMAX Forum’s global initiative of establishing and operating such centers in key telecom markets.
“India’s ecosystem is strategic to the success of WiMAX technology, and we are committed to expanding WiMAX Forum regional office initiatives to include the approval of a WiMAX Forum Certification Laboratory in India,” said WiMAX Forum chairman and president Ron Resnick. “WiMAX is the key to addressing India’s huge market demand for broadband Internet, and preparing to meet the future needs of the country’s communication needs.”
WiMAX Forum Certified equipment gives operators a platform to roll out advanced services and applications across a wide range of devices. The Certification Laboratory in India is supposed to let WiMAX equipment vendors targeting the local market accelerate the certification process.
Rapid deployment and adoption of WiMAX could also play a pivotal role in reaching India’s Vision 2010 target of 20 million broadband subscribers by 2010. It’s hard to imagine that the existing Indian wired infrastructure alone will achieve in three years what it has not over the last eight years.
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