• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

G. Rambabu

HELSINKI, March 17

NOT willing to be left behind in the "limited mobility" race, telecom equipment major Nokia is seeking to lure the cellular operators to deploy its solutions for wireless in local loop (WLL) services.

Its pitch is that its solutions would not only cut their operational costs but also help them take on the likes of Reliance Infocomm and Tata TeleServices Ltd (TTSL) who have adopted the CDMA technology.

According to Mr Jussi Ware, Vice-President, Marketing and Sales, Nokia Networks, the Indian cellular operators can convert limited mobility into an opportunity by deploying GSM 800MHZ solutions, which will have a tremendous profit impact on their operations.

As per estimates, the cost penalty on operators with a dual platform (both GSM and CDMA) could be anywhere between 15 per cent and 30 per cent. "This can be scaled down if the cellular providers who are offering their services on the GSM platform can also offer WLL services on the same technology that Nokia is offering," he said.

"GSM is the natural technology for WLL, bringing a wide range of benefits both because of its competitive services and terminals and because it is highly cost-effective to deploy and operate. With more than 70 per cent of the global market, subscribers to GSM networks enjoy the widest choice of terminals, offering different styles, features and prices", he said.

Mr Ware noted that since limited mobility services were being touted as being more affordable, due to regulatory differentiation, GSM operators could also enter the market and cash in on the opportunity. This could bring bout maximal synergy benefits, since the same standard GSM core and radio network technology, including billing and management solutions, is also used for GSM 800, along with the lowest cost handsets and infrastructure due to economies of scale.

As per the Government regulations, the basic operators can offer limited mobility WLL services on the 800 MHz frequency band. The GSM operators have been allocated 900/1800 MHz band for their cellular services. So for the mobile operators to deploy WLL services, they will have to first acquire spectrum in this band, then deploy Nokia's solution.

Meanwhile, the company, which has played a leading role in the growth of GSM across the world, is also geared up to take on the challenge from CDMA technology by shoring up its 3G solutions based on the WCDMA platform.

As pointed out by Mr Oscar Salonaho, Head of Technology Marketing, Nokia, as compared to the CDMA evolution path for 3G, the GSM route via WCDMA is more efficient for integrated mobile voice and data networks. With end-to-end standardised multi-vendor and 2G/3G interoperability, the networks would be optimised for future mass-market multimedia services, he said.

"The benefits for the operator include cost efficient capacity, universal system, economies of scale and better acceptance of services, while for the end-user it includes affordable cost and better performance as well as capability for new advanced services", he said.

Mr Salonaho noted that the commercial WCDMA system release from the company was already available which allowed for inter-system capability. The company has 34 publicly announced customer contracts around the world, with more than 20 Nokia WCDMA 3G commercial rollouts. In addition, 45 clients are conducting trials in 26 countries.

In other words, Indian cellular operators can know where to head, when to seek to upgrade their GSM/GPRS networks to WCDMA 3G in the near future.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
`Canada may prick Indian BPO bubble'

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line