As everything goes perfect, Airtel will be the first operator in India to launch LTE based wireless broadband services in April, 2012.
From our readers reaction we can say people are not very much excited with 4G roll out like they were during 3G roll out.
Reason is simple, 3G is not affordable and hence people are not betting high on 4G, at least not from Airtel 4G. Many readers of Telecomtalk think that 4G pricing may be at the same rate of 3G or can be higher. We believe it could not be happen. Let me explain.
First of all 4G pricing cannot be higher than current 3G pricing, because BWA players won the spectrum at much lower price than 3G operators.
Now on 4G there are some companies who have no 3G option. This list includes Reliance Infotel, Tikona, Augere and Qualcomm, while Airtel, Aircel, BSNL and MTNL have both 3G and 4G spectrum.
For 3G and 4G winners it is little tricky as if they comes with 4G tariffs lower than 3G tariff, they may lose the opportunity to make 3G business viable.Now why should Airtel keep the 4G tariff affordable to users?
If Kolkata is the choice for Airtel to kickstart 4G
Going by the words of our sources Airtel will choose Kolkata to headstart LTE based wireless broadband services. Kolkata is the metro which generate lowest ARPU compared to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
Even if we take this launch at Kolkata as pilot run, it would be interesting to see how Airtel can get proper feedback from Kolkata keep the tariff high.Sources say 4G operator wants to make next Broadband revolution in India and will be concentrating on those places where broadband penetration is very low.
In Kolkata Airtel’s fixed broadband coverage is very scarce, only central Kolkata (Park Street mainly) and Salt Lake. With LTE Airtel can reach at areas, where BSNL is doing monopoly, but to compete BSNL’s ADSL based fixed broadband Airtel must keep its 4G tariff competitive.
LTE – A Technology to Deliver Broadband
We expected 3G to be saviour of slow ‘bored-band’ victims across India, but logically with just 5MHz spectrum and huge spending on auction and network establishment cost operators are not able to make 3G as a replacement of wired broadband.
But LTE (Omni-accepted 4G technology in India) in India can do wonder. The situation in India is different from US or Europe where fixed broadband is widely present. 3G in those countries is mostly used for phone and more like ‘personal broadband’.
As it is sensed Reliance Industries will like to start LTE services as a replacement of fixed broadband. It would be wise for Airtel to treat LTE as fixed wireless broadband services.
LTE Device Strategy
As LTE ecosystem is not mature, at this stage LTE devices will be costly. The spectrum band of 2300 MHz which is used in India for LTE deployment is a new band. In US Verizon offers LTE-FDD on 700 MHz band, while AT&T offers LTE-TDD over 1700/2100MHz band.
At current stage, operators will bring locked LTE devices. Devices are expected to be limited to tablet and dongles. Pricing of these devices will be high, operators should subsidize the device cost, or bundle real-good data plans.
We need more 4G device vendors to come and start its business in India so that customers will have winder option to go with 4G devices at a cheaper price and no need to depend on Operator.
So as a reader what do you think will 4G be cheaper in India and can 4G be the next big thing to high speed Internet revolution in India? Do share your views by comments.
Raj April 10, 2012 at 7:07 pm
4G will be launched in India only in the 3rd quarter of 2013. Airtel’s current launch is BWA which Airtel chose to launch using 4G tech. This is purely for testing purposes as Airtel is one of the founding members of TD-LTE. Airtel could have very well gone ahead using WIMAX. 4G prices will be clear only after the 4G auctions later this year.
The Unknown April 5, 2012 at 1:25 am
Need for Speed! Tired of 3G. Still takes more than 10 Minutes to download HD movies.
Bobby April 4, 2012 at 2:16 pm
RDB, you must be kidding. Airtel and Cheap. These Two words dont match each other. Don’t Forget They milked indian customers and entered african customers.
I hate Airtel.
sharad April 3, 2012 at 8:54 pm
@Pratik
If only you could get your facts write before publishing non sense and misleading people..who on earth told you 3g is just a software upgrade..
