India's MTNL Shelves WiMax Plans
April 29, 2011 | Gagandeep Kaur | Post a comment |
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Indian operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL) has decided to indefinitely postpone its plan to roll out WiMax networks in Delhi and Mumbai, the two metro markets where it offers its services.
State-owned MTNL, which has Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum licenses for both "circles" (service areas), had planned to issue tenders for the appointment of WiMax franchisees. However, "we have decided not to go ahead with our WiMax plans for the time being," a senior MTNL executive told Light Reading Asia.
It's not surprising that MTNL has decided to postpone its WiMax plans for now. With most of the other BWA license holders deciding to roll out networks using Long Term Evolution Time Division Duplex (LTE TDD) rather than WiMax, the latter technology faces an uncertain future in India. (See India's BWA Auction Ends in $8.2B Drama and RIL Takes Over Infotel.)
The other government-owned carrier, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) , which operates in India's other 20 circles (but not Delhi or Mumbai), recently appointed franchisees for its WiMax rollouts. BSNL had aimed to launch its WiMax networks by the end of March 2011, but it has missed the target. (See WiMax Set for 'Junior Partner' Status in India and BSNL Gears to Meet LTE Challenge.)
Both MTNL and BSNL face some tough decisions about how to make use of their BWA spectrum, which differs from that of the privately held India operators that participated in the 2010 BWA spectrum auction. The auction winners were awarded licenses for spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band, which is suitable for either WiMax or LTE TDD network deployment. BSNL and MTNL, meanwhile, were handed their BWA licenses ahead of the auction, but were given capacity in the 2.6 GHz band that, while OK for WiMax, is not suitable for LTE TDD.
The concern for MTNL and BSNL is that they may find it difficult to benefit from reasonable economies of scale if they deploy WiMax networks. Meanwhile, with growing global support for the emerging LTE TDD ecosystem, India's 2.3 GHz license-holders look set to experience significant economies of scale in the years to come. (See Reliance Aims for January BWA Launch.)
— Gagandeep Kaur, India Editor, Light Reading
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=207092&
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