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G. Rambabu

Under the new licencing regime where both CDMA and GSM can be deployed for full mobility, it would make better business sense to stick to one technology platform. The company has made huge investments in the deployment of both WLL and GSM services.

New Delhi , Nov. 9

THE unified licencing regime that is to be introduced soon has brought in its own share of worries for telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).

While the company is the largest basic service operator, with ambitious plans in the limited mobility (WLL) segment based on CDMA technology, it is also the second largest GSM cellular operator. And therein lies the problem.

According to official sources, although WLL is the fastest growing segment, and is expected to grow even faster under the single licence regime when it can be converted to full mobility, the company has already sunk huge investments in its GSM cellular operations.

Under the new licencing regime where both CDMA and GSM can be deployed for full mobility, it would make better business sense to stick to one technology platform.

The company has made huge investments in the deployment of WLL services, sources said.

As per its earlier plans, BSNL wanted to penetrate both these markets side by side and capture a sizeable share in both these sectors.

The other private operators have the advantage of having pumped in all their money on one technology and can therefore effectively build up their market more efficiently.

While Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices Ltd have pinned their hopes on CDMA, the Bharti group and Hutchison have opted for GSM.

BSNL, on the other hand, has an equal share of investment in both these technology platforms and it may be too late to back out of either one of them now. It is already the second largest GSM operator, although the pace of growth has slowed down considerably in the past couple of months. The company has also firmed up its plans to deploy WLL services with an installed capacity of over 38 lakh lines.

With most of the tenders have already been finalised, and purchase orders already placed for 31 lakh connections, it will be difficult for the company to backtrack on its plans now.

Since the whole issue of WLL was caught up in litigation, the company was going slow on building up a network for these services, and therefore raced ahead with the GSM cellular launch.

It did not anticipate a new licensing regime would place it on par with WLL services.

As per the internal targets of BSNL, it hoped to log on as many as 16 lakh customers for its CDMA services in one year, after which it had targeted an additional 15 lakh to 20 lakh subscribers annually.

Although the company has publicly stated that it is continuing with its CDMA plans, there is a growing feeling that it may not be the best strategy , the sources said

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