Aiswarya R L March 30, 2012 at 12:51 pm
The truth is market is not ready yet for 4G …..
Pratik March 29, 2012 at 9:57 pm
SO TRUE.
we are talking of 4G when even 2g also sucks bigtime.
P. Abraham Paul March 29, 2012 at 8:17 pm
@Jagan T
Hi Mr Jagan,
I give free consultancy to budding young entrepreneurs in the field of Information Communication Technology.
Many from African countries have adopted my simple ideas on USSD based un-banked, non-internet dependent simple and user friendly Money management using phones (Mobile as well as fixed) for quickly empower financial inclusion and micro-finance support for the mass especially those in socially economically lower strata across the county.
A single centralized system can provide the service for entire all phone users in entire country involving e-money transactions in trillions of rupees of which most of the real money remains with MTM service provider that could deployed in legal money instruments to earn revenue so that the service can be provided free of cost.
I have evolved and experimented the idea as early as in 1996 when I implemented the first first IN based prepaid system in India. I could have done this myself, but for the regulatory hurdles in India.
I have been writing about this to DOT, TRAI, COAI, RBI, Keltron, BSNL / PMG Kerala and many others for years. Every one seems to confuse this internet or SMS based Mobile banking. It is good to see that RBI has now agreed for a semi closed wallet system which will eventually take of like wild fire in India.
kallol March 29, 2012 at 6:06 pm
Verizon who launched first 4G network in usa is doing 15-18 Mbps speed.which is very much in capacity of DC HSPA.
Verizon using 700MHz band, so speed is less.
India LTE band is 2300mhz, which offers around 80Mbps. so do not compare DCHSPA and LTE on 2300mhz. secondly 3g players do not have much spectrum or backhaul to handle such high traffic.
kallol March 29, 2012 at 6:05 pm
Verizon who launched first 4G network in usa is doing 15-18 Mbps speed.which is very much in capacity of DC HSPA.
Verizon using 700MHz band, so speed is less.
India LTE band is 2300mhz, which offers around 80Mbps. so do not compare DCHSPA and LTE on 2300mhz.
jbp March 29, 2012 at 3:17 pm
@Sinjan Gupta
no 4G is not cheaper than ADSL broadband for ur kind of information i want to tell u now bsnl is provide internt on optical fiber which much faster than 4g
PD March 29, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Why Should Airtel 4G Be Affordable ? Interesting title ! What about 2g and 3G both are not flawless even today !
Jagan T March 29, 2012 at 2:13 pm
@P. Abraham Paul
A good one to explore. Sir please post your more info.
Pratik March 29, 2012 at 1:50 pm
3G HSPA upgrades are just software updates,whose cost wont be as exorbitant as roll out of entire new network . while cost of rollout of 4G with LTE will be multiples of cost of DC HSPA.
Pratik March 29, 2012 at 1:48 pm
Read through almost all articles available about Indian 4G.
I really liked insight of Mr.Paul. its too good a read.
I thank you Mr.Paul for excellent article.
as i read it, I realised what he wrote is exactly the truth.
i suggest all to read that article which has been written by him.
I agree that 3G is exorbitantly costly.
i attribute that cost to cartelisation of market.all operators are providing that exact same tariff.
While 4G is different ballgame as it is.
we need better backhaul and while many will say its fiber optic is already laid over the country.
I agree with it.
what we dont realise is cost of infrastructure.cost of base station.cost of RAN,WWAN and backhaul radio’s
4G roleout is also hurried in india.i firmly belive that we can still provide 4G like speed with dual carrier HSPA( dc-hspa).
Verizon who launched first 4G network in usa is doing 15-18 Mbps speed.which is very much in capacity of DC HSPA.
without complete commercial usage and breakeven,4G launch will put all carrier in further economical downtrend.
I therefore suggest improve on HSPA itself till breakeven complete.
so we subscribers also get to use our existing handset to their full capacity.
now I have handset which is capable of 42mbps dc hspa but it also cant get full benefit of bandwidth capacity.
in the end, operators are going to be just pipe to carry all traffic.thats it.
no hope March 29, 2012 at 12:19 pm
I don’t expect any surprises from Airtel, the company is in trouble financially which can be seen by how they’ve increased tariffs accross the board and doing with impugnity as they enjoy a large subscriber base from the days when 2G was new.
As far as 4G is concerned, one thing is clear, it cannot be cheaper to setup than wireline connection where infra is already in place. BSNL has lines laid throughout major cities and yet they can’t offer any speedy, unlimited & affordable plans.
Thus 4G will only be a ‘technological milestone’ without any real world usage. No one I know has 3G today even though almost all have smartphones with 3G tech. Unless decent tariff is accompanied by decent bandwidth allotments, the only direction 4G will go is down.
RDB March 29, 2012 at 11:59 am
^^^^^^^ Tikona uses WiBro technology which is based upon MIMO technology – this is 4G, but tikona uses a band of 3.5GHz or 5.8GHz band, means network is not stable and many user complaints against Tikona. Like Tikona I can see Airvision, Meghbela, Sify, A1Diginet, Skylink etc are also offering similar fixed wireless broadband services in Kolkata. But in a whole, they are all messed up.
LTE, another 4G technology is widely accepted over the world because of the fact it is compatible with 2G & 3G of both GSM and CDMA. Thus it offers natural upgrade path for existing operators.
@P. Abraham Paul
Sir thanks for your comments. Can you please explain the article in brief and more read-friendly way.
Lalit March 29, 2012 at 10:37 am
Hi to all, every one is talking about tariff. Yes Tariff is important as the operator have to have existence and expand his business. For an example if we are having a sweet house where the cost of preparing 1 kg laddu is approximately Rs.100. But we can’t sell at Rs.120 as there are other elements that are involved like manpower, our regular needs, maintenance of the sweet house and others. Now think the same way from the operator side too.
Today all the operators are not making any money on 2G due to the tariff war. 3G is altogether a different subject to matter. It is only piled up to have the enhanced data speed. It takes another 20 – 24 months for India to reduce the tariff of 3G.
Coming to 4G, already TICONA is operating with 4G. The set-up cost for 4G will be minimal as the same 3G network can be used for 4G. Hence the price variance between 3G and 4G will be less. Yes we require 4G handsets only for the people who uses for streaming of HD Music and uploading large size photos. For a general corporate user, it is not required to change their handsets.
As per my latest collected reports, Vodafone is having ~1100 towns, Airtel with ~900 towns and Idea with ~1300 towns of 3G coverage. with 2yrs of 3G roll-out, the presence is very minimal across India. We can think the presence of 4G will also be available only in these towns
P Shant March 29, 2012 at 9:31 am
@Chinmoy
Hi Chinmoy,
you are a perfect back stabber. Your friend would have told this to you under the trust that the information would be with limited set of people (Unless he is a jerk with a big mouth)
Most of these information are confidential as it may effect their launch strategy. And you are publicly saying about your friend working with XXX has given you all the reason for delay in launch
P. Abraham Paul March 29, 2012 at 6:30 am
@AP
Please read
Impact of transition from Voice to Data and Multimedia.
http://wp.me/p1ZsI2-23
Also read my other articles on Telecom in paulsblog in wordpress.com
Incidentally I happened to be the one who implemented one of the first GM systems,the first to introduce CC7 signalling in GSM and the first to introduce roaming in GSM and the first IN based pre-paid system,in India.
I said in year 2000 that 3G will not be a good business proposition both for the Service providers and for the users point of view. Many refuted then and finally end up in the Telecom bubble burst around 2001 – 2002.
Kaushik March 29, 2012 at 2:07 am
Many people have already invested in costly 3G mobiles, they’ll require 4G handsets which means extra costs. What about older 3G handsets? How many are able to re-sell the older handsets? Or, throw away? How many can do that? Open a poll and see how many are rich enough to afford 3G + 4G handsets together? How many willing to sell of 3G handsets and buy 4G? If 4G doesn’t work out well, then what? Go back to 3G? My take, only the rich guys will go for 4G now, or people whose costs will be borne by company; the rest will wait and watch.
abhishek chatterjee March 29, 2012 at 12:01 am
RIL to start 4G trials in Jamnagar soon………..
akhilesh March 29, 2012 at 12:01 am
4G Speed is higher than 2g/3G
so all oprater’s & user like it
4G teriff will too high due to high demand
this is india ..everybody want to make money only
not to give better service’s
but 3g teriff will down 30% after start 4G
Example
2g plan = 50rs/1gb/mth
3G plan = 500rs/10gb/mth
4g plan = 1000rs/15gb mth
Chinmoy March 28, 2012 at 11:22 pm
My close friend who works for ZTE confimed me that Airtel is completely ready with BWA launch in Kolkata . They could not do it March because they wanted presense of all three together -Sunil Mittal , Mamata Banerjee and Kapil Sibal . Date got clashed and hence its delayed for April .
BWA will not be costlier than 3G price and it will be same or less . However the Airtel’s problem is that they have not got 3G license in Kolkata hence LTE to 3G backward compatibility is a challange .
I was reading the blog and comments. I think
1. BSNL presence in Kolkata is misrepresented . CTD ( Calcutta Telecom District ) is not only about Kolkata but it covers Howrah , Hoogly , 24 Paraganas North and Nadia district too. These districts form greater Kolkata and BSNL ADSL presense is huge there .
2. I expect tough fight between LTE and FTTH . Since LTE offers higher Bandwidth I can foresee the new age of broadband over FTTH . Since BSNL has already invested and laid down Fiber in 99% of CTD they can start FTTH plan like MTNL or Beam at any point of time only for metro cities like Chennnai and Kolkata . And if that happen LTE will have to further reduce price to remain in the market .
3. Since LTE dongle and LTE Phones will be very costly , I assume Airtel will bring BWA plan over Tablet .
krishnendu March 28, 2012 at 11:06 pm
I wonder a few years back before the introduction of 3g airtel and vf both had unlimited 2g plans,but after that those plans were withdrawb and now 98 rs gives only 1/2gb!It seems 3g raised the rates of 2g!Now lets hope that 4g does not do the same!
anil March 28, 2012 at 10:50 pm
I had purchased Airtel #G broadband stick three days ago but connectivity is very poor and even after changing settings manually to register my connection with the help of customer care people. I found that mannual change next day when I try to connect internet and every time I get error that ” can not connect before register network.
I thought i would get better and faster connectivity compare to existing plan , am very much disappointed with poor services.
Rajesh March 28, 2012 at 10:39 pm
200% correct they only need…….., they don’t think about customer…..
chandra March 28, 2012 at 10:05 pm
AIRTEL 4G IS NOTHING BUT WASTAGE
F1 March 28, 2012 at 9:14 pm
@mks rightly said. Airtel needs money by hook or by crook…
Kanaga Deepan N March 28, 2012 at 9:12 pm
@RDB even in wired broadband, Airtel is costlier and never cares to cover tier-2 cities itself… Sorry, I can’t agree Airtel is in a mood to bring next broadband revolution in India…
I don’t think Airtel’s 4G service will be affordable… Their main motto will be LIMITED NETWORK USAGE, MORE ADVERTISEMENT + MORE COSTLY TARIFF = MORE PROFIT… They don’t care about social responsibility, broadband penetration and all such sh!t (according to them)… Remember the promise of reduced diesel usage in towers, etc…
All they will try to do is GET FIRST-COMER ADVANTAGE now in KOLKATA…. AND NOTHING ELSE…
mks March 28, 2012 at 8:42 pm
airtel ka affordable hona muskil hi nahi namumkin .airtel and affordability are inversersly proportion .
kavin March 28, 2012 at 8:19 pm
boss…i expect the price as low as…
limited plan 4g…
1gb for 100 rs..then 50p per mb
5gb for 350….50p/mb
10gb for 650…40p/mb
unlimited can be as funny as
postpaid
rs.750…10 gb at speed of 8-21 mbps,then speed cap 512kbps for next 5gb then 128kbps..
prepaid
rs.1000…12gb(8-21mbps)…6gb(512)…128kbps
special tablet plans bundle may be 250rs…2gb at 8-21mbps then 256kbps unlimited
mmmmm i wish my predictions come true like what i guessed one year back for 3g..its 100% accurate…
Rahul March 28, 2012 at 7:41 pm
I had said airtel earlier because it is the only operator in india who offers lowest ping times (in its wired broadband), better coverage with less call drops(in mobile) and less speed fluctuations(in gprs). It’s network quality management is better than most operators.(Though there is much room for further improvement)
The only disadvantage is that it’s very expensive with high margins.
If it works more on cost front then it can become the most preferred operator even in small towns.
Of course there will a huge initial investment with purchase of license in 700Mhz LTE and installation of towers in every corner of the country, but in the long run this initial investment will give ten-fold returns.
Tarun Pethe March 28, 2012 at 7:30 pm
@BK
Ok due you might be right in your prediction of 3g penetration being less.but here’s a fact you might want to know that people wanting unlimited internet most of them maybe indulging in watching online videos,but that dosen’t imply all are wanting it for porn or youtube.for online data transfer,data servers and also for sme’s the internet usage caps hurt their works and incur costs.so don’t be naive that all people wanting unlimited plans want it for watching porn.also for dsl you say,are you ready to pay from your pocket if there is no connectivity in your area.there is no mtnl dsl in my area(cbd belapur)when i go to their office,they say rent us your flat to keep the server,and then we will cover your area with dsl.if this is the case with psu then leave private operators.
BK March 28, 2012 at 7:18 pm
When I said 3G penetration would be less than 25% last year, TT readers mocked at me and called me an old generation man. I remember they said “3g will be used by more than 90% of mobile subscribers, that’s why telcos paid so much for the auction”. Now you say that 3G was a failure?
Most “ordinary folks” dont know whats 3G, some think it means video calling. I think the primary raeson is poor awareness of 3G, considering that there are many illiterates who are also mobile users.
I dont think cost is the reason. 3G rates in India are cheaper than most countries in the world. Bandwidth is consistent. The cost of edge data and calls, that are so low, has made 3G prices look high.
And why does anyone need more than 1 or 2 GB data for their phones or 5GB for their ipads/ notebooks? If you want 3G/4G for watching youtube or porn at work all day, better get a job.
If 3G/4G gets cheaper, people will start using it for home internet, and to download movies and clog the network. Thats what you have dsl for….
If we want internet penetration in the country we need to concentrate on improving wireline broadband and making this cheaper for the masses than wireless, and not running behind 3G 4G 5G. Leave the wireless data acsess for phone and mobiledevices and dont bring the prices down.
Rahul March 28, 2012 at 7:06 pm
@Wangsuk Dapru
Yes it is. For all operators it does not cost them more than Rs15/GB(in bulk) including installation,maintenance,staff,license fee etc. U can take verizon as example and see the forums having that discussion.
Indian operators charge excessively because they know that most people are unaware and it is too difficult for trai to regulate prices when all operators want huge margins.
Jagan T March 28, 2012 at 7:05 pm
Network quality is good and leader in the market – but what about affordable? Still they are caping speed, FUP etc.
chaitanya das March 28, 2012 at 6:52 pm
YES, LOWER TARRIF IS ONLY POSSIBLE AFTER RELIANCE START THE WAR IN LTE, SO WAIT STILL JUNE-JULY, AS THE RELIANCE LIKELY TO COME WITH PAN INDIA PRESENCE BY INFOTEL BWA LICENCE. WAIT
AP March 28, 2012 at 5:57 pm
@Gourab LTE is cheaper to deploy for rural areas, atleast in the long run. So, it is the more likely technology you will see in rural areas soon. In a decade or so, most operators will have switched to LTE anyway.
irfan March 28, 2012 at 5:26 pm
thats very well said@Funsuk Wangdu
irfan March 28, 2012 at 5:24 pm
i hope telecom companies bring down the tarrif of 3g and 4g to as low as 100rs or 50rs per GB of data because until then the customer will not be able to spend much on data as we all know that airtel offers the most costly services we cannot expect them to offfer such cheap services hence i would suggest to wait till reliance infotel launces the 4g services beacause 10years back it was relaince who made 1 hour call possible for comman man
Funsuk Wangdu March 28, 2012 at 4:43 pm
@Wangsuk Dapru
dude ,even rs 50/gb is viable,as there millions of customers who will throng to use the services.And the cost for all the things you mentioned can easily be recovered.only thing is you can never expect affordablre internet in india due to corruption and corporate-political cartel.Airtel have long ago recovered all their investments in 2g and also reaped heavy profits by looting customers.can’t they even offer true unlimited plan in 2g now?forget about 4g,they will ridiculously price it between rs 1500-2000 for 3-4 gb.
Wangsuk Dapru March 28, 2012 at 3:31 pm
@Jagan T when you are comparing price between operators also compare the network quality of Airtel vs Reliance and Tata Docomo
Wangsuk Dapru March 28, 2012 at 3:29 pm
Is Rupees 20 viable as a business proposition for operator to maintain its operation cost where it has to earn an ROI on the license fee + the infrastructure cost plus the annual operating cost(network fuel cost, employee cost, maintenance cost, tax etc.) @rahul
sakthi March 28, 2012 at 3:28 pm
@AsitPaul
I Agree with him!
abhay March 28, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Beam telecom provides 10 mbps speed wired BB , with cap log of 30 gb , did u expect any other plan within rs 1000 availble in india
Sinjan Gupta March 28, 2012 at 2:53 pm
BSNL is still in 2007, no tariff change or no bandwidth hike! New age Broadband players like Beam and other fiber based ISPs will kick the shit out of BSNL. BSNL should be dead !!
coming back to the article, the writer believes 4G will be cheaper! Atleast not from Airtel the sucker! I believe this article is paid by Airtel as part of marketing strategy to compete with Infotel.
But I also think that like 3G, 4G will not be that costly, 3G operators do not cap, but 4G players in India can offer capped speed based plans like 1Mbps, 2Mbps, 4Mbps, 8Mbps, upto 10Mbps, upto 25Mbps, Upto 50Mbps, upto 100Mbps unlimited or limited usage based plans.
Jagan T March 28, 2012 at 2:48 pm
The truth is the telecom/broadband/2G/3G or what ever the technology, the operators NEVER OFFER affordable plans to the user. Only competition makes the pricing down. Specially players like Reliance and Tata Docomo (non telecom industrial giants which forfeit its profit to get into or lead the telecom industry).
Airtel – Cheap and Affordable – No way
Gourab March 28, 2012 at 2:45 pm
What about small towns ?? no 3G no EVDO… and may be 4G will also be far far away from us..
Saptarshi Roy March 28, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Omni-accepted 4G technology?
Ahamed March 28, 2012 at 1:54 pm
ADSL broadband connection which is being provided by BSNL is unique and it is hoped no private operators would be able to compete its cheapest tariff plans. BSNL provide broadband connection in rural area for Rs. 99 per month in its USO plan. Everyone know that 6 years ago,at the time of introduction of BSNL broadband in India, private service providers charged Rs. 3000 per month.
AP March 28, 2012 at 1:15 pm
@Abraham Paul 3G and LTE is not spectrum efficient? Seriously? Where did you learn that?
Arun March 28, 2012 at 12:22 pm
Yeah, no hopes this time.Let’s hope 3G tariffs get cut atleast.
AP March 28, 2012 at 12:19 pm
LTE devices won’t be a problem. Huawei and other vendors already have devices available. No one is going to rollout a LTE network without devices being available in plenty.
What is going to happen is that LTE operators are going to price LTE as premium products initially, and with expensive USB dongles as was done with EVDO by Reliance and Tata. This gets the early adopters with more disposable income to buy expensive equipment, and then allows operators to gradually cut prices and optimise profits.
Operators like Airtel with significant 3G networks are going to want universal dongles that are capable of 2G, 3G and LTE. This will allow them to leverage their 3G networks and provide seamless internet connectivity in circles where they have no 4G coverage.
l1nu5r March 28, 2012 at 11:58 am
If prices compete with fixed wireless costs, then yes.. if not no
viryumnam March 28, 2012 at 11:57 am
@softdina
tamo dina ngse ware da bsnl gi network se manipur gi mei ga manei haina ri bani
indrajit March 28, 2012 at 11:56 am
reliance infotel will bring down prices of 4g hopefully.
Abraham Paul March 28, 2012 at 11:54 am
The crux of the matter is that with convergence of networks,systems and user end devices, the wireless portion become less and less.
Further the inevitable segregation of Service provision from Systems/Networks operation will bring down spectrum needs. It will be unwise in the part of Telecom Industries to sought spectrum at high costs.
3G/4G technologies are not spectrum efficient and with high spectrum cost due to the intention of authorities, the business is already becoming nonviable.
Success of any business is in the user volume. High cost and low life cycle of modern end user terminals to high cost of usage will kill the business volume and eventually the business itself.
Those who focus on cheap legacy systems & products of mass consumption will be the ultimate winners.
softdina March 28, 2012 at 9:16 am
My Wimax system is going very good with 100 % speed in return,, 512kbps getting 512kbps with unlimited download and upload facility. It costs me around 5GB per Rs 25 per day.. without FUP.., Thanks to BSNL WIMAX SYSTEM.
Saurabh March 28, 2012 at 7:54 am
@RDB You did mentioned that Airtel has both 3G and BWA license but another thing that you forgot to highlight is, in 3 out of 4 BWA licensed areas, Airtel don’t have 3G license i.e Kolkata, Maharashtra and Punjab. So, it’s only Karnatka were they have license for both 3G and BWA. As far as 4G pricing is concerned, Airtel can’t afford to provide BWA at affordable prices. But Reliance can do and it has been discussed before here, Why and How?
If I go by DoT stand on ICRA issue I’m damn sure that ICRA will be banned in coming days. So Airtel will lose access to 3G spectrum in ICRA circles. I don’t know why there is no happenings on ICRA issue after TDSAT order. Have DoT fall asleep or they have been bribed by chor companies like Airtel, Idea and Vodafone. When A-V-I is continuing their services via ICRA, what’s the problem with Tata-Aircel? They should also continue.
Abhay March 28, 2012 at 7:53 am
We do not hope of any affordability of 4G from Airtel atleast given its 2G and 3G data rates almost 10p/10kB. Hopeless rates amounts to Rs.10.00/MB. However, as per Reliance Infotel sources, its 4G will be priced at around Rs.100/GB almost 5-6times lower than what 3G operators are providing.
vaibhav March 28, 2012 at 7:36 am
4G will also expensive like 3G!
AsitPaul March 28, 2012 at 6:09 am
TRAI should come up with a directive to provide us optimum GPRS speed like 40-48Kpbs, where as operators providing 6-15Kbps!
rahul March 28, 2012 at 5:02 am
An operator having such a service will have monopoly over others.
Since Airtel’s network quality management is better than others it can achieve such a target if it wins all-India spectrum and if it works more on the cost-factor.
Launching 4g first would only give temporary gains and not a long-term win.
rahul March 28, 2012 at 4:48 am
4g in 1700/2100Mhz will almost be a failure just like 3g.
But yes 4g 700Mhz can replace wired broadband if a single operator wins all-India spectrum and offers low-latency,less-fluctuating broadband costing maximum of say Rs20/GB. And slowly as coverage would improve with more towers installed, the dream of anytime-anywhere-affordable-quality-broadband could be achieved.
Santosh March 28, 2012 at 4:35 am
Interesting read! I just hope deployment is dense and doesn’t fall out as Wimax. 20 MHz is quite a lot of spectrum, combine it MIMO and speeds should be sky rocketing. Yes, LTE should boost fixed wireless market and operators should target that market atleast for next few years untill voice/device issues are resolved with LTE.